What is Shea Butter and what does it do in hair products?

What is Shea Butter and what does it do in hair products?

What is Shea Butter?

Shea butter comes from shea nuts that are grown in West Africa from the Vitellaria Paradoxa tree.  It has an extensive fatty acid profile; palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic, and arachidic along with the vitamins A, E, and F.  This combination of goodness is what makes shea butter desirable in hair and skin products. 

 

Why do we use Shea Butter and how does it benefit hair and skin?

Shea butter has excellent emollient, moisturizer, and anti-aging properties on skin and hair.  We currently use this raw material in our hair conditioner to help maintain moisture on the scalp and in the hair follicle. In the future, we will be using it in our skincare line because of its beneficial moisturizing and skin-softening abilities.  Shea butter’s use in cosmetics is growing in popularity worldwide, but especially in the European markets. 



 

Other benefits of Shea Butter

  • It can relieve dry skin due to the fatty acid components that help prevent water from evaporating from the skin.
  • It can help eczema (see a study published by The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology)
  • Shea Butter is more effective at preventing hair breakage than some brands that use argan oil.
  • The anti-inflammatory properties in shea butter can help reduce scalp irritation and redness.
  • Studies are being done on its therapeutic effectiveness

 


Is Shea Butter safe to use? Is it non-toxic?

Shea butter is very safe to use in hair and skin products.  According to the Cosmetic Ingredient Review, CIR, it is safe to use in skin and hair products.

 

In Summary

Rustic Strength uses shea butter in our hair products because of its fatty acid content.  It helps with moisture loss in dry hair, prevents hair breakage, reduces scalp irritation, and protects colored hair.

If you have any questions regarding this or any other chemical we use, feel free to reach out to customercare@rusticstrength.com  We would be more than happy to answer your questions. 

We invite you to do your own research! 

Scientific journals and articles are the foundation of evidence-based decisions at Rustic Strength. Blogs can provide helpful information. However, if it can not cite scientific articles, its claims stand on little. 

 

vitellaria paradoxa - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitellaria
anti-aging - http://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajls.20140205.18.pdf
skin softening - https://www.cbi.eu/market-information/natural-ingredients-cosmetics/shea-butter/market-potential
dry skin - https://health.clevelandclinic.org/shea-butter-benefits/
eczema - https://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749(08)03527-6/fulltext#relatedArticles
hair breakage - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5774910/
anti-inflammatory -  https://www.healthline.com/health/shea-butter-for-hair#benefits
eaten - https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/introducing_shea_butter
therapeutic - https://www.cosmeticsandtoiletries.com/research/literature-data/article/21835355/shea-butter-extract-for-bioactive-skin-care
safe to use - https://cir-safety.org/ingredients

 

Other useful websites

 

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