Shea butter for face: how to choose and use?

Natural oils are one of the most useful components of various cosmetics and medicines given to us by nature. The rich vitamin and mineral composition allows you to make any mask or cream much more effective. In addition, almost all of them are perfectly combined with each other and allow you to have a complex effect on the skin or hair. Shea butter is considered one of the most popular and most beneficial. With its help, the population of Africa for many centuries has saved itself from the negative effects of scorching sunlight. Today, with it, men and women from all over the world take care of themselves.

In its natural form, the product looks like a solid mass of a yellowish tint of butter. It smells like a walnut mixed with a little coconut flavors. Such a mass easily melts from body heat and becomes like a soft cream. They produce oil from the fruits of a plant, which has several names.

The most common, which gave the name to the popular component of masks, is called shea, and it is also called shea or kolo. Most similar to oak, this tree in the natural environment is often found in the savannahs of Senegal or Nigeria. In Sudan and Mali, it is grown in special areas. Shea fruits are similar to small avocados, and it is from them that the healing oil is extracted by heat treatment.

There are two methods for producing a fatty solid mass, so necessary for most cosmetic companies.

• Manual way requires more time and effort. The bones of the shea fruit are broken into small pieces in large stupas or millstones.A small amount of water is added to the obtained fraction and the mixture is ground into a brown paste. Such an action requires a lot of patience and considerable physical strength. The mass is rinsed in water until foam is obtained and boiled over high heat to form a layer on top that resembles thick sour cream. This top layer, taken from the broth and chilled, is a famous oil. It is often brought as a souvenir from trips to the African continent, as it has a huge number of useful properties and is often used to care for face and body skin.
• Machine modeused in large industrial enterprises, in addition to the usual digestion of oil, also includes its filtration, deodorization with various perfumes and bleaching. That is why the product obtained industrially differs from the natural one in a lighter shade and in the absence of a specific aroma.

Such a high popularity of oil, which allowed it to spread almost throughout the globe, is explained by its rich composition. It contains the following active components.

• Fatty acid. Lauric and arachinic acids have a bactericidal and healing effect, while palmitic and hyaluronic acids nourish and moisturize epidermal cells. Linolenic promotes the appearance and restoration of the natural protection of skin cells, and oleic acid is necessary in cell synthesis. Last, but no less important, myristic acid enhances the effect of the previous ones and helps to maximize the effectiveness of the entire oil.
• Antioxidants slow down the aging process by searching for and neutralizing free radicals.
• A whole complex of vitamins: E, K, A, F and almost the entire group of vitamin B.
• Macro and microelementssuch as iron, calcium, fluorine and others.

Depending on the presence of impurities and the degree of purification, the amount of these components in shea butter can vary both upward and downward. Such a change is reflected on the packaging by a letter and divides the product into types:

• A - raw crude oil;
• B - refined industrial;
• C - highly refined oil;
• D is the agent with the least amount of harmful impurities;
• E - oil, heat-treated, but untreated from impurities.

Most often, shea butter is used in cosmetology, in home or industrial production of masks, creams, shampoos, soaps and many other cosmetic products. It softens and nourishes dry and aging skin, restores the natural level of collagen in cells and smoothes fine wrinkles, especially in areas of the skin around the eyes. The tool is often used in its pure form instead of a cream, which is designed to protect the skin from ultraviolet rays. It is especially good for fighting wrinkles with hypersensitive skin, prone to peeling and allergies, since shea butter is a completely natural product.

In addition to cosmetology, shea is often used for medicinal purposes. Anti-inflammatory and decongestant effects are excellent for joint pain or sprain of muscles and ligaments. It is used for burns and redness, treats them with weathered skin and small sores or wounds. Shi protects not only from the sun, but also from frostbite of the skin at subzero temperatures. The vasoconstrictor effect of this oil will help at the first sign of a cold and relieve nasal congestion.

The use of shea butter as a part of home and purchased cosmetics, and in its pure form is considered completely safe. It is impossible to exceed its dose or overexpose such a tool on the skin. Nevertheless, there are certain recommendations of specialists that are best followed.

• Any person may show individual intolerance to a particular product and shea butter in this case is no exception. Before you first apply it in the form of a mask or cream, you need to conduct a small test for an allergic reaction. To do this, just apply the product on a small area of ​​the palm or forearm. If no reaction has occurred within half an hour, you can safely use it according to the instructions.
• Over the past decades, many scientific breakthroughs have been made and many useful components that are part of natural oils have been discovered. At the same time, no cosmetologist will say that the properties of shea butter have been fully investigated. Experts do not recommend the frequent use of such active ingredients for people with sensitive skin and skin prone to oily and rashes.
• Oil and all the products of which it is included must be properly stored. High temperatures and direct sunlight can change its composition and turn the healing substance into a poisonous mass. For the same reason, never use cosmetics that have expired.

In order for an expensive product to be beneficial, rather than disappointing, you must carefully choose a product not only in price but also in quality. This is best done in specialized stores, pharmacies or points of sale. If not pure shea butter is purchased, but a product with such a component in its composition, then it must also be correctly selected. It is worth choosing creams and shampoos for your skin and hair type. In order to choose the right one among all the products, you can find reviews on the network or recommendations of experienced cosmetologists.

When buying pure oil, it is easiest to determine its quality by simply smelling the mass. A quality product has a light nutty flavor without any perfume or chemistry impurities. It is the ability to smell that is the reason to make a purchase in a regular store or pharmacy, and not to order the product through the Internet. The products of a respectable producer and seller will be well-packed, the composition and exporter of the oil will be indicated on a jar or box. The main supplier of quality products is Africa.

It is better if the oil has a yellowish or milky tint. White and brown notes indicate excessive processing or a large amount of impurities. Some stores have one exhibition sample, the properties of which can be studied in practice, without leaving the rack with the goods. The average price for 1 liter of shea butter is at least 2500 rubles. If the oil is sold for bottling and its price is significantly lower, most likely it is a product of the lowest quality, which is undesirable to apply on the skin and even more so taken orally.

Customer reviews of this product are mostly positive. Many note an improvement in the appearance and internal condition of the skin. It is filled from the inside, and wrinkles are visually smoothed. Some users prefer to use the tool instead of a night cream, and someone applies it only once or twice a month as an emergency mask.

There are several ways to use natural oil.It is useful not only for the skin of the face and body, but also for strengthening and growing eyelashes, eyebrows and hair. It can be used both in its pure form and various home-made preparations can be made on its basis.

In its pure form, shea is useful as a massage oil for the face and body, especially if the skin lacks moisture and vitamins. Before use, you need to clean, wash and gently pat your face with a towel. Heat a small pea of ​​oil in the palms to a liquid state and massage all active areas of the face, on which redness or peeling more often than others appear. After that, distribute and rub the remaining funds in other areas. Excess can be blotted with a regular paper towel or towel.

If you add any solid particles to the oil, you will get an excellent scrub for delicate and sensitive skin. This can be crushed oatmeal or bran, raspberries or crushed grape seeds, as well as regular ground coffee. The main thing is not to injure the most sensitive areas and not to get irritation. For dry and damaged skin, a 1 tbsp scrub is perfect tablespoons of oil and 1 tbsp. tablespoons of ground bran.

Homemade cream will be an excellent substitute for even the most expensive salon care. It’s easy to cook, but unfortunately Such cream is not stored for long - only 4-6 days in the refrigerator. In addition, every 2-3 months you need to take a break in the application for at least 1 week.

Once every few days you can make a nourishing or moisturizing mask, which will be especially good during bath procedures. Hot steam from a bath or sauna will open the pores, and more nutrients will penetrate the skin. For dry and normal skin, a nutritious sweet mask of 1 teaspoon of shea butter, 1 teaspoon of thick honey and 1 tbsp is perfect. tablespoons of fat sour cream. The product is applied to the skin of the face for at least 15-20 minutes, after the specified time the residues are washed off with warm water.

Shea butter contributes not only to softening and nourishing the skin, but also to the faster healing of microcracks and wounds. Such properties make it one of the main competitors of hygienic lipstick in the fight for the attractiveness and health of the lips. To prepare a small amount of balm, you need to take 1 teaspoon of melted beeswax, 1 teaspoon of apricot oil and 2 teaspoons of shea butter.

To make the eyebrows thick, and the eyelashes long and shiny, like models from advertising mascaras, only 1 tbsp. tablespoons shea butter, 2 drops of lemon balm essential oil, 2 drops of pink and 2 drops of chamomile oil. The bottle and brush from under the old carcass must be thoroughly washed with warm water and soap and dried. Pour the mixture into a container and store in a dry and dark place. It is best to use such a product before bedtime, after all decorative cosmetics have been washed off. You need to do this every 2-3 days.

The result of both the purchased goods and the personally prepared means is not immediately visible. In order to feel the effects of shea butter, at least 4-5 procedures are necessary. The main thing in skin and hair care is regularity. A weekly face and body massage with shea butter will allow you to say goodbye to wrinkles in 2-3 months and restore youth and elasticity to the skin.

See how to use shea butter in the next video.