The TruShea Story: Whipped Shea Butter for San Francisco Massage Therapy

When we opened Tru, our mission was to examine the typical spa treatments and see how we could improve upon them. When it came to massage treatments in San Francisco, we came up with four points that we felt would enhance or improve the overall massage experience. The first was the addition of chromatherapy, or colored light therapy, to the massage rooms. The second was to use this chromatherapy in conjunction with aromatherapy and a tailored San Francisco massage to enhance the client’s choice of one of the three main benefits of massage – relaxation, detoxification, or engergizing. The third was to buck the ‘one-hour-massage’ tradition, as we felt that the extra few minutes provided in a seventy five minute massage were crucial to the therapist to be able to work through problem areas and still properly address the entire body. And finally, we wanted to improve upon the traditional massage medium of oils and creams, which leave you with post massage greasiness (oils) or stickiness (creams).

Our first three objectives were met with, we believe, quite a bit of success. The alternative massage medium, however, was a little more elusive. There are a few companies that make massage balms, but while each that we tried was a significant improvement over the traditional oils or creams, neither was the ‘home run’ we were looking for. So we went back to the drawing board and decided to make our own. We began with nature’s most perfect natural moisturizer, shea butter, and after months of work perfected a process by which the shea butter was whipped to a perfect consistency and infused with essential oils. The result is what we believe to be the ultimate massage medium.

A massage medium that is actually good for your skin

Our primary purpose was to find a substance that felt luxurious on the skin and had just the right slip, so that the therapist could get into the mucsles without any discomfort or pulling on the skin.  Since the massage medium is rubbed into the skin over almost the entire body, we thought that it was also important that the medium was not just benign, but that would benefit and improve the skin.  We wanted something that people would not only tolerate on their skin to get a massage, but that they would want to use as a moisturizer again and again. Shea butter has soothing, moisturizing and protecting effects, due to the presence of a sizeable quantity of unsaponifiable fats and its content of vitamins and essential fatty acids. Some benefits of shea butter:

* Unequalled skin moisturizing, due to essential fatty acid content and skin penetrating abilities.

* Clinically proven anti-aging properties, by speeding up cellular regeneration.

* Natural protecting role against UV rays because of its content in cinnamic acid.

* Restructuring effects on the epidermis, also on dry and fragile hair. Dry skin, dermatitis, eczema, sun burn, and burns are all helped by natural shea butter.

* It has an anti-elastase characteristic which makes it a good active ingredient against stretch marks prevention and minimization.

* It is an anti-inflammatory, and very well tolerated by sensitive skin for it does not normally trigger any allergic reaction and can even be used on very sensitive skin areas such as mucous tissues and around the eyes. (Without essential oils.)

Other ingredients and benefits

The Karite or Shea Tree grows spontaneously in the wooded savannahs in West Africa. The edible fruit are the size of large plums. It is the kernel of the fruit which is processed into shea butter. Tru's Shea Butter Balms contain over 90% Shea Butter.

What is the other 10%? We are glad you asked!

Meadowfoam Seed Oil - Meadowfoam is a white flowered, herbaceous plant which gets it’s name because of its resemblance to a meadow of foam when blooming. The oil extracted from Meadowfoam seeds is recognized for its outstanding moisturizing ability with over 98% long-chain fatty acids. It has higher quality triglyceride levels compared to other vegetable oils.

Jojoba Oil - This "oil" is chemically a waxy ester that is derived from a desert plant. It is smooth and non-greasy. Of all oils it is closest to our skin’s natural sebum. It is balancing and soothing and is known for its anti-wrinkle properties.

Tocopherol - Pure Vitamin E. A powerful antioxidant and cell regenerator to protect and repair the cells. Helpful in preventing environmental aging and skin healing.

Borage Seed Oil - Borage oil is derived from the seeds of the borage plant. This large plant with blue, star-shaped flowers is found throughout Europe and North Africa. Borage Seed Oil is one of the oils with the highest content of EFAs for improved skin resiliency. It has been praised for its benefits on eczema and dermatitis.

Rosa Mosqueta Oil - From Rose Hips, a rose bush which grows in the Andes Mountains. Rosa Mosqueta Oil is high in EFAs and is known for its benefits on burns, scars and wrinkles.

Essential Oils - The purest, unadulterated essential oils are used in our products. Truly the “life force” of the plant, the essential oils penetrate into the skin, providing powerful therapeutic actions, while giving our balms a beautiful scent

What you won’t find in Tru's Shea Butter are Petro chemicals (Mineral Oil, Petrolatum, Paraffin), harsh detergents (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Sodium Laureth Sulfate), chemical emulsifiers (DEA, MEA, TEA), chemical preservatives (including all Parabens and Urea), artificial colors (FD&C), harmful chemicals (Propylene Glycol) or animal/animal tested ingredients (Including Lanolin).