Shea butter
This is fat that’s extracted from the nuts of the shea tree. It’s solid at warm temperatures and has an off-white or ivory colour. Shea trees are native to West Africa.
Shea butter has been used as a cosmetic ingredient for many years. Its high concentration of vitamins and fatty acids — combined with its easy-to-spread consistency — make it a great product for smoothing, soothing, and conditioning your skin.
Below are some benefits you can derive from using shea butter.
Benefits of Shea Butter
It’s safe for all skin types
Shea butter is technically a tree nut product. But unlike most tree nut products, it’s very low in the proteins that can trigger allergies.
There’s no medical literature documenting an allergy to topical shea butter.
Shea butter doesn’t contain chemical irritants known to dry out skin, and it doesn’t clog pores. It’s appropriate for nearly any skin type.
2. It’s moisturizing
Shea is typically used for its moisturizing effects. These benefits are tied to shea’s fatty acid content, including linoleic, oleic, stearic, and palmitic acids.
When you apply shea topically, these oils are rapidly absorbed into your skin. They act as a “refatting” agent, restoring lipids and rapidly creating moisture.
This restores the barrier between your skin and the outside environment, holding moisture in and reducing your risk of dryness.
It’s thought that she stops keloid fibroblasts — scar tissue — from reproducing while encouraging healthy cell growth to take their place.
This may help your skin heal, minimizing the appearance of stretch marks and scarring.
it may help reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles
By boosting collagen production and promoting new cell generation, shea may help reduce what researchers call photoaging — the wrinkles and fine lines that environmental stress and ageing can create on the skin.
It offers added sun protection
Shea butter can’t be used by itself as an effective sunscreen.
But using shea butter on your skin does give you some added sun protection, so layer it over your favourite sunscreen on days you’ll be spending outside.
Shea butter contains an estimated SPF of 3 to 4.
It may help prevent hair breakage
Shea butter hasn’t been studied specifically for its ability to make hair stronger.
However, one 2017 study found that a chemically similar West African plant made hair significantly more resistant to breakage.
It may help treat dandruff
One way to treat dandruff (atopic dermatitis) is to restore moisture to your dry and irritated scalp.
One review found that shea butter when used in combination with other moisturizers, could help decrease dandruff flakes and reduce the risk of flare-ups.
More research is needed to determine how effective shea is when used alone.
It may help soothe conditions like eczema, dermatitis, and psoriasis
Shea’s anti-inflammatory properties help soothe skin and relieve itching. This may prove especially helpful for inflammatory skin conditions, such as eczema and psoriasis.
Shea also absorbs rapidly, which could mean quick relief for flare-ups.
Research even suggests that the butter could work just as well as medicated creams in treating eczema.
It may help soothe sunburn and other skin burns
Research suggests that oils may be beneficial for superficial (first-degree) skin burns, such as sunburn.
Shea’s anti-inflammatory components may reduce redness and swelling. Its fatty acid components may also soothe the skin by retaining moisture during the healing process.
Although the researchers in this study established that the use of shea butter, aloe vera, and other natural products is common, more research is needed to assess their efficacy.
18. It may help soothe insect bites
Shea has been traditionally used to soothe bee stings and insect bites.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that shea butter may help bring down swelling that bites and stings can cause.
That said, there isn’t any clinical research to support this.
If you’re experiencing severe pain and swelling from stings or bites, consider seeing a health professional and stick to proven treatments.
It can help promote wound healing
In addition to reducing underlying inflammation, she is also linked to tissue remodelling that’s crucial for treating wounds.
Its protective fatty acids may also help shield wounds from environmental irritants during the healing process.
It may help relieve arthritis pain
Arthritis is caused by underlying inflammation in the joints.
A 2016 animal study on shea oil concentrate suggests that it can help reduce inflammation while also protecting joints from further damage.
Although this study focused on knee joints, these potential benefits could extend to other body areas.
It may help soothe muscle soreness
Muscles that have been overextended can be affected by inflammation and stiffness as your body repairs muscle tissue.
it may help sore muscles in the same way it may help joint pain — by reducing inflammation.
It may help relieve congestion
A study suggests that shea extract may help alleviate nasal congestion.
When used in nasal drops, it may reduce inflammation in the nasal passages.
It could also help reduce mucosal damage, which often leads to nasal congestion.
These effects could be beneficial when dealing with allergies, sinusitis, or the common cold.
Where do all of these benefits come from?
The benefits of shea butter come from its chemical makeup. 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
How to use shea butter
On skin
You can apply the butter directly to your skin. Raw, unrefined shea is easy to spread.
You can use your fingers to scoop a teaspoon or so of shea from your jar, and then rub it onto your skin until it’s completely absorbed.
Shea butter is slippery and can keep makeup from adhering to your face, so you may prefer to apply it at night before bed.
On hair
Raw shea butter can also be applied directly to your hair.
If your hair is naturally curly or porous, consider using 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 it as a leave-in conditioner.
If your hair is naturally straight, thin, or fine, consider using a shea on the ends of your hair. Applying shea to your roots may cause an oily-looking buildup.
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