How It's Made
Key facts
- Name on labels (INCI)
- Butyrospermum Parkii Butter
- Also called
- Butyrospermum Parkii Butter, Vitellaria paradoxa butter, Karité
- Grade to ask for
- Refined, cosmetic grade
A soft fat pressed from the nuts of the shea tree, which grows across the West African savanna belt, including northern Nigeria.
What it does
- Emollient
- Softens and smooths the skin and helps reduce water loss, giving creams a rich, cushioned feel.
- Structuring fat
- Its solid fraction thickens balms, butters and hair creams.
- Label ingredient
- Widely recognised by consumers, shea is often featured on packs as a natural, African-origin ingredient.
- Food fat
- Refined shea stearin and olein are used in confectionery fats, including as cocoa butter equivalents where regulations allow.
Products on How It's Made that use shea butter
| Product | Its role there |
|---|---|
| Face cream | Emollient. An emollient plant butter that softens the skin and gives the cream a rich cushion. |
| Body lotion | Emollient. A West African plant butter that adds richness and emollience and is a popular label ingredient. |
| Lip balm | Butter. A soft plant butter that cushions the balm and softens the lips. |
| Body wash | Moisture. A small amount of West African butter melted into the base adds a conditioning, moisturising feel and a label claim. |
| Sugar body scrub | Moisture. |
| Hand cream | Moisture. |
| Hair cream | Softness. A West African plant butter that adds a rich, softening feel and is a popular label ingredient for natural hair. |
On How It's Made, shea butter appears in face cream, body lotion, hand cream, hair cream, body wash, lip balm and sugar body scrub.
Grades and specifications
- Unrefined (raw) shea butter
- Traditionally processed, ivory to yellow, with a nutty smell. Valued for natural positioning but variable from batch to batch.
- Refined, deodorised shea butter
- White and almost odourless, with consistent specifications; the usual choice for industrial cosmetics.
- Fractions
- Shea olein (liquid) and shea stearin (solid) are separated for specific cosmetic and food uses.
Handling, safety and regulation
Shea butter is a natural fat, so it can go rancid. Buyers specify free fatty acid, peroxide value, moisture and impurities, and store it cool and sealed. Some unrefined butters contain natural latex compounds; refined grades reduce them.
Cosmetic use is covered by general cosmetic regulations; in Nigeria the finished product must be registered with NAFDAC. Food use of shea fats depends on local rules for vegetable fats and, for chocolate, on rules limiting non-cocoa fats.
Where shea butter comes from
Shea grows across a belt of West and Central African savanna. The nuts are gathered by hand, and more than 16 million rural African women collect and process shea kernels. Demand for West African shea has grown about 600% over two decades, with kernels and butter exported for global cosmetics and food. Nigeria is a major producer of shea kernels, but much of the crop leaves as raw nuts rather than refined butter.
Sourcing shea butter through Matta
Send Matta a request with the grade, quantity and delivery location you need. For the wider category, see Matta's ingredients page.
Listings found on matta.trade, read 15 Oct 2026. Prices are a snapshot, not live; the listing is always the final word. Different suppliers and grades: compare prices only where the unit matches.
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