I've always liked shea butter as an ingredient. I remember that before we had our cosmetics brand Esencia Verde, I used to see body creams with shea butter and I liked that they were creamy, as well as nourishing—shea butter has vitamins A and E, in addition to having a very high fat content.
Since we launched our own Shea Butter, and I've started using it as a single ingredient, I've discovered a ton of uses I didn't know about, and that's making this product one of my favorites—by far.
I suppose you already know that I like multi-purpose products; I'm a simple person, I don't like to spend a lot of money or have a lot of things at home—especially not in the bathroom where I don't have the space to store them properly.
These are my favorite uses for Shea Butter:
1- Lip balm: Although carrying the whole bottle in my bag isn't convenient or efficient, I do like to use it morning and night as a lip balm and moisturizer. A little goes a long way to keep my lips nourished without feeling greasy, as the shea butter absorbs very quickly, and I don't have to think about lip balm for the rest of the day.
2- Hand cream: Washing my hands often is part of my daily routine, and because of this, my hands end up dry and tight, with thin, chapped skin. Since I started using shea butter on my hands—and I don't do it every day—I've noticed that the skin on my hands is more elastic and healthy, and my cuticles are softer. This winter, I haven't gotten any cold cuts or hangnails, as usually happens to me, and my friends have commented on how moisturized my hands look.
3- Foot cream: Sandal season is here, and my feet are never ready. Now I rub shea butter well into my feet when I do pedicures at home, and I notice that the calluses on my heels are much better, and in sandals, my feet look cared for.
4- Aftersun: This is a recent discovery. After a long day at the beach, where despite sunscreen and sun-protective shirts my children ended up with red, sunburned backs, shea butter, used as an aftersun lotion, left their skin nourished. I normally use aloe vera gel, and for sunburned skin, I'll continue using it since, besides nourishing and soothing, it's refreshing and easy to spread, while shea butter takes time to apply and can be uncomfortable or painful. However, applying it to their skin after a day in the sun—but without sunburn—has been fantastic.
5- Split ends/Fixing wax: You can use coconut or argan oil on the ends to temporarily seal and nourish them, giving them a healthy appearance, but for me, a touch of shea butter on the ends provides enough oil to give shine, and some weight to hold the hairstyle, without leaving the hair greasy afterwards.
6- Skin irritations: When you have a cold and end up with a chapped nose and upper lip, I haven't found a better remedy than shea butter. It nourishes, heals, and protects the skin. Simply wonderful.
Shea butter has a very smooth texture, but it is definitely more solid at room temperature than coconut oil, and it doesn't melt as easily on contact with the body, which means it needs to be spread well - it takes some work.
However, once well applied, it does not leave a greasy feeling as it is absorbed very quickly, and it is completely light both on the hands and on the lips.
Although I haven't done it myself, Shea Butter can also be used as a base for making DIY cosmetics - specifically creams and lipsticks.
How do you use shea butter?