Shea Terra Organics Herbal Hair Care – Mongongo Nut Oil – Hair Food From Kalahari | All-Natural Strengthening and Conditioning Hair Oil for Healthy Hair Growth and Scalp – 3.38 oz

Tammie Umbel, Shea Terra’s founder, has been exploring remote villages throughout Africa for the rarest, power-packed ingredients on the planet since 2000. Shea Terra works with indigenous tribes to discover these potent ancestral plants and minerals and offers these Superhero Ingredients through our concentrated formulas.

Mongongo

Food of the iKung tribe of southern Africa, the wild growing nuts are packed with protein. They are also brimming with a nutritious skin care oil high in g-tocopherol. The oil is mostly comprised of polyunsaturated fatty acids. The oil is also high in linoleic acid (omega 6) and linolenic acid. Although it is a rich, emollient oil it soaks deeply into the skin providing protection and softening. The oil also contains eleostearic acid which makes it an ideal oil to protect hair against heat damage.

Since 2000, Shea Terra has been on a quest for natural beauty wisdom throughout Africa, exploring remote villages, trekking through miles of desert on camel back, and sailing into the depths of Nubia. Our journey has allowed us to tap into a wealth of indigenous knowledge and share these remote beauty secrets with the world. Through our diverse line of skin and hair care products, you can embark on this journey of beauty wisdom with us.

The Cold Pressed Method Preserves Potency

Please be aware that our 100 percent pure, cold-pressed extra virgin oils are not the same as infused oils or essential oils. Distillation is commonly used to derive essential oils from most plants: flowers, trees, vegetables and nuts. The distillation process involves high temperatures, as well as steam and water or a combination of both. For example, plants are sealed in a specialized still as water and/or steam is forced inside. The pressure squeezes out the oil, which is then condensed and collected.

Unlike essential oil, which is distilled from the seed, our cold-pressed extra virgin oil is the whole, complete oil cold pressed from the seed. The seeds for our oil are wild harvested by local inhabitants and sent to the mill for pressing before being sent by air to Shea Terra in its most desired virgin state. This method preserves the fragile vitamins and phytonutrients of the plant. Our oil is not pressed by hand until we order it, it’s also not refined or deodorized so it has a unique, natural aroma.

The first step to extracting oil is to ground the seeds or nuts into a paste. The paste is then mixed in an effort to make the oils better coagulate. In the cold pressed method, oil extraction relies solely on the pressure. No heat is added to the paste. This differs from heated oil extraction methods, which involve heating the paste. Adding heat to the paste increase the amount of oil produced, but the heating process degrades the quality of the oil. Oil created through heating sometimes loses its color, as well. Cold pressing usually produces lower yield, but higher quality oil. That’s why we prefer the using the cold pressed method for our oils.

Shea Terra is founded by Tammie Umbel, an enterprising super mom, who built the company while homeschooling 14 of her children. Shea Terra grew out of Tammie’s vision to develop natural skin care treatments that would not only heal and beautify those who use them, but also empower and enrich the lives of many impoverished villages and families throughout Africa.

Since early 2000, Shea Terra Organics has been working with cooperatives and conservation groups to source natural, organic ingredients in a sustainable and ethical way that would create economic opportunities and preserve wildlife. We share these indigenous, time-tested healing ingredients through our breadth of product lines, which include facial care, body treatments, hair herbals and maternity & newborn remedies.