Shea Butter- a skin saver!

Shea butter, also known as the Shea nut butter is a natural fat extracted from the shea tree and it's fruit. The fruit is crushed and then boiled. Shea butter is used in many cosmetics as an emollient (substances that soften and smooth the skin). It's also used in West African cooking and sometimes even  as a substitute for cocoa butter in chocolate. All natural shea butter can be used on your skin and be eaten as well. 

How can this benefit your skin? Shea butter is known for it's qualities as a moisturizer and as aforementioned, a great emollient. It has anti-inflammatory properties and is very effective in treating conditions such as scars, burns, rashes, acne, very dry skin, wrinkles and psoriasis. It nourishes the skin with vitamins A, E and F. These help your skin keep clear and healthy while protecting and rejuvenating your skin cells.

What's my personal experience with Shea butter? Since using Tazorac for my recent explosion of acne due to hormonal imbalances, I've been experiencing terribly scabby, dry, flaky skin and it looks absolutely awful with my makeup. I've been using Shea butter for 2 weeks and it's absolutely saving my face. At first, I was a bit hesitant because .... it's butter!!! But once applied, it really doesn't feel greasy. I even put some on my chapped lips and cuticles, the difference it makes on my lips is instantaneous.

The flakiness that was once all over my face, is now really only on those areas where I put the Tazorac and even there, it's down to a minimum. The redness that was all over my face from the heightened sensitivity caused by the acne cream is down and I can finally smile without my face feeling tight!

I definitely recommend Shea butter for anyone with extremely sensitive/sensitive & acne prone skin. At this point in time, my skin is so sensitive from the acne cream that it cannot stand perfumes or extra ingredients present in most moisturizers, the 8$CAD 100% Shea butter that I picked up at my local Jean Coutu is totally saving my life.

Where can I get this and how do I use it? As I mentioned, I got my Shea butter at my local Jean Coutu. It's called Les Karités and it's labeled as 100% pure Shea butter. I've also seen other brands of Shea butter at Pharmaprix and even your local supermarket (pharmacy section) or you can order it online. However, I haven't tried the latter yet but I will for my next fix of Shea butter. If you have a good online store to recommend, by all means, leave a comment or shoot us an email (you can use our contact form here )

The Shea butter that I am using is a bit solid and grainy. I simply rub my fingers against the butter and it melts on my fingertips. Then, I just pat along my face and keep repeating until my whole face is covered. I've been using Shea butter every day and night with the best results that I've seen from any of my past moisturizers.

If you're really interested in trying out Shea butter, check out this very informative article about shea butter and what to look for.