7 Amazing Things Shea Butter Can Do To Your Skin
**This guest post is brought to you by Hannah Do, founder of the blog Thank Your Skin!**
Shea Your Way to Better Skin!
With its exceptional healing and moisturizing properties, it isn’t surprising to find shea butter in a lot of skin care items these days. You can spot it in lotions, face creams and even after sun products. And it isn’t just a recent trend. Shea butter has been a staple beauty ingredient for several centuries already.
In case you are wondering why it’s extremely popular among beauty enthusiasts, here are 7 skin benefits of shea butter you should know.
1. Treat eczema
Shea butter offers a handful of healing benefits, particularly on skin affected by eczema. It contains a good amount of vitamin A which can target the root cause of your skin problem.
Shea butter can address eczema by halting the abnormal growth of your skin cells. It also works to relieve the itching and redness associated with it.
On top of these unique healing properties, applying shea butter daily on your skin can also help bring back your skin’s health and smoothness.
2. Diminish wrinkles
One of the most common reasons of skin aging is the decline in your natural collagen production. Aside from this factor, too much sun exposure, pollution and even stress can also result in fine lines and wrinkles.
If you are worrying about these things showing on your skin, you’ll definitely benefit from shea butter’s anti-aging properties. It can boost your collagen production while providing your skin enough moisture and nourishment to remain supple and elastic.
3. Fight dry skin
Dry skin isn’t only limited to the cracked and flaking skin you experience during the cold season. Your elbows, knees and heels can also suffer from extreme dryness that can happen all throughout the year.
If you’re struggling to find the best moisturizer that can end your frustration, natural shea butter is one of your best solutions. Shea butter offers deep moisturizing benefits, which means it can target more than just your skin’s superficial layers. It’s also an emollient that can enhance your skin’s natural barrier to lock in moisture.
4. Offer UV protection
Shea butter contains cinnamic acid which is known for its mild photoprotective property. Although it can help protect you against the sun’s harmful rays up to a certain extent, it’s not a good idea to use it as an alternative to your sunblock as it’s only estimated to contain an SPF of 6 . You can, however, use it to augment the effects of your existing sun protection creams.
Another good use of shea butter is for soothing sunburned skin. Since it has calming and healing properties, applying shea butter on the affected part can result in pain relief and decrease in irritation.
5. Reduce inflammation
Shea butter is widely known for its anti-inflammatory properties, which makes it good to use in getting rid of acne and soothing irritated skin. It has a potent antibacterial property to fight the acne-causing microorganisms in your face, too.
To get the most of your shea butter, it’s recommended that you wash your face prior to its application. This will ensure that you’ve gotten rid of all the impurities and excess oil in your pores that can block it from penetrating your skin. Prepping the skin properly is important if you want to get its full benefits.
Shea butter also works well in soothing insect bites, minor cuts and skin injuries.
6. Remedy stretch marks
If you’ve just given birth or lost a few good pounds, you can use shea butter to decrease the appearance of your stretch marks. It helps nourish the dermal layer of your skin to maintain its elasticity and encourage collagen production.
Other than addressing existing stretch marks, you can also use shea butter to prevent new ones from forming, particularly if you are currently pregnant. Since most cosmetic creams contain harsh ingredients that can penetrate the skin, it’s best if you can stick with natural remedies throughout and after your pregnancy.
7. Gets rid of razor bumps
Razor bumps and ingrown hair can happen with the wrong hair removal technique. They aren’t only unappealing, but they can also be painful and itchy.
Shea butter is great to use as an alternative to your shaving cream. It has a high moisturizing property that can protect and lubricate your skin as you shave.
Aside from this, you can also apply shea butter to treat your razor bumps. Its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties are exactly what you need to tame down those unsightly bumps on your skin.
Conclusion
Not all forms of shea butter are created equal. Before you get your hands on one, make sure to find a shea butter that’s unrefined.
Unrefined shea butter means that it hasn’t undergone processing. It’s a good way of making sure that the butter you’ll be applying on your skin is free from chemicals and preservatives.
Meet the Bella Behind the Blog: Hannah Do is the founder of Thank Your Skin, a beauty blog dedicated to provide honest skin care advice and information. She aspires to help her readers achieve their most beautiful skin by sharing personal tips learned through both years of experience and thorough research. Check out her latest article about buying the best vitamin C serum. You can find her on Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook.
