Shea butter is one of the world’s most popular cosmetic ingredients, and for good reason. Extracted from the nuts of the karité tree, this unassuming ingredient can moisturize, soothe, restore glow, fight off aging, and even help heal damaged skin.
Many use it only because it’s an effective moisturizer. But others use shea every day to combat a variety of different skin problems. So, let’s uncover some of these excellent shea butter benefits for skin.
Its A Moisturizing Marvel
The most important benefit of our shea butter is its properties as a moisturizer. It helps keep the skin supple and ensures it remains soft and smooth. When we are making a body lotion, there are very few ingredients that are as hydrating for the skin.
Better yet, rubbing this ingredient into the skin on its own works just fine. It’s a soft cosmetic butter that softens when applied to the skin. Spend extra time applying it to the elbows, knees, hands, and feet, as these areas are more prone to flaking and chapping.
Soothing Sensation
Skin that is inflamed or otherwise irritated can also benefit from shea butter. This magic ingredient quickly soothes sunburns and extra dry and inflamed skin patches. Shea butter is rich in ferulic acid, a powerful antioxidant that can help repair and prevent skin damage.
Extra dry skin can easily become inflamed and irritated. Dry skin is rough and uneven and is the perfect environment for bacteria and microorganisms to become stuck. This can lead to infections and soreness. The moisturizing and restorative power of shea butter can help you fight back against painful, dry skin.
Glow Getter
We all want glowing skin, but shea can actually be the answer we’re all looking for. It helps to make skin look more luminous, radiant, healthy, and glowing. This is because shea butter is packed with vitamins and nutrients our skin needs.
If you make your own beauty products, shea butter is perfect for use in a lotion or DIY face cream. If formulated properly, you’ll end up with a lotion that keeps skin feeling soft and actively improves its appearance.
It’s A Wrinkle Warrior
Shea butter is also a fantastic warrior against wrinkles! There are two ways it can benefit aging skin, and we’ve already discussed the first. Shea is rich in antioxidants, which help slow the oxidation of many different things (including our skin).
Free radicals, a byproduct of oxidation, are a major contributor to the formulation of wrinkles and aging skin. The antioxidants in our shea will bind these free radicals, allowing the body to remove them from the skin. Shea is also great at helping restore skin elasticity. As we age, we lose much of our skin’s natural springiness. But applying shea to the face can help ‘tone’ up and prevent sagging skin.
A Barrier Booster
The barrier protection of our skin is super important for keeping it healthy but also looking fresh and beautiful. Because of this, you can imagine that the skin takes a beating over the years. So, to help boost this barrier function, we can apply an ‘occlusive,’ just like shea butter.
An occlusive is any skincare ingredient that creates an oil-soluble barrier on the skin. Because oil will not mix with water, it helps ensure the skin remains hydrated by reducing moisture loss (known as TEWL). Environmental damage from harsh weather and pollutants can be reduced by applying an occlusive, such as shea butter.
Super Softener
Adding shea butter to your beauty products is the easiest way to incorporate a high-performance skin softener. It’s a fantastic ingredient for this, and It can be included in lotions, lip balms, creams, body butter, and a host of lovely DIY beauty products.
Combining shea butter with a carrier and essential oil for an easy-to-make body butter at home. It’s deeply soothing, nourishing, and skin-softening. You’ll never need to buy body butter again.
For Even-Tone Enthusiasts
Shea butter is super high in vitamins A and E, which are fantastic antioxidants. We’ve already talked about how antioxidants can help bind free radicals to minimize skin aging, but they can also help with evening out skin tone.
Antioxidants are a great addition to any skincare product designed to be used on skin affected by hyperpigmentation. If you have dark spots, shea butter is a fantastic ingredient to make use of.
Gentle On Sensitive Skin
My favorite thing about shea butter is how great it is for almost any skin type. This includes sensitive skin!
If you suffer from sensitive skin, you’ll know you must avoid so many different ingredients. But don’t worry about this one, as it’s generally good for any type of skin. Furthermore, it’s fantastic for use on the skin of newborns and babies. No need to find or make a hundred different products for the whole family anymore.
A Healing Helper
You already know that shea is great for soothing irritation, but did you know that it also helps to boost healing in the skin?
When skin is damaged, it rapidly loses moisture. Replacing it with a high-performance moisturizer like shea butter helps restore the moisture barrier and speed up the healing process. Is there anything shea butter can’t do?!
Its Easy to Find & Friendly on the Wallet
Shea butter used to be quite expensive. Products labeled with it would demand a premium. However, as consumer interest in this ingredient has grown, so has production. This had driven down the price and made it easier to find.
Take a look at your local drugstore. Many products, from budget to the most luxurious skincare available, include shea butter. Everyone is using it, so why shouldn’t you?
The cheapest way to use products that include shea butter benefits is to make them yourself. Get soft skin without the price tag and become a DIY skincare expert!
