November 7, 2022
IMAGINE SHEA BUTTER: AN EXCLUSIVITY THAT WE PRIDE ON
Our team has continuously shared its love toward Africa and the infinity of wonders that it holds, it’s when you take a closer look and get to experience what it offers when you truly realise what an overlooked continent it is. The natural beauty is not where the formidability of Africa ends, for there is also its rich culture and tradition that can blow the minds of every kind of enthusiasts. As beauty freaks, this is the part where we point our eyes at. After visiting Ghana, an incredible country full of lovely and welcoming people, not only did we find a treasure of a product line to distribute to the world, but we also learned a lot while we thoroughly followed the production processes of the locals. Out of the numerous projects of ours that will be unfolded in the future, it is none other than the miraculous Shea Butter that we would love to begin with, given its values that can certainly not be counted with our fingers.
A Brief History
This innovation was made possible and is becoming a beautiful reality by the partnership between, Beart & Gibson Group, a British company with a unique international activity since 1997 and Weila Deng, a businesswoman, holding different activities in Ghana. Together we bring to you Imagine Beauty Ghana.
Shea butter has been used for centuries in Ghana, so much so that it’s seen as a national treasure. It’s very much a woman’s trade, and it’s used by almost everybody. Not only does it keep skin soft, but it is also suitable for cooking, can be used as a base for medicine, and helps to promote faster healing (it can be massaged into babies to nourish their fragile skin). It truly is a multi-purpose ingredient, so it’s little wonder that we decided to utilise it on our skin products for its magical properties.
Our Legacy
To find out the day-to-day impact it has on people’s lives, and Inspired by the African village concept of community, the shared experiences of women and mothers, and the desire to feel empowered, and independent, Arty Hyseni, the chairman and CEO of the Group together with Weila, who already lives in Ghana, travelled with the team to the Ghanaian town of Bolgatanga, to meet the women who make the Community Trade shea butter in all the products we have created.
We choose to positively affect that global legacy of womanhood through beauty.
Our connection with women farmers changed the focus of our business. We realized that Shea butter had the potential to change women’s lives provide them with a pathway to financial independence.
Our Shea Butter is sourced directly from women-run cooperatives to create economic access through trade. In West Africa, Shea butter is called “Women’s Gold” because the income women make from processing shea nuts and butter creates a pathway of economic progress for them and their community.
By combining inspiration with science and our unconventional formulation process we create products that allow our customers to feel beautiful and powerful so they can change their world. We create these beauty products inspired by the traditional uses of unrefined shea butter to help women achieve beautiful glowing skin at any age. Our team is currently trying its very best to bring out Africa’s best and offer it to the international market, because your well-being is our pride.
HOW SHEA BUTTER IS MADE
The Shea Butter production is a long-standing tradition in Africa. The Shea nut trees are mostly found in the Northern parts of Ghana, and the women are chiefly involved. The locals describe it as a challenging and relatively long procedure, as Shea Butter is still produced in hand-using traditional methods, precisely as it was done hundreds of years ago. It is simpler, more fascinating, and relaxing when women collaborate and support each other. The stages are briefly listed and explained below:
1. The Shea Fruit Collection: The women assemble under a large tree, where they may work from early morning, until late afternoon, while being shielded from the harsh sunlight. The Shea fruits are harvested and peeled to bring out their hearts, the Shea nuts. Damaged nuts are removed.
2. Washing and Drying of Shea Nuts: After the women collect water from the borehole, they fill large tubs, which they afterwards carry on their heads. The Shea nuts are rinsed several times in order make sure that the dust and other impurities are taken off. Afterwards, they are laid out and spread on racks, so they get dried naturally by the sun.
3. Crushing of Shea Nuts: The dried nuts are crushed into smaller pieces, so they become easier to process and so the butter turns out finer and smoother too.
4. Roasting the Shea Nuts: The crushed nuts are thrown into huge metallic bowls that are put on large bowls and roasted with the campfire for a while. When a coffee-chocolate aroma is emitted, it means they are ready!
5. The Paste Formation: The nut pieces are grinded finely into a paste, which then is set aside for a whole day
6. Water is gradually and repeatedly added to the paste, which the women then knead in a forward-leaning position up to the point it’s smoothened.
7. The paste is again heated over the fine until the fats rise to the top, and the paste settles in the bottom.
8. The fat is then collected from the top of the paste, to set aside to be solidified to the final product: Our authentic Shea Butter.