Sunday, February 24, 2008

Kpangnan Butter "Golden Shea Butter"

Kpangnan butter, pronounced “pain-ya”, is also called golden shea butter or African nut butter. It is obtained from the African nut tree, which is found in the forests of West Africa. It is a golden yellow color, which is the reason why some call it “golden shea butter”. It is not, however, related to shea butter. Kpangnan butter is a soft, powdery type nut butter that melts into the skin and gives it a dry, silky feeling.


According to cyberlipid.org, this butter contains a high proportion of stigmasterol, a plant sterol. In skin application, this sterol may have anti-inflammatory effects and may assist in healing skin irritations such as eczema and severely dry skin.


Kpangnan is a lovely, powdery butter that plays well with other oils and makes a wonderfully soothing balm for the skin. We use it in our megamix shea butter whip and some of our clients have found it to naturally soothe their dry skin without leaving behind a greasy after-feel.


Disclaimer: The information contained on this website is not meant as a substitute for advice from a medical professional. We are only commenting on our own experiences and urge you to seek medical advice where applicable.


Sources:
Cyberlipid.org
http://www.znaturforsch.com/ac/v54c/54c0937.pdf
http://www.agbangakarite.com/newsletters/february2005.htm


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1 comment:

stephhutchins said...

African natives use Shea Butter for many, many different things. They rub it on their skin to protect it from the sun and wind. They use it for pain relief as well, for things like arthritis and joint pain. It's also very useful for muscle aches. Unfortunately, someone who doesn't know much about Shea Butter may go into a store and pick up a product which is supposed to have Shea Butter in it. The individual wants to get the benefits of Shea Butter, but most products contain refined Shea Butter.

The difference between refined Shea Butter and pure unrefined Shea Butter is the healing and protective properties. During the refining process, most or all of the healing qualities are removed from the Shea Butter along with the color and scent. So, checking the label to make sure that the Shea Butter is unrefined and organic is a good idea. The benefits of using unrefined Shea Butter are numerous.

Many people use Shea Butter for moisturizing. This is great, because unlike other moisturizers, Shea Butter lasts a long time. With the barrier that Shea Butter provides your skin to protect against dryness and other things, your skin is smoother and more supple. Shea Butter is also used very often for minor scrapes, rashes, and burns. It is great at healing things like this. Shea Butter is great when used as a diaper rash preventative or treatment. Placing some of the smooth Shea Butter on Baby's skin keeps the moisture off and the rash away. Lots of people have dry skin during the Winter that they suffer with. She Butter is great for dry skin.

There are so many uses to Shea Butter, no wonder it has become such a popular skincare ingredient. With the unrefined Shea Butter, individuals don't have to worry about the damaging effects of chemicals and toxins either. In a lot of skin care products, chemicals are pumped in either to preserve the product, or for some other reason. These chemicals can literally make people sick. Unrefined Shea Butter is perfectly safe to use on skin, and brings some real fighting power to your beauty arsenal.

For more information, please visit Purely Shea at http://www.purelyshea.com