I have found that Shea butter is commonly used in natural hair. I went out of town a few weekends ago, and I saw a woman using Shea butter in her hair. Now I really want to know more about it. There must be something good about this butter, because I keep seeing it in action. So I looked some things up, in order to get a general idea about Shea butter. Shea butter is useful for many things and found in many products such as body wash, lotion, hair products, etc. So, I am going to look into how Shea butter's natural chemistry can improve hair quality or styling.
What is Shea butter?
It comes from the karite nut tree found in Africa and uses no chemicals in its production. Shea butter is made similar to the way peanut butter is made from nuts, by crushing the nuts. There is the added step of boiling in order to make Shea butter. Something to note: the older Shea butter is the less potent it is. Shea butter is known to have properties that are healing for the skin and hair.
"The dailyglow.com states that Shea butter:
- Shea butter absorbs quickly and completely into the scalp without clogging pores, leaving a greasy residue, or causing a buildup of oil or dandruff.
- Shea butter provides moisture to dry and damaged hair from the roots to the tips, leaving it healthy and shiny. Because it's rich in vitamins A and E, Shea butter soothes dryness, repairs breakage, and mends split ends.
- Shea butter protects hair from weather damage caused by wind, humidity, and extreme dryness, and repairs such damage.
- Because it's rich in moisture and can shield against harmful ultraviolet radiation, Shea butter protects hair from sun damage.
- fades scars
- lightens stretch marks
- helps cure skin conditions such as dermatitis, psoriasis, and dandruff
- helps diminish wrinkles by moisturizing the skin, promoting cell renewal, and increasing circulation.
- An effective moisturizer, Shea butter is rich in fatty acids, which help skin retain its moisture and elasticity.
- If your hair has endured chemical treatments, hot irons, and blow-dryers, shea butter can restore its moisture and vitality.
- soothes sores
- used to cool burns"
- softens dry hair
- moisturizes extremely dry hair
- anti-inflammatory properties
This list makes me want to go buy some right now!! Also, I don't know if I mentioned it earlier, but Shea butter seals moisture into the hair shaft, which creates a natural protection from chemicals. This makes it worth adding to your other haircare products as a general hair damage protector/restorer.
How Shea butter is used on natural hair
It looks like Shea butter is used as a deep conditioner a lot, but the way I saw it being used was just a hair moisturizer with holding properties on styles like twists. Actually Shea butter can be used in many more ways. Here are a few that I've found:
- deep conditioner
- daily hair moisture sealant after the hair is damp or a leave in conditioner has been applied
- hot oil treatment
4 Shea butter hair treatments
- Prepare a Shea butter hair conditioning treatment to deeply moisturize your hair. Melt 1/4 cup of Shea butter in a saucepan on the stove. Put on a pair of protective rubber gloves. Massage the warm Shea butter into your hair, making sure that all the hairs are thoroughly covered. Wrap a towel around your head and allow the shea butter to remain in your hair for 30 minutes. Shampoo as usual. (ehow.com)
- Add to a saucepan 1 tsp. olive oil, 1 tsp. Shea butter, 1 1/2 tbsp. plain yogurt and 1 tbsp. honey. Beat 1 egg in a bowl and add it to the saucepan mixture. Apply heat from the stove until the Shea butter has melted. Continue stirring the ingredients until they are well blended. Apply to damp hair and leave on for up to 30 minutes or overnight. Shampoo the mixture out. (ehow.com)
- To revitalize your hair, you should massage a generous amount of Shea butter for hair growth on your scalp, then wrap your hair with a warm towel and stay for about 30 minutes. (http://voices.yahoo.com/using-shea-butter-hair-growth-6513812.html?cat=69)
- For soft and silky hair, after massaging your hair with Shea butter, use a natural shampoo to wash. (http://voices.yahoo.com/using-shea-butter-hair-growth-6513812.html?cat=69)
1. http://www.outofafricashea.com/about/nourishment.html
2. www.ehow.com; How to Use Shea Butter on Natural Hair By Amara Mandeln, eHow Contributor. Read more: How to Use Shea Butter on Natural Hair | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_7203921_use-shea-butter-natural-hair.html#ixzz2Avmog76n
3. http://www.vitaminstuff.com/supplements-shea-butter.html
4. http://www.dailyglow.com/articles/197/hair-care-treatments/shea-butter-for-hair-and-scalp.html
5. http://voices.yahoo.com/using-shea-butter-hair-growth-6513812.html?cat=69
6. Read more: How to Use Shea Butter for Hair | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_5989867_use-shea-butter-hair.html#ixzz2AvkfJjyE
7.voices.yahoo.com;using Shea butter or hair growth By Emelyn Licanda
