INGREDIENTS IN DEPTH - SHEA BUTTER

SUMMARY

BEST | EXTREMELY SAFE TO BE USED IN PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS | APPROVED BY REGULATORY BODIES

A useful, well known cosmetics ingredient used in most of the personal care products to hydrate the skin, fight signs of ageing skin and maintain hair health.

WHAT IS SHEA BUTTER?

Shea Butter is extracted from the nut of the African Shea Tree (Vitellaria Paradoxa) which is mainly found in the wooded Savannahs of Central Africa. It is ivory or pale yellow in colour when raw while the processed version of it is white. This plant lipid is used as an emollient in cosmetics and personal care products due to its hydrating, nourishing and soothing properties.

It exhibits antioxidants and anti-inflammatory property due to the presence of active ingredients such as Vitamin A, E, terpene alcohols, phytosterols and latex. It protects the skin from the damaging effect of the sun’s UV rays. It is rich in fatty acids and contains 45-50% oleic acid, 30-40% stearic acid, 5-9% palmitic acid and 4-5% linoleic acid. Though being occlusive, it is non-comedogenic in nature and won’t clog your pores. In beauty products, it acts as a skin/hair conditioning agent, non-aqueous viscosity increasing agent.

REVIEW OF SHEA BUTTER

Shea Butter is one of the renowned and most reviewed ingredients. Top regulatory bodies like FDA (Food and Drug Administration ensures the safety, efficacy and security of humans by making sure that cosmetics are safe to use), CIR (Cosmetic Ingredient Review thoroughly investigates the safety of ingredients used in cosmetics), EU Cosmetics Regulation (It ensures the safety of the consumers while using the cosmetic products) and EWG (Environmental Working Group Skin Deep is a cosmetic database for ensuring the safety of ingredients being used in personal care products) along with popular skincare brand Paula's Choice have rated it safe for use in cosmetics, personal care products.

BENEFITS OF SHEA BUTTER

The versatile Shea Butter has the following benefits:

• Hydrates skin: Due to its emollient property, it keeps your skin hydrated for a longer time.
• Possesses anti-ageing property: It is rich in antioxidants such as Vitamin A and E which fight free radicals responsible for causing wrinkles and fine lines. It boosts the collagen production, thereby increasing the elasticity of the skin and making it look more youthful.
• Exhibits anti-inflammatory property: It effectively treats dry skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis, sunburns, dermatitis. It has a soothing effect on the dry and itchy scalp and skin, thereby providing relief from dandruff.
• Heals chapped lips & cracked heels: It is rich in fatty acids which contribute to its nourishing and moisturizing property in order to effectively treating chapped lips and cracked heels.
• Effective against split ends: Being rich in lipids, it effectively controls dryness and adds strength to your strands, thus preventing split ends.

Thus, this ingredient is widely used in personal care products.