tin of organic shea butter body moisturiser

Nature at its finest, shea butter is a moisturising wonder of the natural world. Full of vitamins A, E and F, essentials for healthy skin. This organic, unrefined and unbleached shea butter is exactly as nature intended it to be.

Shea butter is a rich moisturiser you can use all over for full-body hydration. It is ideally suited to those with problem dry skin, and for those of us who have maybe spent a bit too long in either the sun or the cold and wind, upsetting our skin. Mild enough to use on even the most sensitive of skin*, suitable for all skin types and ages, including babies.

Shea butter is a very sustainable and eco-friendly crop, making you feel good inside and out. 😊 This shea butter is organic and fairly traded with women’s co-operatives from Ghana who hand-pick and craft the final product.

To use: Leave your tin of shea butter somewhere warm so that it softens up for ease of use. Or, warm yourself up and apply after having a shower. You could also scoop out a small handful and rub it straight on to melt on contact with your skin if kept solid at room temperature.

*‘Please note: Shea Butter contains a natural substance which is similar to latex and its use should be avoided by people with a latex allergy.’

Body Moisturiser - Organic Shea Butter 160g

Name: Body Moisturiser - Organic Shea Butter 160g
Brand: Akamuti

£9.00

Quantity

Out of Stock

Tubs of plastic moisturiser that have lots of ingredients …which aren’t necessarily kind to your skin. Many contain alcohol, which stops your skin from feeling greasy when plying on these thick creams, but doesn’t help your skin hydrate properly, meaning you have to use more of it.

Moisturisers come in plastic bottles and tubs of all shapes and sizes, many of which aren’t at all recyclable, or only recyclable in part after you’ve dismantled it into different pieces. This is putting all the onus onto the consumer to work out how to dispose of the packaging. You can see why these things just get thrown in the bin!
One ingredient! That really is all you need to keep your skin silky smooth, soft and hydrated. Why did we ever use anything else? No artificial fragrances, preservatives or additives needed here, just a pure and natural ingredient that does the job.

Shea butter is produced very sustainably (particularly from this source!) and you’ll find it as an ingredient in all kinds of skin care products due to its versatile moisturising capabilities.

It comes in a big recyclable aluminium tin. A very useful size tin for reuse too, once you’ve finished off the shea butter as well, very handy indeed.
At £9 per 160g, this is a hefty tin! The price is great for the amount you get, as moisturiser seems to hit your purse strings especially hard when switching to a plastic-free alternative. When you are looking for a body moisturiser especially, this can smart, as you use it up so quickly. For this price, you get a whopper of tin and as the shea butter is quite solid, it is hard to apply too much. It will last a long time in comparison to more ‘creamy’ based moisturisers I guarantee you. It spreads quite easily as it melts on contact with body temperature, but it can be quite hard to get out of the tin at room temperature, so I suggest scooping a bit out with a spoon. You can then pick up and use the shea butter with no further fuss.

Shea butter is used in loads of lotions and potions, so if you are a crafty sort of person, you can have fun adding this as an ingredient to your concoctions too.

The shelf life is around 12-18 months, so plenty of time to use it up in. It doesn’t contain any water-based ingredients, (it is just shea butter and that’s it) unlike many plastic squeeze bottle style moisturisers, which saves water and makes it last longer, because it has been left solid, allowing it to stay fresher for longer.
What is it made from?

100% Organic and Fairly traded Unrefined Shea Butter (Butyrospermum parkii)

Where does it come from?

Akamuti is based in Wales. Only ‘100% natural botanical ingredients’ are used in Akamuti’s products.

Their shea butter is sourced from a women’s co-operative in Ghana which harvests and produces environmentally-friendly and sustainable products.

Is it sustainable?

Shea butter is great. It is very sustainable and environmentally friendly in production because it does not grow in plantations, it is therefore wild, and does not need irrigation or pesticides. It is normally collected by hand. Unrefined (as this shea butter is) is best.

(Container) Aluminium – The container is made of aluminium, which is the most abundant metal in the Earth’s crust, making up about 8% of it. Aluminium is very chemically reactive, so is mostly found combined with many different types of mineral. It has a low density and doesn’t corrode easily (although it does react to dissolved chlorides such as sodium chloride/salt), making it a very useful material, and is often used for transportation of other materials for these reasons. Aluminium was not produced as a metal until the 1800’s, so widespread use of aluminium metal did not begin until nearly a century later. Although aluminium is an abundant element, deposits of ores which can be used to make aluminium metal are not as common as you’d expect given the amount of it the Earth contains. China is responsible for most of the output and production of aluminium. It is very energy-intensive to create, so most smelting forges are located in areas where electricity is cheap. The energy use is so high, that in the US aluminium production uses 5% of all the US’s electricity! Which is why recycling aluminium is extremely important, as recycling aluminium uses only 5% of the energy it would take to create virgin aluminium, a huge difference. It is one of the most valuable materials for recycling for this reason, and recycling rates tend to be higher than for most other materials. Most aluminium cans will be made from recycled material or contain a high percentage of recycled content. Aluminium is one of the most easily recycled materials, as it can be recycled over and over again without any downgrade in quality, unlike plastic, which is ‘downcycled’ as the quality of the material decreases each time it is recycled.

How about ethical?

Akamuti have this to say about their ethical trading - ‘Our organic shea butter is sourced from a women’s project in Ghana. Shea butter is an important resource for many communities. Regardless of their indigenous knowledge, women are often excluded from mainstream employment because they do not have a formal education. Organic shea butter provides a valuable and sustainable source of income for these women, ensuring better amenities for their communities. The women’s project produces environmentally friendly and socially responsible African products such as African black soap. The project enables thousands of Ghanaian women to supply an international market with their produce. Supporting such projects facilitates the protection of trees, i.e. the shea parklands in the Western Savannah. It also preserves biodiversity and the natural habitats of hippopotamus living by the Black Volta River.’

Extra good stuff:

Environmental Policy – Sustainability is really important to Akamuti – ‘We don’t use any unsustainable ingredients from endangered plants or tree species such as sandalwood and rosewood. If we’re aware that using a certain plant contributes to habitat destruction, we’ll choose something else!’ (…This is a very refreshing pledge, as all too often brands choose ingredients without thinking back through their supply chain, this is true even of a lot of ‘eco-friendly’ companies sadly. We all need to be more holistic like this, everything comes from somewhere after all, who knows what knock-on effects we are having if we are ignorant in this way? As you know, ABP does it’s best to combat this with the research we do on the ingredients and materials in the products we sell.)

Akamuti have an eco-friendly office, using recycled paper and environmentally friendly packaging. They have a zero-waste policy in their office and recycle or compost all of their waste to ensure nothing ends up in landfill.

Akamuti uses organic ingredients, but for those wondering how this is checked: ‘All of our organic ingredients come from an accredited source, usually the Soil Association or Ecocert. We are not certified or licensed by the Soil Association due to administrative and membership costs.’ Sadly, being independently audited by certification providers is usually very expensive, making it out of reach for lots of otherwise compliant, passionate small businesses ☹.

Ethical Policy – ‘We are passionate about trading ethically and fairly. This means we try to think holistically about our ingredients, i.e. where they come from, where they are grown and harvested and the environmental impact that this may have on their immediate surroundings. Whether it be argan oil from Morocco or shea butter from Ghana – we believe in promoting sustainability from start to finish, so that everyone benefits!

We believe that by paying fair prices to small businesses for their produce, it will provide growers with a sustainable income. This enables them to build a better, more sustainable life for themselves and their communities. Fair prices contribute toward protecting vulnerable livelihoods and environments. Poor prices paid for high quality, labour-intensive products result in undermining the value of a product and the people who produce it. Unfair trade feeds the oppressive cycle of poverty and we believe that we can break that chain by supporting fair trade practices and principles.’

Cruelty-free - ‘At Akamuti, we are totally against all forms of animal testing and ensure that all our raw ingredients are sourced from animal-friendly suppliers. Our fixed cut-off date is the same as our company formation, i.e. July 1st 2003. We have never tested any of our products on animals and it has been our priority to source ingredients from suppliers who uphold the same policy. This means that none of our ingredients or end products have ever been or ever will be tested on animals. Our preparations are tested by willing people and assessed for safety by our laboratory.’

Conclusion –

…Have I buttered you up enough yet to convince you that this shea butter is worth it?