Raw Shea Butter Benefits for Skin:
The Full List

Raw Shea butter does one thing exceptionally well: it keeps skin hydrated, soft and comfortable in weather that would otherwise wreck it. Almost everything else people claim for it follows from that, and a fair amount of what people claim for it is invented.

This is the short version of everything: what it is, what is in it, what people use it for, and where it stops. Each section links to the article that goes deeper.

What raw Shea butter is

Shea butter is the fat from the nut of Vitellaria paradoxa, a tree that grows wild across the African savanna belt from Senegal to South Sudan. It refuses plantation life and takes around twenty years to bear its first fruit.

Getting butter out of the nut takes eight steps by hand: gather, boil, sun-dry, crack, roast over a wood fire, grind to paste, whip with water until the fat separates, then cook and skim clean. Nothing is added at any point. More on the tree and the process in what Shea butter is made of.

What it naturally contains

• Oleic acid, helps the butter sink into skin rather than sit on top
• Stearic acid, gives it the body to stay put on a dry patch
• Unsaponifiable fraction, several times higher than in olive oil, and where the plant sterols live
• Vitamins A and E, naturally present in the unrefined butter
• Essential fatty acids, what your skin barrier is actually built from

Refining changes the butter. Depending on the process, it can remove or reduce part of the naturally occurring unsaponifiable fraction, including tocopherols, sterols and triterpene compounds. These compounds are present in unrefined Shea butter and are part of what makes its composition distinctive.

The result is still a moisturizer. But it is not the same material that came out of the nut.

Full comparison in raw versus refined Shea butter.

What people actually use it for

• Dry body and winter skin. Emollient and occlusive at once, so it smooths the surface and slows water escaping.
• Cracked heels and hands. Thickly, at night, under cotton socks or gloves. This is where it is at its most convincing.
• Face. Thinly, at night. It suits most people and not all. See is raw Shea butter good for your face.
• Hair and scalp. A smear through the ends, or a pre-wash scalp mask. Too much weighs fine hair down. Method in how to use raw Shea butter.
• Stretching skin in pregnancy. Keeps skin supple and settles the itch. See Shea butter for a pregnant belly.
• Children and babies. A long tradition in Northern Ghana, with sensible caution. See Shea butter for babies, kids and the whole family.
• Fine lines. Hydrated skin looks and feels softer. What that does and does not mean is in Shea butter and wrinkles.

What we actually know

Shea butter is a very good moisturizer, and that is well established. It smooths, it slows water loss, and it gives the skin barrier the kind of fats it is built from. Used daily on dry, rough or weather-damaged skin it does what it says.

Most of the rest is downstream of that. Skin that is properly hydrated looks better, feels better and is less reactive. That is a real effect and a modest one, and we would rather say so than dress it up.

What it cannot do

• It is not sunscreen. Shea butter does have a real UV effect. Its unsaponifiable fraction contains triterpene cinnamate esters that absorb light in the UVB range, and a 2020 study in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology found that adding Shea butter to a sunscreen formulation raised the measured in vivo SPF of the finished product (Sarruf et al., 2020). That makes it a useful partner to a sunscreen, not a replacement for one. On its own the effect is small, and small is not protection. Wear a tested sunscreen and put the butter underneath, or use it in the evening.
• It does not remove wrinkles. It softens the look of fine lines by hydrating, which is real and temporary.
• It does not prevent stretch marks. It keeps stretching skin comfortable, which is worth having on its own terms.
• It is not a treatment for any skin condition. Many people with easily irritated skin find a plain unrefined butter kinder than a fragranced cream. It is still a moisturizer, and a dermatologist is still the right person to ask.

How to use it so none is wasted

• Take less than you think. A piece the size of a pea covers a face. For heels, be generous instead
• Let it melt between your fingers until it turns to oil. It takes seconds at body temperature
• Apply to clean skin
• Store sealed, cool and out of sunlight and it keeps for years. See how to store raw Shea butter
• If it goes grainy, it is harmless and fixable: why it happens and how to fix it

Who makes ours

A cooperative of women in northern Ghana, who own the operation and set the standards. It started with ten women, and more than thirty run it now. They use their own butter daily on themselves and their children, which is the strictest quality control system we know of. The income is steady and their children are in school, and that holds because customers keep ordering. More about them in love at our Shea butter co-op.

Where to get it

Our raw Shea butter and cold-pressed Baobab oil are available in our own shop, and on Amazon in the US and across the EU.

Shea butter comes in 450 g | 16 oz pouches, 2.25 kg | 5 lb and 4.5 kg | 10 lb boxes.

Read More

• What Does Shea Butter Smell Like?
• DIY Raw Shea Butter Recipes
• Is Shea Butter Safe for Cats and Dogs?
• How Our Shea Butter Is Made

FAQ

What are the main benefits of raw Shea butter for skin?

Long-lasting moisture, support for the skin barrier, and relief for rough, itchy or weather-damaged skin. It also softens the look of fine lines by hydrating.

Is unrefined Shea butter better than refined?

We choose unrefined, because refining can remove or reduce part of the naturally occurring unsaponifiable fraction, along with the color and the scent. Refined Shea butter is still a moisturizer, it is simply a processed one.

Does Shea butter have an SPF?

It has a measurable UV effect but not a usable one on its own. A 2020 study in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology found that adding Shea butter to a sunscreen formulation raised the finished product's in vivo SPF, which makes it a good partner to a sunscreen rather than a substitute for one.

Can I use Shea butter every day?

Yes, and daily use is where it performs best. Small amounts daily beat occasional heavy application.

Does raw Shea butter expire?

It keeps for years stored sealed, cool and away from sunlight. After about two years it can slowly start losing some of its skin-loving benefits, but that does not mean it has gone bad, and it will still moisturize your skin for years.

Does Shea butter clog pores?

It is well tolerated by most people, including plenty with oily skin, but it does not suit every face. If your skin is oily or actively breaking out, start with a small amount and see how it responds over a week.