The Amazing Benefits of Shea Butter For Skin And Hair
Shea Butter and Its AMAZING Benefits
Shea butter is a thick, yellow butter made from the shea tree, a tree native to East and West Africa. The nuts from the tree are harvested and pounded, then boiled. As the nuts boil, the fat or butter rises to the top of the water. This butter is scooped off and allowed to cool. When it cools, what’s left is a rich, 100% pure shea butter.
Shea butter’s benefits are astounding. Aside from its softening effects, the butter has natural anti-inflammatory abilities and is rich in vitamins A, E and F. It is high in fatty acids and other nutrients that are needed to help the skin produce collagen. It even offers a level of protection from UV rays, acting as a partial but natural sunscreen for hair and skin.
REFINED AND RAW SHEA BUTTER
There are both refined and unrefined versions of shea butter. One easy way to tell the difference between refined and unrefined shea butter is by the colour and texture. Pure shea butter is yellow in colour, and has a distinct nutty smell that is a dead giveaway.
USING SHEA BUTTER
Your shea butter can be used as is, or whipped into a light cream with other oils added to boost its properties. A few drops of lavender oil or another scented essential oil can be added to the mix if you don’t like the nutty smell that shea is known for.
Shea butter helps natural hair grow by keeping it moist, soft and lubricated. Dry hair that tangles is bound to break more easily, so by keeping your ends and the length of your hair well-oiled with shea butter, you provide lubrication for your strands to slide past each other without becoming tangled. It’s also no secret that moisturized hair retains more length, so if you’re having trouble keeping your ends alive, shea butter may be the answer. Shea butter is also incredible for dry scalp. Its anti-inflammatory and moisturizing properties relieve your dry, itchy flaky scalp, creating a balanced and healthy environment for optimal hair growth.
How is Shea Butter used in Natural Hair Care?
Shea butter can be used in a number of ways. For one, you can warm the butter to melt it carefully down into a liquefied state and use it for a scalp massage. It’s an easy and effective way to get the solidified butter into your scalp. You can also mix liquefied shea butter into your deep conditioning treatments or masks to give them an extra softening kick.
Additionally, because of its thickness, shea butter can be used in styling for hold or to tame frizzy hair. Use some shea butter on your natural hair for twist-outs, braid-outs and even roller sets to help your hair keep its pattern. It may not last as long as store-bought mousses or gels, but it’s a great natural alternative to commercial holding products.
HAIR BENEFITS.
Buy coconut shea hair and body serum.
If your ends seem to have trouble retaining moisture more than the rest of your hair, shea butter can be applied to them to help seal in your moisturizer. With the thick butter over your hair shaft, water will evaporate less quickly from your ends and your hair will stay hydrated longer. Lastly, to add a deep, rich shine to your hair, rub a small amount of shea butter between your palms and smooth it into your hair.
When it comes to butters, shea may just be the king of them all.
Growing in popularity day by day, this butter’s nourishing ingredients as well as its moisturizing and softening properties make it one of the most loved butters in natural hair care today
