Shea Butter is a common ingredient in many skin care products and is praised for it's ability to moisturize, fade dark spots, and reduce the signs of aging. Like tallow Shea butter has a whole plethora of benefits to help keep your skin smooth, flexible, and healthy.
What is shea butter
Shea butter is a creamy fat found in nuts growing on shea trees in African countries. It’s solid at room temperature but melts on contact with skin, similar to coconut oil and tallow. It’s also edible and commonly used African recipes, but it’s primarily found in skin and hair care products in the United States. You can safely apply shea butter to your face, lips and body as it doesn't cause allergies even in people with peanut or tree nut allergies (source). Some body scrubs and hair conditioners also contain shea butter for its moisturizing effects.
The benefits
- We use raw unrefined shea butter because it's high in nutrients and vitamins that are great for skin. Shea butter contains linoleic, palmitic, stearic, and oleic fatty acids, which are all ingredients that balance oils on your skin. It also contains vitamins A, E, and F. Each of these vitamins is an antioxidant that promote circulation and healthy skin cell growth.
- Just like tallow, Shea butter has anti-inflammatory properties stemming from its vitamin E content. By reducing inflammation Shea butter can help keep your skin smooth, flexible, and healthy.
- Shea butter also contains vitamin A, E, and F which are antioxidants that helps fight the signs of aging, improve complexion reduce risks of certain diseases, and keep skin healthy all by defending against free radicals.
- Vitamin F helps correct hyperpigmentation and aids in moisturizing the skin. It also helps to reduce acne, dryness, and wrinkles.
- Fatty acids help to maintain a skin barrier that keeps in moisture and helps sooth conditions like atopic dermatitis (eczema) and psoriasis.
- Daily use will help keep your skin soft and smooth!
- It's shelf stable for up to a year in the sealed jar. That means it doesn't need preservatives because it stays fresh for up to a year in our sealed container. Keep moisture out of the jar as best you can, and close it up when not in use to ensure it lasts as long as possible. We only use amber glass jars so you don't have to keep it in a dark place, but if you move it to a clear or semi transparent container, then be sure and keep it out of light too.
As we mentioned before, our family has severe eczema and we have tried many things to find relief only to realize later that some of those things were doing more harm than good. Once we started learning about the different effects ingredients can have on our skin we decided it was time to use an all natural moisturizer. That was a great decision, but an expensive one so we learned to make our own and have decided to share our products with an intent to sell them more affordably than other truly natural brands.