Shea butter and its benefits

Shea Butter Benefits

• Moisturizing: The concentration of natural vitamins and fatty acids in shea makes it incredibly nourishing and moisturizing for skin. It is often used to remedy dry skin and to help protect the skin’s natural oils.
• Reduces Inflammation: A 2010 study found that due to its cinnamic acid and other natural properties, shea butter was anti-inflammatory. One compound in particular, lupeol cinnamate, was found to reduce skin inflammation and even potentially help avoid skin mutations. This also makes it beneficial for some people with acne.
• Skin Smoothing: Shea aids in the skin’s natural collagen production and contains oleic, stearic, palmitic, and linolenic acids that protect and nourish the skin to prevent drying. With long-term use, many people report skin softening and strengthening as well as wrinkle reduction.

The good news is, it’s great to use on kids and babies too!

Ways to Use Shea Butter

Shea butter is one of the most versatile natural beauty ingredients and I use it daily in some form. I’ve used it for years in everything from my homemade lotion bars and original magnesium body butter to homemade lip balms and healing salves.

Some of my favorite uses for shea butter:

1. By itself for face and body as a natural moisturizer
2. In a shea butter lotion bar stick for easy use
3. After sun or beach exposure to replenish skin
4. Alone or in a pregnancy salve to ward off stretch marks
5. As a natural cuticle cream
6. As the best under-eye wrinkle remover and bag-reducer
7. As a massage butter
8. In my homemade velvety soft whipped body butter
9. On sore/raw noses during a cold or flu
10. Added to basic homemade lotion
11. On scars to naturally help collagen production
12. As a base for homemade deodorant
13. By itself for low-grade sun protection
14. Whipped into magnesium body butter
15. As a natural baby-care product (alone) or ingredient in baby care recipes
16. By itself on the lips or in homemade lip balms
17. In a homemade shimmer lip balm
18. On the eyelids before applying makeup to make it last longer
19. To improve skin elasticity (some even say it helps with cellulite)
20. On the hair or scalp (in mixture with other natural ingredients)
21. In homemade liquid creme foundation and makeup

TIP: If the shea butter is too thick for what you’re trying to do, melt it over very low heat and then use. Do not let it get close to boiling or you will lose beneficial properties. You can also emulsify it with other oils using the technique in my lotion recipe.