Shea Butter Benefits

Raise your hand if you want your skin to feel buttery soft without clogging your pores! Us too, which is why we’re talking about shea butter in all forms. But what is raw shea butter exactly? It’s a fat extracted from the nuts of an African shea tree that serves as a natural moisturizer for the skin. It contains vitamins A, E, and F - all properties that help promote the generation of smooth, healthy looking skin. 

The natural moisturizer has triglycerides that work to nourish the skin and interacts well with other ingredients, such as plant-based oils found in some skincare products that nurture a gorgeous glow. Basically, we could all use more shea butter products in our lives. 

Among the many benefits of shea butter, its texture is light and smooth and feels luxurious against the skin, especially when used on drier areas, such as the elbows and knees. It’s also beneficial for hair care to keep it looking shiny and frizz-free, as well as feeling soft and silky. In a similar way, shea butter benefits the skin by helping to alleviate and soothe dryness, while also preserving the body’s natural oils. 

During the winter months and other dry periods of the year, applying generous amounts of shea butter to the skin prevents flakiness and cracking caused by the lack of humidity and extreme temperatures. It quickly absorbs, leaving you with hydrated, vitamin-enriched skin. That’s why raw shea butter is often found in lotions, body butters, lip balms, and other beauty products used on a daily basis.

While shea butter products do not prevent or heal these sensitive skin conditions, they feel soothing and calming against flare-ups. The gentleness of this natural ingredient makes it a favorite to use for all ages.  

Using Shea Butter for the Body

A number of popular beauty products contain pure shea butter. One of the most common uses is as a body lotion. When you get out of the shower, as you start your day, or whenever your skin needs some extra TLC, shea butter will do the trick of replenishing moisture. For skin that’s cracked or chapped from winter winds or sensitive from potential sun damage, it works as a salve and generates a calming effect. 

To take it a step further, natural shea butter is an ingredient found in many body butters with its thick, rich formula that’s meant to hydrate and nurture the skin. If you want an at-home, luxurious product to make your skin feels brand new, use shea butter to transform the texture from dry and flaky to silky and smooth. For those suffering from dry hands or feet, work in a generous amount of body butter between the knuckles and on the heels to fully moisturize. Then, cover with fuzzy gloves or socks to seal in the moisture.

Magic Beauty Balm

One of the main products that relies on shea butter benefits for the body is our Magic Beauty Balm. With a name like that, how can you go wrong? If you want to know how to get soft lips, whip out this multi-purpose balm and let the nourishing properties of shea butter take over for a full eight hours. 

In addition to shea butter, the formula has a rich blend of skin-soothing oils, including argan oil and jojoba oil, to make skin feel hydrated. The beauty balm is light enough to not leave behind an oily residue, but thick enough to penetrate the skin, which makes this product a must-have in your bag. 

Using Shea Butter for the Face

Daily moisturizers that contain shea butter keeps the skin’s appearance supple and soft. Apply all over the face and down the neck to nourish the skin with tons of antioxidants. Also, look for the ingredient in eye creams, overnight facial treatments Prime + Perfect Mask, and other beauty products meant specifically for the face. By keeping your skin moisturized daily, you will be better apt at preventing wrinkles and fine lines, as well as maintaining overall skin elasticity. It’s the fountain of youth!

Two products that work well on normal to sensitive skin types, are the Magic Beauty Balm Stick and the Deep Hydration Face Cream. Add these to your skincare routine to reap their shea butter benefits on a regular basis.

Magic Beauty Balm Stick

The Magic Beauty Balm Stick is portable and easy to apply on-the-go. The shea butter conditions the skin, while added ingredients, such as coconut oil and jojoba oil, to lock in a fresh, dewy look.

For added moisture, with a hint of shimmer, make life easy by taking this beauty balm stick with you wherever you go. Its light-reflecting pigment leaves the face looking refreshed. Add a swipe wherever you need a dose of hydration - under the eyes, on the lips, or anywhere dry skin occurs - and let the shea ingredients sink in. 

Deep Hydration Face Cream

For a spa-like treatment for your face, our Deep Hydration Face Cream is a super hydrating formula that absorbs fully into the skin to leave you looking luminous and fresh-faced. The blend of ingredients include shea butter, which nurtures and hydrates the skin. 

It locks in moisture for eight hours. Apply it on your face as part of your daily skincare routine both in the morning and at night to ensure healthy, glowing skin. 

Using Shea Butter for Hair Care

The skin isn’t the only area that reaps the shea butter benefits. This ingredient also works wonders to soothe dry, coarse hair. In terms of hair care, pure natural shea butter prevents breakage and seals in moisture to leave behind more lustrous locks. The high fatty acids found in shea butter replenishes moisture to hair that may have been damaged from the sun or heat styling tools. It also helps to soothe an itchy, dry scalp without leaving behind a greasy feel to strands. 

Shea butter is found in many conditioners, hair masks, and leave-in treatments. For extra dry scalps, apply a product with shea butter to the hair and wrap it up in a towel. Allow it to sink in and become fully absorbed. It’s gentle enough to use on all hair types and fights frizz from naturally curly hair or thicker hair that tends to dry out easily. 

During the summer, apply post-swim after you’ve washed your hair to help protect it from the harshness of the sun, chlorine, and salt. Just like your skin, your hair can get sun damage, too. During the winter months, the moisturizing benefits for hair, like those found in our Conditioning Detangler, work as a blanket of nourishment when the air becomes drier and styling tools are more commonly used on a regular basis.

Conditioning Detangler

An everyday product like the Conditioning Detangler leaves hair feeling silky and hydrated with ingredients including shea butter, fruit and flower extracts, and a special blend of oils, like coconut and jojoba. There are many benefits of coconut oil and jojoba oil in hair products, including keeping your frizz at bay and tangles away. 

Using Shea Butter for Makeup

Prepping the skin with moisturizing products helps makeup stay put for longer and hydrates the skin throughout the day. When applying color, seek out products that are nourishing to the skin. Cream-based products are always a great option to hydrate your skin and leave you with a dewy, radiant complexion!

Lip Crayon

Lipstick and chapped lips aren’t a good combination, which is why our Lip Crayon changes the game for those who want a pop of color with a boost of hydration at the same time. The creamy formula locks in moisture and keep lips buttery soft, while the array of colors achieves a perfect blend for any pout. 

Shea butter isn’t a new ingredient, but it is a magical one by the way it transforms the look and health of the skin. Fortunately, it’s readily available in most skin, hair, and makeup products to keep you hydrated from head to toe. 

Follow a Simple Shea Butter Skincare and Makeup Routine

Now that so many beauty products contain shea butter as one of their main ingredients, it’s easier than ever to take advantage of its many benefits. For a quick and simple skincare and makeup routine, all it takes is a few simple steps.

Prep the Skin 

Remove all makeup, dirt, and residue from the face by cleansing the face with a gentle soap and patting the skin dry. Next, apply a a href="https://www.honest.com/beauty-products/skincare/moisturizers">face moisturizer with shea butter all over the face and neck. Apply under eye cream and a hydrating primer. Our Everything Primer - Glow contains shea butter, hyaluronic acid, and peony root extract as its main ingredients to prep the skin and deliver a healthy-looking, vitamin-enriched glow.

Create a Smooth Base

Once the skin has the base skincare products, apply coverage as needed. Start with a concealer to cover dark spots of the face by tapping the product in with the tip of your finger. Then, apply a few dots of foundation with a beauty sponge and blend out and into the hairline and down the neck for a flawless finish. 

Customize with Color

Finish with a soft-hued blush and lip color for a fresh, dewy glow and add mascara and intense eye shadow for a more dramatic look. Whatever products you decide to use for color, the base keeps the skin hydrated all day. 

By incorporating natural ingredients like shea butter and removing synthetic fragrances, talc, and silicones from your skincare and makeup equation, you’ll keep your skin in good shape, while still achieving the final look you want.

Where We Would Be Without Shea Butter? 

If there is one ingredient to add to your beauty routine, shea butter is it. Take advantage of all the shea butter benefits to change the way your skin looks and feels. Even after the first use, you’ll already see the difference. 

Add it to your skincare regimen and use it on your hair. However you decide to use this all-natural ingredient is up to you. Though, we think once you get started, you’ll never want to go without using it again.