Shea Butter Skin Benefits
Have you ever used shea butter on dry skin? If the answer is yes, you know from experience that shea butter is a superior moisturizer with an abundance of healing properties.
Melting shea butter into work worn hands feels like heaven. Take a pea sized amount and melt it between your fingertips, then massage the melty goodness into your cuticles and any cracks or dry spots on your hands.
Shea Butter works wonders to moisturize, soothe and protect even very dry, flaky, and irritated skin.
It's like you can actually feel it working to nourish and repair your skin. Did you know that with consistent use shea butter actually restores the skin's natural elasticity?
Numerous studies show that it contains key anti-inflammatory and anti-aging components, plus it's highly emollient and especially good at penetrating the skin. That's some amazing healing plant medicine if you ask me...
Shea butter contains a ton of naturally occurring healing elements, including vitamins, minerals, proteins, and a unique fatty acid profile.
What is shea butter + where does it come from?
Shea butter is a slightly yellowish or ivory-colored natural fat extracted by crushing and boiling the ripe fruit or nut of the shea tree. The making of shea butter is an indigenous craft of many African tribes. Traditionally shea butter has been used throughout Africa in cooking and medicinal applications.
Africans have traditionally referred to the trees as Gods gift to Africa because of their long, 300-year lifespan and the rich, highly nourishing butter that they yield.
Shea butter comes from the karite tree aka the shea tree which is indigenous to the dry savanna belt, which cuts a swath east to west across Africa from Sudan to Senegal, and into the foothills of the Ethiopian highlands. You can find the shea tree growing wild and abundant in 19 countries across the African continent.
Shea trees thrive in the natural landscape without any irrigation or toxic pesticides, and produce an abundance of fruit without synthetic fertilizers. These trees don't respond well to cultivation, they favor their natural growing conditions of the wild African savanna.
Women Supporting Women
It's important to emphasize the necessity of purchasing Fair Trade shea butter. The shea nuts are hand collected mostly by women and often carried for up to 10 miles to where they are dried and cracked to extract the butter.
Fair Trade shea butter is a sustainable natural resource benefiting millions of women + families across Africa.
The production process of shea butter is quite laborious work and illustrates why SpaGoddess Apothecary uses only Fair Trade Organic Shea Butter in our products. Millions of women across Africa depend on the shea butter industry to provide for their families.
We take care to verify that that all of our shea workers are paid well above market labor rates so that you can feel confident that you're buying a shea butter that promotes both healthy skin, and better lives for the women who make it.
Learn more about the amazing benefits of shea butter for your skin below.
The benefits of shea butter for your skin
Shea butter contains 60% fat and has a high level of non-saponifiables which makes it a highly effective emollient. Shea butter is comprised of fatty acids such as oleic, stearic, linoleic and palmitic and contains vitamins A, D, E and F --- which boost collagen production.
Organic Shea Butter is a superior moisturizer, containing remarkable healing properties for various skin ailments as it contains several natural anti-inflammatory agents. It penetrates deeply into the epidermis and leaves a smooth, satiny finish.
With consistent use you will experience softer, more resilient skin as well as smoother skin and a softening of fine lines and wrinkles.
We use fair trade shea butter in our Rose Garden Shea Butter Balm, Gardener's hand Repair, and our Mama + Baby Glowing Belly Butter.
Use the right amount
We formulate our butters without water to increase the shelf life and eliminate the need for preservatives. Our concentrated butter balms are best when used often, but sparingly. If you apply too much, the butter will not be absorbed and leave you feeling very oily.
Start with a pea sized amount + melt that between your fingertips.
Once the shea is melted, you can easily spread it over your skin in the ideal amount that will be readily absorbed.
a nutritive protection from the elements
It's highly beneficial to use shea butter for it's protective, occlusive properties to mitigate over-exposure to wind, sun, cold, etc. Apply a thicker protective layer to your skin before exposure. Use at least twice as much shea butter for a protective layer as you'd use for a moisturizer, and expect your skin to feel a little oily as you're applying more than can be readily absorbed.
If you're using the shea butter to protect your face, once you're out of the elements be sure to wash, removing the thicker protective layer of butter to let your skin breathe. Your skin will thank you for the nutritive protection from the elements just as much as it will appreciate you removing it when that level of extra protection is no longer needed.
Shea Butter contains a naturally occurring sunscreen ranging from 6-10, most commonly at about a 7 SPF.
The SPF properties vary between each batch of shea butter and depends on how much the raw material was processed.
Shea butter for healthy skin
Clinical studies have shown that using pure shea butter can soften and smooth the skin's appearance in as little as 4-6 weeks. Shea Butter's miraculous natural healing properties are further enhanced with the addition of essential oils.
Shea Butter users can experience a number of other amazing benefits for skin ailments, including relief from blemishes, itching, sunburns, small skin wounds, eczema, skin allergies, chapped lips, and wrinkles.
For Mama + Baby
Shea butter is a safe and natural moisturizing skin treatment for both mama and baby. Generously apply Mama Baby Glowing Belly Balm at least twice daily to lessen the potential for stretch marks on mom's growing belly, breasts + hips.
Used consistently, shea butter improves the skin's elasticity and will ease the tight and itchy feeling on your pregnant belly. Apply shea butter to nipples that are sore from breast-feeding. Shea butter is safe to use as diaper balm as well.
Good to know
Shea butter is recommended for sensitive skin and is safe to use during pregnancy and on babies. However it should be noted that shea nuts are tree nuts. Those with tree nut allergies, should avoid products with shea butter. Shea butter can be an irritant to those with latex allergies. If you have any concerns, we advise you to contact your doctor.