African Shea Butter

[Hanamizu]

I got some pure, unrefined shea butter and im a little confused on how to use it.. its like in little chunks and quite.. fatty.. it seems wrong to just apply it right on the face (and difficult).. so what ive been doing is using some warm water and rubbing it between my fingers for a while and then applying it all over my face.. but its still like really greasy looking and feels really thick on my skin.. should it be like that?..

 

[SalJ]

Yeah that's right. You don't need water though, just rub it between your palms, the heat of your hands will melt it.

Some people love (and swear by) straight shea on their skin. But I personally don't like it straight on my skin, it's too heavy really and tends to drag a bit. It's lovely though if you mix it 50/50 with a lighter oil (like grapeseed or fractionated coconut).

What I do is warm the light oil, pour it over the shea and mix it with a hand beater till it goes all fluffy and then put it in a pot. It will set a bit but melts right into the skin! I add a few drops of essential oil as well. Makes a great body butter!

 

[empericalbeauty]

Originally Posted by SalJ /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yeah that's right. You don't need water though, just rub it between your palms, the heat of your hands will melt it.
Some people love (and swear by) straight shea on their skin. But I personally don't like it straight on my skin, it's too heavy really and tends to drag a bit. It's lovely though if you mix it 50/50 with a lighter oil (like grapeseed or fractionated coconut).

What I do is warm the light oil, pour it over the shea and mix it with a hand beater till it goes all fluffy and then put it in a pot. It will set a bit but melts right into the skin! I add a few drops of essential oil as well. Makes a great body butter!

True to every thing you said.

 

[monniej]

Originally Posted by SalJ /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yeah that's right. You don't need water though, just rub it between your palms, the heat of your hands will melt it.
Some people love (and swear by) straight shea on their skin. But I personally don't like it straight on my skin, it's too heavy really and tends to drag a bit. It's lovely though if you mix it 50/50 with a lighter oil (like grapeseed or fractionated coconut).

What I do is warm the light oil, pour it over the shea and mix it with a hand beater till it goes all fluffy and then put it in a pot. It will set a bit but melts right into the skin! I add a few drops of essential oil as well. Makes a great body butter!

this sounds amazing! i have oily skin, but i would certainly use this is the winter months!

 

[Nox]

Also, you may want to check out the difference between East African Shea Butter and the West African variety. You may find an ever so slight difference between the two in smell and color, each has it's benefits!

 

[magosienne]

i love shea butter applied straight to the lips or elbows, etc.. but for the other parts of the body, yes it works better mixed with a bit of oil (especially on the ends when you have dry hair).

 

[lesliemostly]

Shea butter is supposed to be great for conditioning the hair as well. I have several tubs of this stuff I bought on ebay, I need to start finding good uses for it.

 

[Monica_r]

i love shea butter! <3 i use this stuff allover my body. mostly on lips and elbows and feet though. its soo good to prevent you from dry skin.

if you do use it as a cream for you legs for an example, it is kinda sticky. it needs time to soak into your skin. while on elbows ect. you can put it on anytime anywhere. i have put it on my face only once, and the next day i got a huge pimple (and i usually never get pimples.. so imagine how a acne-prone skintype would react.) but if you have dry pathes i would still use it on my face too.. oh and its also really good for you split ends in your hair, although it will be greasy untill the next wash.

deffinetly the best way to moisturize dry skin!