Shea butter and it's useage

The traditional method of preparing unrefined Shea butter consists of the following steps:

Separating/cracking: The outer pulp of the fruit is removed. When dry, the nut, which is the source of Shea butter, must be separated from the outer shell. This is a social activity, traditionally done by Women Elders and young girls who sit on the ground and break the shells with small rocks.
Crushing: To make the Shea nuts into butter, they must be crushed. Traditionally, this is done with mortars and pestles. It requires lifting the pestles and grinding the nuts into the mortars to crush the nuts so they can be roasted.

Roasting: The crushed nuts are then roasted in huge pots over open, wood fires. The pots must be stirred constantly with wooden paddles so the butter does not burn. The butter is heavy and stirring it is hot, smoky work, done under the sun. This is where the slight, smoky smell of traditional Shea butter originates.
Grinding: The roasted Shea nuts are ground into a smoother paste, water is gradually added and the paste is mixed well by hand.
Separating the oils: The paste is kneaded by hand in large basins and water is gradually added to help separate out the butter oils. As they float to the top, the butter oils, which are in a curd state, are removed and excess water squeezed out. The butter oil curds are then melted in large open pots over slow fires. A period of slow boiling will remove any remaining water, by evaporation.
Collecting and shaping: The  Shea butter, which is creamy or golden yellow at this point, is ladled from the top of the pots and put in cool places to harden. Then it is formed into balls.

Composition

Shea butter extract is a complex fat that contains, besides many nonsaponifiable components (substances that cannot be fully converted into soap by treatment with alkali), the following fatty acids:oleic acid (40-60%), stearic acid (20-50%), linoleic acid (3-11%), palmitic acid (2-9%), linolenic acid(<1%) and arachidic acid(<1%).[6]

Shea butter melts at body temperature and absorbs rapidly into the skin without leaving a greasy feeling

Useage

Shea butter is mainly used in cosmetics, such as lip gloss moisturizer creams and emulsions, and hair conditioners for dry and brittle hair.[citation needed] It is also used by soap makers, typically in small amounts (5-7% of the oils in the recipe), because of its property of leaving a small amount of oil in the soap.[citation needed]

In Africa, Shea butter is used for cooking oil, as a waterproofing wax, for hairdressing, for candle-making, and also as an ingredient in medicinal ointments. It is also used by makers of traditional African percussion instruments to increase the durability of wood (such as carved djembe shells), dried calabash gourds, and leather tuning straps.