what's the big deal about shea butter, goat's milk, and olive oil

kewl stuff about shea butter

According to the American Shea Butter Institute, not only is Shea Butter known to be an excellent moisturizer for the face, body & hair, but it has healing properties as well.  The Vitamin A in Shea Butter is important in improving a number of skin conditions, including blemishes, wrinkles, eczema & dermatitis.  Additionally, premium Shea Butter cream has properties that can treat skin allergies (bug bites, poison ivy & poison oak), frostbite, sunburns and razor burns, and many other skin conditions.  The Vitamin E in Shea Butter may help in anti-aging and be an anti-free radical agent, but more testing needs to be done.  Unrefined shea nut butter has been found to act as a natural SPF of approximately 6. As you can see, Shea Butter is valuable for more than treating, itchy, dry skin, it can help heal small skin wounds and has been found to even have anti-inflammatory properties for those tense, sore muscles.

Shea Butter is a fatty extract derived by crushing the seed of the Karite tree, or TREE OF LIFE.  Native to Africa, it grows wild in the semi-arid Sahel region of West Africa.  Many women in rural areas there make a more comfortable living for their families by making Shea Butter available to the rest of the world for it's amazing, all-purpose cosmetic and healing benefits.  So much so, that it has been called "women's gold" for the economic benefit it brings directly to some of the poorest places in the developing world.   Not many other developing countries can boast the same.  In comparison, even without depressed prices in the world market, coffee, cocoa & cotton when exported as commodities tend to yield their benefits to the governments, corporations or middlemen.  Shea Butter production and export are incredibly important in increasing access to global markets for poor, working women in a world where the majority of producers tend to be men and anything but poor, because the collection of shea nuts and the crushing of them into butter is considered women's work.

awesome info about goat's milk

For thousands of years Milk has been used in a variety of skin care products.  The most famous perhaps being Cleopatra, who is said to have preserved her renowned beauty that snared Mark Anthony by bathing in the milk of goats and horses.  The soothing and moisturizing qualities of goat milk have been revered for centuries for it's gentleness to even delicate, damaged skin.   So much so that the Greeks and Romans used milk products to treat skin injuries.  In nineteenth century Europe, whey (the watery part of milk separated from the curd in the cheese making process) was a sought after therapy for skin in spas.  From ancient times to today, milk and milk products have been an excellent source for nutrition, medicine and cosmetics.  Goat milk is known to be well tolerated by those with allergies to cows milk, even those who react adversely to soy milk replacements.  Due to it's high fat content,  it lends itself well to the soap making process.  Higher fat content translates directly into a better moisturizing cleanser.  Because of Goat Milk's low pH, the alkalinity of soap is reduced preserving the acid mantel which healthy skin uses to reduce bacterial invasions.  Some Dermatologists recommend Goat Milk Soaps to  heal skin conditions such as psoriasis, eczema and acne, as well as gently relieving dry, itchy skin. 

a little somethin'~somethin' about olive oil

Olive oil is used as an anointing oil by Christians and Jews alike.  The ancient Greeks and Jews used it to anoint their kings or athletes.  To those who follow Islam, the prophet Muhammad advised his followers to apply it to their bodies.  It has also been used for every day health measures and is generally non-commedogenic (won't clog pores). The Greeks used oil to clean their bodies. In lieu of soap at the baths, olive oil was applied to the body then scraped off with special tools. In the time of Muhammad, putting oil on the hair may have been considered a health measure as it discouraged lice and seborrheic dermatitis (dandruff).  Olive oil on the body may help prevent dry skin conditions and eczema and is a mild antibacterial agent just like your natural skin oils.

melt and pour soap base...go on...getcha some :)