Uses of Shea Butter

Skincare, Haircare, Medicinal, Food, Personal Lubricant, Overall Health, Lantern Fuel and more.  Shea Butter has so many uses…

We recently landed on one of our friend’s blogs (Shea Yeah) where she highlights the uses and benefits of shea butter. We loved it! We loved it SO much that it inspired us to write an updated post on the uses of shea butter.

Skincare

This is probably the most well known use of shea butter. It’s moisturizing superpower gives skin a youthful feel. It contains natural vitamins and fatty acids, increasing and protecting the elasticity of the skin.

The butter can also help with certain conditions such as psoriasis, acne, and scaly dermatitis. Beyond that, it also reduces the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, scars, and stretchmarks. If your little one has a diaper rash, apply shea butter! Going out in the sun… or already been burned? Yep, that’s right… apply some shea!

Learn how you can use shea butter to treat acne scars and also to treat your dry skin.

Hair

One of the best hair masks I ever made, was 80% shea butter. While soothing a dry and scaly scalp, it can also reduce hair loss, treat split ends, and prevent breakage. Shea butter can do wonders for curly hair as well.

Medicine

Shea butter has also been tested as a natural replacement for nasal drops, helping with nasal congestion. Instead of Icy Hot, use shea butter on any sore muscles or to treat arthritis. Shea butter is primarily composed of triterpenes, which has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. It can even help relieve diarrhea! Have a cut, insect bite, or burn? It can help heal those too.

Overall Health

Believe it or not, shea butter has been linked to lowered cholesterol! A recent study showed “that a diet with shea butter effectively reduced total and LDL cholesterol levels in healthy adults, thus helping to prevent coronary heart disease” (Schmidt et al., 2003). Who would have thought?

Food

As stated on Shea Yeah, shea butter stearins are used as cocoa butter equivalents. Small ones are used as oil, after curing as margarine, in shortening, and in other foods.  Traditionally shea butter was used for frying and also as a shortening in cooking.  Its use in chocolate is growing rapidly in Europe and efforts are being made to allow its use in North America (it requires FDA approval)

Other

Shea butter has long been used in pharmaceutical products and soap production in Africa. It has also been used in the construction industry to protect house walls against rain.  It is used as an all-natural personal lubricant and also in anti-chaffing product.

As you can see, shea butter uses go way beyond applying it topically. Are we missing any other uses? We would love to hear how you use your Baraka Shea Butter.