Shea butter is one of our most popular ingredients. It is fat that has been extracted from shea tree nuts. It is ivory-coloured and has a creamy consistency that’s easy to spread on your skin.
Shea butter has been used as an ingredient for centuries due to its moisturising benefits, particularly in Africa where the shea tree is native. It is often used in natural skin care products, lip balms, baby moisturisers, body oils and much much more.
It has a high amount of vitamins and fatty acids and is easy-to-spread which makes shea butter a great product for smoothing, soothing, and conditioning your skin. It also contains anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal and antioxidant properties - so it is packed full of goodness for us.
Shea butter contains:
- linoleic, palmitic, stearic, and oleic fatty acids, ingredients that balance oils on your skin
- vitamins A, E, and F, antioxidant vitamins that promote circulation and healthy skin cell growth
- triglycerides, the fatty part of the shea nut that nourishes and conditions your skin
- cetyl esters, the waxy part of the shea nut butter that conditions skin and locks in moisture
Shea butter doesn’t contain chemical irritants known to dry out skin and it doesn’t clog pores. It is suitable for pretty much all skin types.
When you apply shea topically, the fatty acids are quickly absorbed into your skin and they act as a “refatting” agent, restoring lipids and creating moisture. This restores the barrier between your skin and the outside environment, holding moisture in and reducing your risk of dryness.
Benefits of Shea Butter:
Anti-fungal:
Products made from the Shea tree have been found to contain powerful ingredients to fight some skin infections caused by fungi. While shea butter may not be able to help every kind of fungal issue, it kills spores of the fungi that causes ringworm and athlete’s foot.
Anti-inflammatory:
Shea butter’s anti-inflammatory properties help soothe skin and relieve itching. This may be very helpful for inflammatory skin conditions, such as eczema, dermatitis and psoriasis. Redness and swelling may be calmed by applying shea butter products. Shea butter absorbs rapidly, which could bring quick relief for flare-ups. It has been found that shea butter may be just as effective as medicated creams.
Emollient:
The rich tree-nut oils in shea butter can soak into your skin, creating a smooth and soft barrier that seals in moisture. This moisturising effect can last several hours and is perfect for those dry winter days.
Anti-aging:
Shea butter’s moisturising and antioxidant properties work together to help your skin generate healthy new cells.
By boosting collagen production and promoting new cell generation, shea butter may help reduce the wrinkles and fine lines that environmental stress and aging can bring out on skin. It’s is also thought that shea butter stops keloid fibroblasts (scar tissue) from reproducing, while encouraging healthy cell growth to take their place. This may help skin heal, reducing the appearance of stretch marks and scarring.
Acne:
Shea butter is rich in different kinds of fatty acids. This unique combination helps clear skin of excess oil (sebum). Shea butter restores moisture to skin and locks it in to the epidermis, so skin doesn’t dry out. This helps to restore the natural balance of oils in our skin which may help stop acne before it starts.
How to use Shea Butter:
On skin:
You can apply shea butter directly to your skin. You can use your fingers to scoop a teaspoon or so of shea butter from your jar, and then rub it onto your skin until it’s completely absorbed.
It is a very popular ingredient for skin balms and salves due to all the benefits listed above. It is very easy to work with and can produce a number of consistencies depending on how it is mixed. For example if it is whipped it can create a luxuriously soft and light cream.
On hair:
Shea butter can also be applied directly to your hair.
If your hair is naturally curly or porous, you could use shea butter as a conditioner. Make sure your hair has absorbed most of the shea butter before rinsing and styling as usual. You can also use a small amount of shea butter as a leave-in conditioner.
If your hair is naturally straight, thin, or fine, try using shea butter on the ends of your hair. Applying shea butter to your roots may cause an oily-looking buildup.
Our Shea Butter is an Australian Certified Organic (ACO) Shea Butter, which has been refined using a steam process (to remove the odour), avoiding an alternative refining process that uses nasty chemicals. It is not melted prior to packing and is carved directly from the block, which means it will retain it's luxurious creamy texture upon use.
If you haven't used shea butter you may be pleasantly surprised with how luxurious and moisturising it feels on your skin. Something so simple is packed full of many sought after benefits!
We'd love to know what your favourite recipe is for using shea butter. Share below!
