The English name "shea" comes from sí, the tree's name in the Bambara languages of Mali. The French name "karité" comes from ghariti, its equivalent in the Wolof language of Senegal.

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

Nowadays a mechanical sheller such as the Universal Nut Sheller may be used. The refined butter may be extracted with chemicals such as hexane, or by clay filtering.

Shea butter extract is a complex fat that contains many non-saponifiable components (substances that cannot be fully converted into soap by treatment with alkali.) oleic acid (40-60%); stearic acid (20-50%); linoleic acid (3-11%); palmitic acid (2-9%); linolenic acid(<1%); arachidic acid(<1%).

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

In Africa, shea butter is used for cooking oil, as a water proofing wax, for hairdressing and for candle-making; and also as an ingredient of medicinal ointments.

It is also used by makers of traditional African percussion instruments to increase the durability of wood (such as that of carved djembe husks and gourds) and leather binds.

The main industrial use of shea butter outside Africa is in cosmetics, such as moisturizer creams and emulsion, and hair conditioners for dry and brittle hair.

It is also used by soapmakers, 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.

Shea butter is also used as an ingredient in chocolate fillings.[citation needed]