Shea butter for the face: how to choose and use?

Natural oils are one of the most useful components of various cosmetic and medicinal products given to us by nature. The rich vitamin and mineral composition allows you to make any mask or cream much more effective. In addition, almost all of them are perfectly combined with each other and allow a complex effect on the skin or hair. Shea butter is considered one of the most popular and most beneficial. With it, the people of Africa for many centuries saved themselves from the negative effects of the scorching sunlight. Today, with the help of it, men and women of the whole world take care of themselves.

In natural form, the tool looks like a solid mass of yellowish tint of butter. It smells like walnut mixed with a little coconut. This mass easily melts from the heat of the body and becomes like a soft cream. Produce oil from the fruit of the plant, which has several names.

The most common, which gave the name to the popular component of the masks, is called the shea tree, and also it is called karite or kolo. Most similar to oak, this tree in its natural habitat is often found in the savannas of Senegal or Nigeria. In Sudan and Mali, it is grown in special areas. The fruits of the shea tree are similar to small avocados, and it is from them that the healing oil is extracted using heat treatment.

There are two methods for obtaining oily solid mass, which is necessary for most cosmetic companies.

• Manual mode requires more time and effort. The seeds of shea fruit break up into small pieces in large stupas or millstones. To the resulting shot add a small amount of water and grind the mixture into a brown paste. Such an action requires great patience and considerable physical strength. Rinse the mass in water to obtain a foam and boil over high heat to form a layer at the top that looks like thick cream. This top layer, taken from the broth and cooled, is the famous oil. It is often brought as a souvenir from trips to the African continent, as it has a huge number of useful properties and is often used to care for the skin of the face and body.
• Machine mode, used at large industrial enterprises, besides the usual oil digestion, also includes its filtration, deodorization with various fragrances and bleaching. That is why the product obtained by industrial means differs from the natural by a lighter shade and the absence of a specific aroma.

Such a high popularity of oil, which allowed it to spread over almost the entire globe, is due to its rich composition. It contains the following active ingredients.

• Fatty acid. Lauric and arachnic acids have a bactericidal and healing effect, while palmitic and hyaluronic acids nourish and moisturize epidermal cells. Linolenic contributes to the appearance and restoration of the natural protection of skin cells, and oleic acid is necessary for cellular synthesis.Last but not least, myristic acid enhances the effect of the previous ones and helps to maximize the effectiveness of the entire oil.
• Antioxidants they slow down the aging process by searching for and neutralizing free radicals.
• A whole complex of vitamins: E, K, A, F and almost the entire group of vitamin B.
• Macro and trace elements, such as iron, calcium, fluorine and others.

Depending on the presence of impurities and the degree of purification, the amount of these components in shea butter may vary both upwards and downwards. Such a change is reflected on the packaging with the letter and divides the product into types:

• And crude crude oil;
• B - refined industrial;
• C - oil of high purity;
• D - a product with the least amount of harmful impurities;
• E - heat-treated oil, but not purified from impurities.

Most often, shea butter is used in cosmetology, in home or industrial manufacturing of masks, creams, shampoos, soaps, and many other cosmetic products. It softens and nourishes dry and fading skin, restores the natural level of collagen in the cells and smoothes fine lines, especially on the skin around the eyes. The tool is often used in its pure form instead of a cream that is designed to protect the skin from ultraviolet rays. Especially good is the anti-wrinkle remedy for hypersensitive skin prone to flaking and allergy, as shea butter is a completely natural product.

In addition to cosmetology, shea is often used for medical purposes. Anti-inflammatory and anti-edema effects are excellent for joint pain or sprains and muscles. It is used for burns and redness, they treat chapped skin and small sores or wounds. Shea protects not only from the sun, but also from frostbite of the skin at sub-zero temperatures. The vasoconstrictor effect that this oil has will help at the first sign of a cold and relieve nasal congestion.

The use of shea butter as a part of home and commercial cosmetics, and in its pure form is considered completely safe. It is impossible to exceed its dose or to overdo it on the skin. Nevertheless, there are certain recommendations of specialists that are best followed.

• Individual intolerance of this or that product may be found in any person, and shea butter in this case is no exception. Before you first apply it in the form of a mask or cream, it is necessary to conduct a small test for an allergic reaction. To do this, simply apply the tool to a small area of ​​the palm or forearm. If there is no reaction within half an hour, you can safely apply it according to the instructions.
• Over the past decades, many scientific breakthroughs have been accomplished and many useful components discovered in natural oils have been discovered. At the same time, not a single cosmetologist will say that the properties of shea butter have been fully investigated. Experts do not recommend frequent use of such active ingredients in people with sensitive skin and skin prone to oiliness and rashes.
• Oil and all means in which it is included must be properly stored. High temperatures and direct sunlight can change its composition and turn the healing substance into a poisonous mass. For the same reason, you should never use cosmetics that have expired.

In order for an expensive tool to benefit, not disappointment, it is necessary to carefully select a product not only by price, but also by quality.It is best to do this in specialized stores, pharmacies or point of sale. If it is not pure shea butter that is purchased, but a product with such a component in its composition, then it must also be properly selected. It is necessary to select the cream and shampoos for your skin and hair type. In order to choose among all products suitable, you can read the reviews on the network or the recommendations of experienced cosmetologists.

When buying pure oil, the easiest way to determine its quality is to smell the mass. A quality product has a light nutty aroma without perfume or chemicals. The ability to smell is the reason to make a purchase in a regular store or pharmacy, and not to order the tool via the Internet. The products of a respectable manufacturer and seller will be well packaged, the composition and exporter of the oil will be indicated on the jar or box. The main supplier of quality products is Africa.

It is better if the oil has a yellowish or milky shade. White and brown notes indicate excessive processing or large amounts of impurities. Some stores have one exhibition sample, whose properties can be studied in practice, without departing from the rack with the goods. The average price for 1 liter of shea butter is at least 2500 rubles. If the oil is sold for bottling and its price is significantly lower, most likely it is a product of the lowest quality, which is undesirable to be applied to the skin and the more so to ingest.

Customer feedback on this product is mostly positive. Many people note an improvement in the appearance and inner state of the skin. It is filled from the inside, and wrinkles are visually smoothed. Some users prefer to use the tool instead of a night cream, and someone puts it only once or twice a month as an emergency mask.

You can use natural oil in several ways. It is useful not only for the skin of the face and body, but also for strengthening and growth of eyelashes, eyebrows and hair. It can be used both in pure form and based on it various home-made preparations.

In its pure form, shea is useful as a massage oil for the face and body, especially if the skin lacks moisture and vitamins. Before use, you should clean, wash and slightly wet the face with a towel. Heat a small pea of ​​oil in your palms to a liquid state and massage all active areas of the face, on which redness or peeling appear more often. After that, distribute and rub the residues in other areas. Excess can be blotted with a regular paper towel or napkin.

If you add any solid particles to the oil, you get a great scrub for delicate and sensitive skin. It can be crushed oatmeal or bran, raspberry berries or crushed grape seeds, as well as regular ground coffee. The main thing is not to injure the most sensitive areas and not get irritation. For dry and damaged skin, a scrub of 1 tbsp is perfect. spoons of oil and 1 tbsp. spoons of ground bran.

Homemade cream will be an excellent substitute for even the most expensive salon care. Prepare it easy, but unfortunately This cream is stored for long - only 4-6 days in the refrigerator. In addition, once every 2-3 months you need to take a break in applying for at least 1 week.

Every few days you can make a nourishing or moisturizing mask, which will be especially good during bath procedures.A hot steam bath or sauna will open the pores, and more nutrients will penetrate into the skin. For dry and normal skin, a nourishing sweet mask of 1 tsp of shea butter, 1 tsp of thick honey and 1 tbsp is perfect. spoons of fat sour cream. The tool is applied to the skin for at least 15-20 minutes, after the specified time the remains are washed off with warm water.

Shea helps not only soften and nourish the skin, but also a faster healing of microcracks and wounds. Such properties make it one of the most important competitors of hygienic lipstick in the struggle for the attractiveness and health of the lips. To prepare a small amount of balm, you need to take 1 tsp of melted beeswax, 1 tsp of apricot oil and 2 tsp of shea butter.

To make the eyebrows thick, and eyelashes long and shiny, like models from advertising mascara, enough 1 tbsp. tablespoons shea butter, 2 drops of essential oil of lemon balm, 2 drops of pink and 2 drops of chamomile oil. The bottle and brush from under the old carcass must be thoroughly washed with soap and warm water and dried. Pour the mixture into a container and store in a dry and dark place. It is best to use this product at bedtime, after all color cosmetics have been washed away. This should be done every 2-3 days.

The result of both the purchased product and the personally prepared product is not immediately visible. In order to feel the effects of shea butter, at least 4-5 procedures are necessary. In this case, the main thing in skin and hair care is regularity. A weekly face and body massage with shea butter will make it possible in 2-3 months to say goodbye to wrinkles and return the skin to youth and elasticity.

For information on how to use shea butter in hair care, see the next video.