Shea Butter Benefits Dependent On Grade Quality Of Products, Research Shows

Shea butter is a great moisturizer, but what most people don’t know – at least in the western hemisphere – is that depending on the quality of the product, it also has some great medicinal properties for the skin.

Raw unrefined shea butter from Ghana. Photo from eCrater.com.

What’s considered Grade A shea butter contains a high level of healing nutrients including Vitamins A (maintains healthy bones, skin, and other tissues), Vitamin E (protects against cell damage), and cinnamates (absorb UVB).

The American Shea Butter Institute, which specializes on the research, education, and quality testing of product, highlights that “Vitamin A in (high grade) shea butter is important for improving a number of skin conditions, including blemishes, wrinkles, eczema, and dermatitis.

“Premium shea butter cream also has properties that treat skin allergies, insect bites, sunburns, frostbites, and a number of other conditions of the skin” and “the moisturizers in shea butter are the same moisturizers produced by the sebaceous glands in the skin.”

In nature, shea butter comes from the fat extracted from the nut of the shea tree. As already mentioned, the healing properties depend on the grade quality of the shea butter after processing.

“In recent decades, shea butter has become a valued ingredient in the finest natural cosmetics, and even small amounts in a formulation can earn a prominent display on the label.

“The cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries consume an estimated 2 000 to 8 000 tons of shea butter each year, and this figure is expected to rise with growing demand in new markets,” according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.

A big issue in the value of a shea butter product is its grade quality, which depends largely on how it’s processed and stored for consumer use.

“Product quality of both shea nuts and shea butter depends primarily on post-harvest processing, such as parboiling of shea nuts at the start of the season to prevent the seeds from germinating and to dry them more quickly. Sun-drying of shea nut provides better quality than smoking nuts over a fire, which contaminates them with hydrocarbons,” explains the FAO.

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Pampering At Home: Giving Yourself A Luxury Pedicure All Year Long For Good Healthy Feet

Photo courtesy of visualphotos.com.

From high-fashion business women to stay-at-home moms who run endless errands, every woman needs to take time to take care of her feet. And, it’s not just a luxury. Neglecting your feet means a host of problems including - bunions, ingrown toenails, plantar feet, and fungal infections.

You should have a pedicure once every two weeks. If you do it at home, there are a lot of benefits – you save on the cost (depending on where you live, anywhere from $15 to $70) that you’d pay a professional.

Doing a pedicure at home, you also don’t have to find parking, don’t have to wait for your appointment time, and can watch your favorite TV show while you tend to your precious feet.

No matter how busy your life is, you need an hour twice a month for yourself. Giving yourself a luxury home pedicure is a lot easier that you might think. These are the items you’ll need:

• Nail Polish Remover - I recommend using an acetone-free, fragrance-free nail polish remover, so you won’t dry out your nails. Since the acetone-free removers usually aren’t as strong as traditional ones, it might take a little longer to remove darker colors.
• Gauze - It’s better to use either gauze or cotton pads, instead of cotton balls to remove nail polish so that you don’t have to worry about traces of cotton on your nails.
• Home Foot Spa or Basin.
• Water.
• Epson Salt - Helps relieve inflammation and pain.

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Avoiding Allergic Reactions: Knowing What’s In Your Hair Dye Before You Buy It

Coloring your hair at home is one of the easiest and most inexpensive ways to pump up your look. The challenge is finding a color that looks great and is safe for you, too!

This especially important because people everywhere are starting to color their hair at younger and younger ages, which “increases the potential risk of adverse health effects,” according to research from the European Union’s Scientific Committee on Consumer Products.

Stacy Ditroia: Hair dye caused an allergic reaction that caused her face to swell up.The concern is that the earlier a person starts dying their hair, the more overall lifelong exposure they have to chemicals that can build up in their body and potentially cause allergic reactions, sometimes leading to hospitalization.

A Denmark study found that in that country, the average age for someone starting to dye their hair was about 16.

A survey in 1992 by the Japan Soap and Detergent Association found that “13 percent of female high school students, six percent of women in their 20s, and two percent of men in their 20s reported using hair coloring products. By 2001, the proportions had increased in these groups to 41 percent, 85 percent, and 33 percent, respectively,” and it’s a trend that’s not slowing down.

The concern isn’t just in these countries. It’s an issue in most industrialized countries. Salynn Boyles, a contributing writer for WebMD Health News, said, “As more and more young people color their hair, the incidence of hair dye allergies is also increasing. The culprit is a common chemical ingredient in permanent hair dyes, called paraphenylenediamine or PPD.

“PPD is found in more than two-thirds of commercial (hair) dyes. Patients with severe PPD reactions commonly develop painful rashes around the hair line or on the face which often require treatment and can occasionally lead to hospitalization. Facial swelling is also common.”

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Natural and Organic Nail Polishes Benefit Health

Photo courtesy of Oprah.com

Wearing nail polish is a great way to bump up any look, whether you’re going for sophistication, playfulness, vintage, Goth, or anything in between. Along with more colors to choose from, there are more brands than ever before, ranging from convention to many newer healthier natural and organic-based products.

Conventional Nail Polishes

Conventional nail polishes are generally cheaper, but they are also filled with health concerns for wearers, especially those with allergies, chemical-sensitivities, pregnant women, and children.

All convention nail polishes contain a number of toxic chemicals, most notably include formaldehyde, toluene, and dibutyl phthalate.

Formaldehyde is used in many polishes as a nail hardner, but it also has the concern of being a known human carcinogen (can cause cancer in people), according to the National Cancer Institute, as well as other more short-term effects.

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Rejuvenating Your Appearance: Matching Your Year-round Sunscreen to Your Skin Type

Cartoon courtesy of greengenie.ca.

We all feel good when our skin looks healthy, but looking in the mirror and seeing sun damage can definately damper a mood.

The good news is that no matter how much exposure your skin has endured, there are steps you can take to rejuvenate it.

With improved nutrition to create new healthier skin and some sunscreen, everyone’s skin can look better. The best nutritional advice is to increase the amount of fruits and vegetables you eat, as well as whole grains, and less red meat. Limit processed foods. It’s common sense advice, but makes a world of difference.

When it comes to sunscreen, that’s a little more complicated. First, you have to understand what the sun does to different skin types, then you can decide what sunscreen best meets your needs.

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