Shea butter is one of nature’s most talented ingredients. It can help to treat everything from nappy rash and dry skin to itchy scalps and insect bites.
The reason shea butter is such a multi-tasking powerhouse is that it’s absolutely packed with fatty acids. In fact, it contains five different fatty acids – stearic, oleic, linoleic and arachidic. It’s also rich in vitamins and anti-oxidants.
The benefits of shea butter for dry skin
Those fatty acids we mentioned are super nourishing for dry skin. Shea butter is incredibly rich – a little goes a long way so you don’t need much to reap the benefits. And you can use it from head to toe (it even makes a good all-natural lip balm). Try it on cracked heels, rhino elbows and wind-ravaged hands.
Shea butter for stretch marks
Many women get stretchmarks when they’re pregnant. If your mum got them, there’s a good chance you’ll get them too. If you want to minimise your tiger stripes, it can help to moisturise your skin everyday throughout your pregnancy, using shea butter. The vitamin A in shea butter helps skin to become more supple, which means it copes better with stretching as your bump grows.
Shea butter to help eczema
Shea butter is naturally anti-inflammatory and anti-allergenic so can help with a range of skin conditions. Some people swear by it for easing eczema.
Shea butter for babies
The properties that make shea butter so good for your skin also make it great for babies’ skin. It can really help to soothe nappy rash and is ideal for baby massage as the butter melts into a liquid when it’s warm.
Shea butter to soothe insect bites
There are few things as itchy as an insect bite, whether you’ve been attached by a mosquito or nibbled on by a flea. As a natural anti-inflammatory, shea butter can help to fight the itching and reduce swelling.
Shea butter for dry and damaged hair
Shea butter is incredibly nourishing and helps to boost hydration and protect hair from further damage. With regular use, it can leave your hair feeling noticeably softer, smoother and shinier.
Shea butter for natural black hair
Thanks to its fatty acids, shea butter can help to make hair feel softer and easier to manage. It can be a bit too rich for super-fine hair, but works particularly well on 4B and 4C afro hair.
Shea butter to ease itchy scalps
As an anti-inflammatory, shea butter can help to calm and soothe scalps, reduce itching and prevent flaking (aka dandruff).
Sustainable shea butter
Shea butter is naturally sustainable. It comes from the nut of the fruit grown on the vitellaria paradoxa tree. Each tree can produce hundreds of fruits each season and can keep on producing them for 200 years!
Supporting women
Shea butter is sometimes called women’s gold because it’s usually women who gather the nuts. Our shea butter is ethically sourced from Ghana. It helps to provide a livelihood for the women who harvest the butter, as well as supporting local biodiversity projects.
Ready to reap the benefits of shea butter for yourself? You’ll find it in several of our Brave Botanicals shampoos and conditioners, and it’s a star ingredient in our all new Coconut and Shea Butter shampoo bar.