All you need to know about Shea butter

#INGREDIENTSDIRECTORY

Shea butter is one of my favourite ingredients. It was my introduction into natural skincare and has been a staple product for me, for as long as I can remember!

Today’s post looks at what is shea butter, its characteristics and more. Keep reading to find out benefits of this popular but underrated ingredient.

What is shea butter?

Shea butter is a natural butter extracted from the nut of the African shea tree. A natural moistouriser and it’s origin is traced to African countries – it grows in most West African countries, in the dry parts of the regions.. It is widely used in cosmetics for it’s well tolerability properties.

INCI: Butyrospermum Parkii Butter.

Key fact: Shea butter has been used for centuries to sooth dry skin. It’s very effective in hot and dry climate and a treatment for rheumatism (inflammation) within traditional African medicine systems.

Has high fat content and good stability.

BENEFITS:

• Helps relieve inflammation, and a great choice for dry and irritated skin such as eczema.

• A unique combination of various fatty acids and this helps to repair skin barrier.

• can be used for soothing and healing after injury.

• Helps relieve muscle and joint pain.

• Has high anti-oxidant properties which make it suitable as anti-ageing product.

• Potential to reduce visibility of stretch marks and scarring.

• A great choice for dry and irritated skin.

• Potential to soothe insect bite.

CHARACTERISTICS

Scent: strong nutty/Smokey. The nutty scent is due to the chemical composition of the butter and the Smokey characteristics is from the process it was made (toasting). If you see a shea butter that does not smell, it is likely to be refined and it would not have the benefits and characteristics of an unrefined product.

Suitability: all skin type

Colour: off-white/ivory. (if you see a white shea butter, it is likely it has been refined)

Texture:  Soft at room temperature, and spreads easily into the skin (Depending on the climate where you are it could be thick and have a tacky appearance. It melts easily into the skin and could leave a greasy sight if over-used.

Absorption rate: slow. It is a rich heavy cream. So, if you want to use as a stand-alone product, I’ll recommend in the night.

USAGE AMOUNT: Up to 100%

POTENTIAL CHALLENGE

Prone to graininess if not melted properly when used to make a hot-process cream. This occurs when the product is not cooled properly in the cool-down phase and it occurs because the hard fatty acids solidify before the soft ones. To address this challenge, stir to a trace.

Smell could be off-putting to some, this can be addressed by mixing woodsy categories of essential oils such as Sandalwood, Cedarwood, Clery Sage etc. to balance the nutty and smoky scent.

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EXTRA CONSIDERATION

One common question I get asked regarding shea butter is whether it darkens the skin. Is this true?

This depends on when and how you use shea butter on your skin. Generally, shea butter does not darken skin – as it has characteristics that helps to fade dark spots, address hyperpigmentation and reduce the visibility of stretch marks. This tells us that shea butter does not darken skin.

The so-called darkness that occurs with the use of shea butter is called tanning. Now, what is tanning?

Tanning occurs when the skin is exposed to the sun. This is a natural occurrence and the skin’s natural defence against photodamage created by UV radiation. Dark skin is susceptible to tan quickly due to the high content of melanin in dark skin.

It’s also important to note that shea butter has some skin-protecting factors due to it’s characteristics. but it’s not regarded as an SPF. These facts may appear contradictory, but they are not.

To illustrate the above point, many people are comfortable to use shea butter on their body and there are usually no issues with this. This is because the body is likely not exposed to the sun. It is not susceptible to tanning like the face. It is not exposed to the sun like the face.

I hope that was not a lot to take in.

Now, to how do you use shea butter to prevent/minimise the tanning effect?

1. Avoid using it in the day. I mentioned earlier, it’s best to use in the night. You are not going out and are not susceptible to sunlight.

2. Mix with another carrier oil. There are different carrier oils out there – jojoba, macadamia, sunflower, argan, blackseed, etc. pick one or two that are accessible to you and mix your shea butter with the oils.

3. Use shea butter on a clean face. Don’t just apply the shea butter on a dirty face and accumulate more diet. Not good.

4. Use shea butter on damp skin. This is one of the best ways to use anhydrous products (products that do not contain water) the little remains of water on the skin will act as penetration enhancers and this will make the product absorb easily and quicker into the skin. This will also help to reduce the greasiness/shine effect that occurs after using shea butter.

5. Don’t overuse shea butter. Shea butter is very oily and a little goes a long way. Use a minimal quantity to prevent the greasy effect. This will also aid the penetration into the skin.

That’s all about shea butter for now. I hope you learned something new about shea butter. Next time you meet someone telling your shea butter darkens skin, you know what to tell them hun!

Do let me know if you’ll like me to cover any other ingredients like this by responding to this mail or drop a comment below.

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Until next time, remain True and Authentic

Your skincare friend,

Azeezat.