Here at Beauty By Earth, we’re always looking for natural ingredients that deliver real results. And when we find a gem, you’re the first we love to share it with. Oh, and finding real ingredients that you can use for multiple purposes? Even better. We’re feeling really hyped to tell you all about what we’ve discovered about this next one, and we think you’ll be pretty obsessed with what we’ve uncovered too. Shea butter is a natural beauty must-have, and we're ready to share with you all of the benefits and uses of this powerful ingredient.

First thing’s first. We need to get this out of the way. When we say shea butter, we’re not talking about the kind you find mixed into body butters. Nope, not us. We’re talking about pure, unrefined shea nut goodness. Now don’t get us wrong, any natural product that includes this incredibly nourishing ingredient in it is good in our books. However, for the purpose of this article, we’ll be focusing on the benefits and uses of the simple and pure, big blocks of the good stuff. Confused? They look a little something like this:

Looking for Unreal Moisture? Try Shea Butter

There’s no other way to put this. Shea butter does absolute wonders for moisturizing your skin.

If you suffer from dry patches or need something a little more nourishing as a night cream – this is it. A little bit goes a long way, and any skin type can benefit from using this natural wonder. If you’re more on the oily side of the skin type spectrum, we can’t stress enough again that a little bit goes a long way (a little louder for the people in the back)!

When you first carve out a small piece from your shea butter block, the consistency is actually quite firm. Much like coconut oil, by rubbing the butter between your fingers it will automatically soften. Afterward, you’re ready to apply! Want a quick nighttime routine rich in this moisturizing powerhouse? Check this out.

• Start by using a more generous amount of your shea butter to loosen up makeup and get rid of any product pre-cleanse. Oh right, this would be a good time to tell you that you can totally use shea butter as a natural makeup remover! Ok, go ahead. Scrub, scrub, scrub (but gently!).
• Once your face is squeaky clean, proceed with any toners or astringents you typically use.
• Then bust out your shea butter block again, and warm up enough in your palms to moisturize your face. Just make sure to start with a bit at a time to avoid feeling like a grease ball.

Complete this quick routine nightly, and within a week you’ll notice remarkable results in how supple and nourished your skin feels.

& That Includes Moisturizing Your Body

If you just enjoyed what shea butter can do for your complexion, you’ll love how great it is at nourishing the rest of the skin on your body.

After a warm bath or shower while your skin is still damp, apply some shea butter as a body moisturizer. Focus on the typically rough areas (you know, knees and elbows), and try not to get dressed right away. Let this hard-working ingredient sink into your skin and work its magic.

Pro-tip: We love how radiant shea butter can make your gams look. If you’re rocking a dress or skirt, apply a bit as a balm on your legs for the ultimate healthy, glowy look.

Shea Butter for Healthy, Shiny Hair

In case being a standout moisturizer wasn’t enough, the list of benefits and uses for this powerful ingredient that is shea butter has only gotten started. For real, this list only gets better and better (if we do say so ourselves).

Shea butter makes for a thick, luxurious, and naturally nourishing hair mask. And believe us when we tell you, even if you’re so not the DIY type – making one of these is as easy as going down a rabbit hole on YouTube at 1:00 a.m.

• Grab a medium-sized cube of shea butter (depending on how long your hair is), and let it heat up in the microwave for about 30 seconds or until it feels warm to the touch.
• Work your melted shea butter into your hair, focusing on your ends. If you tend to have oily roots, try to start from the middle of your head down when applying your mixture.
• Let this magical ingredient sit in your hair for 30-45 minutes, or if you’re down – sleep in it. Rinse out, and say hello to moisturized, shiny, healthy hair.

Seriously, it’s that easy. Melt shea butter, apply, let it sit, rinse out. I mean, these are Sesame Street level instructions, and they are super effective! The benefits of using shea butter in your hair are impressive. For example, it can prevent split ends, hair loss, soothe a dry and itchy scalp, and so much more.

Prevent Fine Lines & Wrinkles with this Powerful Ingredient

If there’s one piece of information you need to retain about shea butter, it’s that it packs some rich antioxidants.

And if we haven’t made it clear yet how big we are on antioxidants here at BBE, well let us try here once more! Antioxidants are a major key in making your skin glow, and in retaining its youth. Moreover, these guys have your back in the fight against free radicals who live to damage your skin. We recommend ingesting your antioxidants, and using natural products that contain them whenever you can.

Shea butter has an abundance of vitamins A, E, and F. All of these powerful nutrients come together to boost faster generation of skin cells, and to increase circulation. And girlfriend, let us just remind you that boosted circulation in your face equals a glowy, healthy, and youthful complexion.

Prime your face for a flawless make-up application

Since pure unrefined shea butter has a bit of a waxy feel at first, it makes for a great natural makeup primer. Think of “putty” type primers that blur pores, and that doesn’t usually come in a tube.

With shea butter, you’ll want to make sure to use a *tiny* amount when you’re letting it help prep your skin for foundation. If you’re on the dryer side, feel free to add more of this natural gem to your skin as you see fit.

Oh, and didn’t we mention multiple uses for real ingredients at the beginning of this blog? By using natural shea butter as your moisturizer and primer, you’ve just saved yourself another layer of harsh chemicals on that beautiful face of yours.

Reduce the Appearance of Scars & Stretchmarks

You definitely read that right. Shea butter is often used for preventing stretch marks and scars, as well as lessening the appearance of existing ones. In fact, you may have heard of women using this remarkable ingredient during their pregnancies! That’s because shea butter stops keloid fibroblasts from reproducing. Sorry, keloid- what? Chill! Just the fancy, scientific term for scar tissue babe! Pretty extraordinary, right?

Applying shea butter religiously on stretch marks and scars will help lessen their appearance over time, and will improve your skin’s elasticity. The more supple and “elastic” your skin is, the fewer chances you’ll have of developing stretch marks.

Bottom line: the benefits and uses of this powerful ingredient by the name of shea butter don't play! Shea butter promotes healing in the skin, which makes it a great option for reducing the look of scars, stretch marks, or any other minor skin marks you may have. Just be sure to be consistent with applying it daily, and watch your skin become healthier and brighter.

Say Goodbye to Dry Lips & Dry Cuticles

By this point, you’re probably feeling like shea butter is the answer to all your problems. And if so, we can’t blame ya.

If you hate the irritating feeling of having dry or cracked lips and a drugstore balm just isn’t cutting it, rub a bit of shea butter onto your pout to reveal smooth and soft lips. Furthermore, we especially love dabbing on a tiny bit pre-lipstick application to make applying lip products smooth and easy.

If your cuticles are looking a little grim, take whatever excess is left on your fingertips and simply rub it in! This is an amazing way of making your manicure look fresher for longer as well. As a result, moisturized cuticles can make a serious difference in how clean your hands and nail beds look. This means you can totally procrastinate a little longer before hitting up the nail salon. You’re welcome.

Shea Butter for Sun Protection & Sun Burns

Ok, this part is kinda mind-blowing but here it goes. Shea butter actually acts as a gentle barrier against sun damage. It has about an SPF 3-4 in it, so it is definitely no replacement for your daily sunscreen. However, we still think it’s seriously cool that this natural superstar even boasts a little SPF in it!

Above all, because natural shea butter has some real anti-inflammatory properties, it works overtime to reduce redness and swelling. Meaning, it can definitely help you get through that irritating sunburn a little quicker.

Treat Itchy Skin With Shea Butter

All that anti-inflammatory goodness we just mentioned above is not only good for nursing that dry, red sunburn.

You can use shea butter to get relief from any type of itchy skin condition you may be dealing with. For instance, shea butter is super soothing for eczema, psoriasis, and does a remarkable job at calming any type of itchiness. Equally important, is that shea butter absorbs quickly which is key in getting fast relief, and not further irritating the skin with excessive rubbing.

As you can see babe, having a block of this golden block of natural goodness on hand can certainly prove useful to solving so many of your daily beauty conundrums!

Now go on, what are you waiting for? Lather on the Shea Butter, girl!

As you can see, we’re obsessed with all the amazing benefits and uses for this powerful ingredient called shea butter. But if you want to call it a block of natural gold, we’re down with that too.

Honestly, there are even more uses than what we listed above for this outstanding natural ingredient. Its versatility and the number of beauty hacks you can get out of shea butter are to us, what makes it so special. Let us know what you use shea butter for, or how you plan to try it out! We can’t wait to show you what we have going on with little miss shea in the near future… Stay tuned BBE family! <3