Shea Butter For Hair: Top 6 Benefits You Should Know About

Because of its numerous curative qualities, the shea tree is sometimes referred to as the “karite tree” (which means “tree of life”). There is proof that shea butter has been used for thousands of years in Africa to make food, skin balms, soaps, shampoos, traditional medicines, cooking, and lamp oils. As early as the 14th century, its use was recorded.

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African Shea Butter

When naturals want to nourish their hair or promote hair growth, they frequently turn to shea butter. Natural components in shea butter make dry skin and hair soft and smooth.

What is Shea Butter? 

What is Shea Butter

Shea nuts are obtained from the Vitellaria paradoxa tree in West Africa, and the byproduct of this harvest is shea butter. Shea nuts must first be harvested, cleaned, and prepared in order for oil to be extracted before shea butter can be made.

Some General Benefits of Shea Butter

Benefits of Shea Butter 1

Shea butter may have a variety of advantages for hair and skin, such as hydrating, anti-inflammatory, anti-aging and anti-wrinkling properties.

Shea Butter For Hair? What Does It Do To Your Hair?

Shea Butter Has Moisturizing Effect

A cream with 5 percent shea butter was tested on the forearms of 10 persons as part of a study. The results showed that the subjects benefitted from the cream’s moisturizing properties for up to 8 hours after applying it.

For the hair and scalp, shea butter is incredibly moisturizing. Shea butter works well as a sealer to preserve moisture in curly hair and makes it softer for users.

Shea Butter Can Protect Your Hair and Scalp From The Sun’s UV Rays.

Too much sun exposure causes your hair follicles to generate dry, damaged hair. A small quantity of the sun protection factor, which acts as a shield against the sun’s UV radiation, is present in shea butter.

Shea Butter Protect Your Hair From Heat Damage

Shea butter permeates into the hair shaft rather than sitting on the surface, leaving no greasy or heavy feeling behind. However, it does coat the hair shaft to shield it from harm when the heat tool is run through the hair. To protect your hair, make sure shea butter is applied to your hair before using heat styling methods, if you like to use heat tools to style your hair.

Butter serves as an anti-inflammatory agent

If you don’t know the cause of your hair loss, treating your hair follicles with an anti-inflammatory is a reasonable first step. Some types of hair loss are related to inflammation. If an inflammatory condition is the root of your hair loss, treating it with anti-inflammatories like shea butter may stop or even reverse your hair loss. 

Genetic disorders and other causes of hair loss other than inflammation will not be helped by this. If you’re uncertain about the reason behind your hair loss, consult your doctor.

Shea Butter Promotes Hair Growth

A variety of ingredients found in shea butter can help smooth and condition your hair. These consist of substances like Linoleic Acid, Oleic Acid, and Stearic Acid. These chemicals will nourish your scalp and hair follicles, nourishing and stimulating them, but they won’t likely help you develop new hair; they’ll just help you keep the hair you already have.

Shea Butter Can Soothe Dry Irritated Scalp

Shea butter has been used for years to treat African hair that suffers dandruff or an itchy, dry scalp. Typically, it serves as the base for medical creams. The rich, creamy texture of shea butter is a godsend for a flaky, inflamed scalp. Shea butter’s anti-inflammatory qualities help it to lessen dryness when applied to the scalp. Shea butter tends to quickly penetrate into your scalp and does not clog your scalp, making it an age-old remedy for curing scalp problems.

Tips For Purchasing Shea Butter

When purchasing shea butter, choose the raw or unrefined varieties. The best grade shea butter is unrefined, which is shea butter in its original state. While unrefined, it has a powerful nutty aroma. For some who might not like it, shea butter has been refined to remove the natural scent. It has been refined if it smells like plastic. You can add essential oils for a more pleasant smell if you don’t like the unrefined shea butter’s natural scent. 

Before buying, make sure to check the color. The Shea butter has been refined through the bleaching process if it is not ivory in color. You can choose different hair care products that contain shea butter if you can’t get shea butter. Shea butter-infused conditioners are a wonderful option in this case.

How To Keep Shea Butter Fresh

Shea butter should be kept in an airtight container in a cool, dry location. Shea butter should easily melt in your hand at room temperature and instantly penetrate into the skin. Shea butter must be kept in a steady temperature environment. The texture can change when exposed to various temperatures.

Make sure to keep it away from environments exposed to heat. It will also melt and revert to liquid form under overly heated temperatures. Similar to this, shea butter will harden into a solid and become hard to use if it is stored in an area with an excessively low temperature.

Shea butter may often be stored for up to two years, but if you start to detect an acidic odor, it’s definitely time to throw it away.

In Conclusion

Shea butter is produced from shea nuts that is native to Africa. It can be used for a variety of things, such as cooking and skin care, but one of the most popular uses is for hair. Shea butter is available in many grades, each of which has a unique appearance and aroma.

Shea butter is not for everyone because of its fragrance and weight. Make sure your hair doesn’t have a tendency to accumulate grease because shea butter could worsen this. Shea oil is a fantastic alternative if shea butter is too heavy.

Some Frequently Asked Questions

Does shea butter promote hair growth?

Nutrient-rich shea butter is available. These nutrients will nourish your scalp and hair follicles, conditioning and stimulating them, but they won’t likely help you develop new hair; they’ll just help you keep the hair you already have.

Does shea butter make hair thicker?

Shea butter will coat fine, volume-filled hair, giving the impression that it is thicker and fuller.

Which hair type will shea butter work best on?

Shea butter can be used to provide the necessary moisture for people with very dry or curly hair. Shea butter should be avoided by persons with oily scalps since it might make their hair greasy and thick, which can lead to hair loss.

What kind of shea butter is best for hair?

Shea butter that has not been processed performs best when used for hair treatment since it has the most bioactive ingredients. Shea butter that has not been refined frequently does not contain any additional preservatives or chemicals that could eventually harm your hair.

How do you store shea butter and for how long can it be used?

Make sure to keep homemade shea butter in an airtight container if you decide to use it. Store it somewhere cool and dry, away from direct sunlight. If properly preserved, homemade shea butter can survive for up to two years. The expiration date is printed on the container of store-bought shea butter. 

What tree produces Shea Butter?

Vitellaria paradoxa, also called the shea butter tree, is the tree that produces shea butter.
 

Does Shea Butter Grow On trees?

Shea nuts grow on the shea tree, Vitellaria paradoxa tree in West Africa, and the byproduct of this harvest is shea butter. The oil from the shea nuts is extracted to make shea butter.

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