FAQs

What is shea butter?
Commonly used for its moisturizing effects, shea butter is a vegetable oil extracted from shea seeds, also known as shea nuts. The shea seed comes from the shea fruit, which is produced by shea trees that are native to West Africa, in particular the Burkina Faso, Mali, Ghana, Nigeria, Togo, Benin, Senegal, and Cote d’ Ivoir areas as well as some parts of East Africa such as Uganda and South Sudan.
Why is shea butter so popular?
Shea butter offers several benefits including being safe for all skin types, a naturally vitamin-rich composition that includes vitamins A, E, B, & F, natural sun protection and more.
What is shea butter used for?
Shea butter is an incredible skin moisturizer that soothes and hydrates skin without making it oily. It is also great for individuals with skin issues such as rashes, itching, eczema, psoriasis, acne, arthritis pain, and joint pain due to its anti-inflammatory properties. It’s good for anti-aging and anti-stretch marks, plus it’s used as an ingredient in many cosmetics, pharmaceutical products, as well as in chocolate and other food products.
Does shea butter clog pores?
Although shea butter is 100% fat, it may surprise you to learn that it is one of the few cosmetic butters that does not clog pores. On the contrary, unrefined shea butter helps heal skin conditions caused by clogged pores, such as acne. It helps moisturize and reduce skin irritation.
Does shea butter go bad?
IShea butter has a very long shelf life lasting from 3-4 years. MAIGA Shea Butter always delivers fresh shea butter to its customers. We guarantee freshness!
How is shea butter made?
Shea butter can be produced in two ways: by using a cold press in an industrial manner or the old fashion artisanal style of making it by hand.
How is MAIGA Shea Butter made?
MAIGA Shea butter is hand made in the artisanal fashion that has been used by Africans for thousands of years. This method provides much needed employment for the women of West Africa, and also maintains the traditional art of making shea butter, which preserves more of the butter’s nutrients than the industrial cold press method.
How does the process of making shea butter by hand work?
Making shea butter by hand is VERY labor intensive. First, the shell of the fruits are cracked to get the seed. The seed are then washed and left to dry so that all the moisture is removed and the dry seeds are pounded until they become small fine pieces that are roasted down to a brown paste. Water is added to the brown paste which is then whipped. The whipped mixture is then washed repeatedly with distilled water to ensure its purity. After this, the paste is heated to separate the oil and fat. The fat rises to the top and the oils stays on the bottom. Lastly, the fat is then skimmed from the top and is put aside to be used as animal feed or fertilizer while the oil from the bottom is left to solidify, eventually becoming shea butter.
Is shea butter edible?
Yes! Raw shea butter, also known as 100% pure shea butter, can be used for cooking. In fact, is has been an important part of African cooking for thousands of years. However, MAIGA Shea Butter markets its shea butter in North America and Europe mostly for cosmetic and skin care purposes.
How are refined and unrefined shea butter different?
Unrefined shea butter is shea butter in its raw or pure form, which has all its natural properties and vitamins intact, perfect for moisturizing and healing. Refined shea butter, on the other hand, is shea butter that has been processed to remove the strong smell of the butter and to create uniform color.
What is the difference between white and yellow shea butter?
The color of shea butter reflects the maturity level of the shea seeds used to make the butter. When mature shea seeds are used, they yield a white color shea butter. On the other hand, when the seeds are halfway mature, they yield an ivory color shea butter, and a yellow color shea butter when they are not mature at all.
Is one color of shea butter better than the others?
No. The color of the Shea Butter has no bearing on its quality. Instead, the quality of the shea seeds, and the method of preparation is what makes the difference in final quality.
Are all shea butters basically the same?
All shea butters are not equal. Just like there are different grades and quality of coffee beans, there are different quality and grades of shea nuts. These range from first or best grade, average grade, and low grade.
What grade is MAIGA Shea Butter?
MAIGA Shea Butter only uses grade A Shea seeds, and the people making MAIGA Shea Butter put a lot of love, care, and hard work to ensure that the final product is that of a grade A shea butter. In addition, our shea butter is independently tested by a Canadian lab to ensure a grade A quality before we package the final product for sale.
What region of Africa is MAIGA Shea Butter from?
MAIGA Shea Butter is from Burkina Faso.
How does MAIGA gets its shea butter?
MAIGA Shea Butter gets its grade A shea butter from the Burkina Faso Women’s cooperative which is directly funded by MAIGA Shea Butter.
Are these women well treated by MAIGA Shea Butter?
Most of the women in the cooperatives are relatives or fellow community members of the Founder and President of MAIGA Shea butter. Therefore, they are treated like family to begin with and are paid well for their labor.
How does MAIGA Shea Butter impact the lives of the people in Africa?
By creating much needed jobs in the communities in Africa, MAIGA Shea Butter directly helps the women in the communities of Africa to take care of themselves, their families, and their children. MAIGA Shea Butter also invests 10% of it’s profit in the communities in Africa to provides scholarships every year to children from very poor families in order to help them stay in school. The MAIGA foundation scholarship covers school fees, clothing, and food costs for an entire year. We also donate bicycles every year to 100+ students to make it easy for them to get to and from school.
Where can I purchase MAIGA Shea Butter products?
You can conveniently purchase MAIGA Shea Butter products online from our website or at one of the participating health food stores selling our products.
Where can I locate a health food store that sells the MAIGA Shea Butter products?
Click the “Where to Buy” button on our website or call us at 1-800-948-1294.
Can I cancel my online order once it’s placed?
We pride ourselves in shipping orders very quickly. Once your order has been processed in our system, you only have a 30-minute window to call or email us to cancel it by calling 1-800-948-1294 or sending an email to [email protected].
Do you offer free shipping?
Yes, we do offer free shipping for the US and Canada when you spend $60.00 or more in Canadian dollars.
How much is shipping if my order is under $60.00?
Shipping is only $12.00 Canadian for Canada and only $15.00 Canadian for the US, if the order is under $60.00.
How can I track my order?
Once your order is shipped, you will receive an email with the tracking number, or you can also contact us at 1-800-948-1294 or [email protected] to get your tracking number and shipping status.

Free Shipping

Canada & US over $60