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.

Egyptian Black Seed Oil

Ancient Egyptians coveted black seed as a remedy for nearly everything, including dry skin, lack of energy, immune disorders, allergies and breathing problems just to name a few. Egyptian black seed oil is a highly effective black seed oil, preferred only second to Ethiopian. When Ethiopian black seed oil is too strong Egyptian black seed oil offers just the right potency while being gentler on the stomach. It has been used for thousands of years to boost the immune system, manage chronic dry skin, eczema and more.

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% 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.

Beware of Black Seed Oil TQ Levels that Seem too High

Black seed oil was the first product Shea Terra launched in 2000, alongside shea butter, so we know the black seed oil market very well. Thymoquinone (or TQ) is the chief bioactive constituent of black seed oil that holds promising pharmacological properties. Thus, it is desirable for TQ levels to be high. The TQ level for our Egyptian black seed oil is .45%, so when we see other black seed oils, such as Turkish black seed oils, that boasts significantly higher TQ levels, we’re very suspicious. After all, the reason why we specifically choose to get our black seed oil from Egypt is that it is known to have higher TQ levels than many black seed oils, including Turkish black seed oil.

When we did our own investigation into black seed oils on the market that have very high TQ levels, we discovered that the black seed oil market is fraught with dishonest practices. There are hardly any labs that have the capability to measure TQ levels, thus, a lot of small labs with two-men operations are more than willing to provide any company with any TQ level they request for a fee. This results in black seed oils on the market that have unbelievably high TQ levels. The next time you see a black seed oil product with TQ levels that are significantly higher than .45%, please be very suspicious of that company.

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.