Shea butter makes a list of very valuable beauty products. In this article, you will learn what is the value of shea, how to use it for hair and how to make homemade masks from the simplest ingredients. Content:
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Properties:
- Natural Shea Butter
- Composition
- Unrefined Shea Butter
- Refined Shea Butter
- The benefits of shea butter
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Application:
- Mask
- How to use
- Homemade Shea Butter Masks
Whatever makeup a woman would do for herself, no matter how she was dressed, if her hair is unkempt, the whole image as a whole immediately loses its splendor. To make your hair look healthy and beautiful, it is not at all necessary to visit beauty salons, it is enough to regularly take care of it at home, using the beneficial properties of shea butter.
Shea butter properties
Shea butter is a hard fat with a slight nutty odor that can range from white to ivory with a slightly yellowish tint. Although this product is solid, when it is in optimal room temperature conditions, it takes on the consistency of ghee, after which it can be easily and evenly applied to the strands. The product, which possesses excellent restorative and softening properties, is obtained from the fruit of the shea tree, namely from the pulp of the seeds.
Natural Shea Butter
If you have repeatedly bought shea butter (shea butter) in pharmacies or in various online creamer shops, you have probably noticed that the color and smell of the product may differ. Do not get upset thinking that some of the purchased options are not natural, since the general type of oil depends on where it was produced, what kind of pomace technology was used.
Shea butter is divided into classes:
- A - unrefined oil obtained with water. This 100% natural product is widely used in expensive creams and ointments to treat skin conditions.
- B - refined, odorless.
- C - a white odorless product is extracted with a highly purified solvent.
- D - oil with a small amount of impurities.
- E is a product with impurities, rarely used as an ingredient in creams or hair masks.
Shea butter composition
Due to its composition, this product is included in various cosmetic products for hair, face and body skin care. In the composition of shea butter, most of it is occupied by unsaponifiable fats, as well as triglycerides, which were formed from oleic, palmitic, stearic acids. Linoleic, myristic, linolenic acids, carbohydrates and proteins are also contained in small quantities. Saturation with vitamins A, F, E allows you to participate in the regeneration of the skin, moisturizing and protecting the epidermis, without clogging the pores. Shea butter is often used as an ingredient in various hair care cosmetics.
Unrefined Little Shea
Unrefined oil has a high unsaponifiable fat content that ranges from 6 to 12%, which allows shea-based emulsions to penetrate into the lower globes of the skin layers. This fraction is noted for the presence of allantoin, which, as you know, helps to increase the rate of collagen production, fights inflammation, and soothes the epidermis. As for linoleic acid, it is aimed at restoring the condition of hair and skin.
Unrefined oil is extracted using only water. The shade of the product acquires a light beige, creamy character, sometimes with a gray tint. The smell of such raw materials is pronounced nutty.
Refined Shea Butter
Unlike unrefined product, this raw material goes through additional stages of purification, including filtration and deodorization processes, as a result of which the product completely loses its original nutty aroma, and its color turns from beige to white. With all this, many of the useful properties of raw materials are preserved. Refined raw materials are cheaper, they do not spread as well on hair or skin than the unrefined version.
The benefits of shea butter
Shea butter is a valuable raw material for skin and hair care, it is ideal even for the smallest children. This product is most often added to winter creams for dry and sensitive skin, as it is able to perfectly protect the stratum corneum from the negative effects of the environment. If in winter the agent serves as a barrier against severe frosts and cold winds, then in summer - from unfavorable sunlight. It will also help owners of problematic and aging skin to find smoothness and velvety.
The main properties of shea butter:
- Improves complexion.
- Slows down the aging process.
- Participates in the restoration of the skin.
- Prevents the appearance of wrinkles.
- Protects against negative environmental influences.
- Promotes collagen production.
- Prevents the formation of stretch marks.
- Perfectly softens the skin on rough areas of the body (heels, knees, elbows).
- Soothes irritated scalp.
- Contains natural spf.
- Smoothes and softens hair strands.
- Restores shine to hair.
- Saturates hair follicles with nutrients.
- Reduces joint pain.
- Protects the skin from burns.
Application of Shea Butter
The miraculous oil is used for a wide variety of skin diseases, and with a combination of other vegetable fatty and essential products, it can enrich with the most useful properties of creams, masks, shampoos, conditioners and other cosmetics.
Applying Shea Butter to Hair
Shea product is just a godsend, because it can be used to care not only for the face and body, but also for the hair. This tool is used alone or as one of the components of a mask or balm, it performs the following functions:
- Prevents split ends. The oil saturates the hair with useful elements along its entire length. If you often dye your hair, especially the ends, or often use a hairdryer, iron or other devices to give your hair a different look, do not forget to nourish your strands with shea butter.
- Soothes irritated scalp. If you want to relieve an itchy scalp, as well as a feeling of tightness, shea butter will help you. After half an hour or an hour, do not forget to wash off the product with shampoo and water. Also, the oil is used for medicinal purposes for psoriasis, dermatitis and eczema.
- Makes strands soft. Shea is an excellent helper for brittle and coarse hair. A natural conditioner, it perfectly smoothes strands by enveloping each hair with a protective barrier.
Applying hair masks
Many women who have not yet begun to fully take care of their hair are interested in what role masks play in the life of hair. But there is no definite answer to this question, because the function of a cosmetic product directly depends on the composition of the product. Of course, if we have a product in front of us, where the most part is shea butter, you can already guess, we are talking about a mask that helps the hair to be softer, smoothed and lively. Shea protects curls from the effects of temperature extremes and the negative effects of sunlight, it restores water balance, natural shine and silkiness of hair.
No matter what the shampoo manufacturers say, their product cannot have such a beneficial effect on the condition of the hair as masks do. The conditioner added to the shampoo can only neutralize the negative effects of the chemical ingredients in the shampoo. Masks can enrich hair with nutrients.
If you think that masks are aimed only at dry and brittle hair, but not at all oily, you are wrong. Excessive sebum production has nothing to do with hair nutrition.
How to use shea butter for hair
You can buy the revitalizing oil, which is rich in shea tree, at the pharmacy or through online stores. You can use it in its pure form, without adding any other components, but first, the raw material itself must be prepared. Take the amount of sheahe you need based on the length of your hair and melt it. This can be done using a microwave oven, palm heat, or in a water bath. The oil should be warm, not hot. If the purpose of using a valuable emulsion is to moisturize the hair ends, do not waste the shea product on the hair roots. Distribute the oil with a comb or fingers. To enhance the effect, put on a plastic cap or bag on top, and wrap your head with a towel. It is recommended to wash off the oil not earlier than after half an hour. Since the product cannot be washed off with plain water, shampoo is suitable for this purpose. To keep the ends of your hair healthy and not straw-like, apply shallow to the bottom of your hair every day.
Homemade Shea Butter Masks
If you do not want to use pure shea butter on your hair, you can enrich the shea butter with other useful ingredients by turning an ordinary, at first glance, emulsion into a full-fledged mask.
- Revitalizing mask … To restore natural shine to hair and make strands stronger, prepare 30 g of shea butter, 2-3 drops of sandalwood essential oil, vitamins A and E (5 ml each). Melt the butter in a water bath, and after it has cooled a little, add vitamins and essential oil. Ylang ylang oil can be used in place of sandalwood essential oil. The mask is best applied at night.
- Hair growth mask … By enriching shea butter (3 tablespoons) with castor oil (2 tablespoons) and rosemary or thyme essential oil (2-3 drops), you can get a good hair growth remedy.
- Hair strengthening mask … Prepare an effective home remedy for improving strand health with shea butter (2 tablespoons), burdock oil (3 tablespoons), and cedarwood oil (1 tablespoon). It is recommended to leave this mixture of beneficial ingredients for 40 minutes, then wash your hair. Shea butter can be called a universal product that is suitable for all people, regardless of their age.
Video tips for using shea butter for hair:
