Shea Butter?

[GenB]

Anyone use shea butter as a moisturizer? We've been using a Walmart knock off brand but I truly believe its making our skin worse. DH has VERY dry skin. What are good sources for it? How long does it last, etc. Any info is helpful -I know nothing. Oh, is there anything better for skin moisturizing??

[Think of Winter]

I have some Aura Cacia shea butter that I got from Frontier that's pretty nice. No irritation, and it smells nice. But it is butter-like, in that it looks like melted butter once it's rubbed on. Nothing makes my hands feel better, or last as long, as lanolin. My fave hand cream is Burt's Bees Almond Milk: http://www.burtsbees.com/webapp/wcs/...0001&langId=-1. It's pricey, but works really well.

[3bees~1flower]

if dh has dry skin, then he needs MOISTURE...shea butter alone does not provide moisture...it's ONLY oil! i think a good water based cream would be what he needs. unless her puts the shea on before drying off out of the shower, but that doesn't sound fun to me. i'd rather have a luscious, thick cream to slather on!

anhydrous body butters make be feel drier as well, so i only use my creams/lotions.

[Benji'sMom]

www.kindheartedwomen.com has some nice butters.

[Mallori]

My dd and dh also have very dry skin. Some things that have helped my family:

Switching soaps: We are currently using Kiss My Face olive oil soap. I'm toying with trying out Dr. Bronners bar soap, but haven't yet.

Switching lotions: Olive oil in the shower. You only need a little bit. It'll feel oily/greasy, but it soaks in quite efficiently. I can only use it from the shoulders down and have to be careful to keep it away from my face. For my face it's a layer of Aloe followed by a patting of jojoba.

Switching shampoo: gone organic.

Switching laundry care: no more fabric softener, it's been replaced with vinegar.

Dry skin cannot tolerate chemicals well at all. Shea butter is really nice, but the only place I can seem to tolerate it is my feet.

[velcromom]

I don't think refined white shea butter is comparable to unrefined butter. The unrefined stuff is active - the refined, to me, was about equal to shortening. Didn't do much.

I get my unrefined from agbangakarite.com, they have the best I've ever tried. I won't even put it in my handmade soap anymore because it's too good to dilute down into a product!

[DaMajha]

I mix my own lotion using 2 parts unrefined shea butter and one 1 part coconut oil. I buy mine from https://nasabb.3dcartstores.com/index.html

Before I started using it on a daily basis, my elbows were so dry that they would scratch people if they accidentally rubbed up against them. They always looked dirty and they would crack. The rest of my body had skin that was so dry that I looked like I had a white film on my body (which was the dry skin). Now my skin feels normal for the first time in my life! I will never use a commercial lotion or moisturizer again.. all they did was strip the oils out of my skin!

I also use the black soap from the same site, it is wonderful too!

[GenB]

I got some unrefined in today. I found a recipe on the internet for whipping it using avocado oil and something else I can't remember. Trouble is, this stuff doesn't smell great. It almost smells rancid. What does unrefined shea butter smell like? I want to know because I may send it back.

[His Own]

Shea nut butter is WONDERFUL for dryish hair or for the ends of any moisture content long hair. After washing the hair, while it is still damp, take about a fingernail-full (or less) of the butter in your palms, rub the palms together to melt the butter, then gently stroke it onto about the last six inches of hair. Works great!

As to the smell, unrefined shea nut butter smells a little earthy and a little nutty. The scent is 'different', but not unpleasant.

[DaMajha]

Originally Posted by GenB

I got some unrefined in today. I found a recipe on the internet for whipping it using avocado oil and something else I can't remember. Trouble is, this stuff doesn't smell great. It almost smells rancid. What does unrefined shea butter smell like? I want to know because I may send it back.

I find that each batch of shea butter that I get smells different. It is a very smoky, woody type smell. It is not a good smell at all! However, you can add essential oil to it to change the scent if you want. I also think that leaving it sitting out uncovered overnight makes some of the smell go away.

Finally, once you have it on your body, the smell just goes away. It isn't like a perfumed lotion in which the smell sticks to you all day. It just absorbs into your skin and the smell goes away.

[jyurina]

I get unrefines whipped shea butter from OYIN and it is actually healing my skin so I love it. It smells lightly of nuts to me and the smell is gone after it soaks in. Being that we are in AZ my hubby actually commented that he can feel it if he forgets to put it on as soon as he walks out the door.

[GMum]

NAK

I got some unrefined/100% pure (noting added) shea butter in a tub from our local health food store and find it wonderful on DD's skin (she has eczema). It does smell, well kinda 'natural' but not awful. It is solid and I have to rub it between my palms pretty good to make it 'slatherble' for all over her body.

Just been to look at the tub and it's made by Now Foods www.nowfoods.com. It's excellent.

hth

BTW, Good idea to try it on my hair

[Siennaflower]

If you're up to it, here's a great recipe for turning your shea into a whipped body butter.

Try applying it just out of the shower before you're totally dry. It will seal in the moisture (whipped or not).

[Marni]

I use unrefined shea butter on my lips as a moisurizer AND sunscreen. It has natural spf 15 -- and I am allergic (chemical AND sun photosensitivity) to ALL other SPF lip balms, so this stuff is best for me!

As a body moisturizer, I find it to be too much work. I prefer to lather up with jojoba oil right after I shower and am still a bit damp.