Shea Butter

Shea Butter is a lipid from Vitellaria paradoxa nuts, made mainly of triglycerides with notable unsaponifiables. It's used in creams and balms for rich emolliency, soft slip, replenishing surface lipids, and reducing moisture loss.
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Ingredient Snapshot

Overview
A rich, nourishing butter that softens and moisturizes dry skin.
Category
Barrier Support, Hydration, Skin Conditioning, Soothing, Sensitive Skin
Type
Emollient

Ingredient Ratings

Overall Rating

Great

Comedogenic Risk

None

Skin Benefits

It nourishes and softens, easing tight, flaky skin and leaving a cushioned, supple feel. It also helps reinforce the outer skin layer, adding comfort and flexibility.

Uses In Skincare & Cosmetics

It's a staple in body butters, rich moisturizers, hand creams, and lip balms for parched skin, and it shows up in balms and overnight masks aimed at heels, elbows, and cuticles.

Comedogenic Rating

This ingredient has a comedogenic rating of 0. It is considered non-comedogenic and has little to no likelihood of clogging pores.

Safety

It's generally well tolerated, including on sensitive skin. Those with very acne-prone skin may find rich butters too occlusive, so patch testing is worth doing if that's a concern. It's tree-nut derived, though allergenic protein content is typically low.

Is Shea Butter a Good Ingredient?

Shea butter earns a Great rating because it's a well-established, stable emollient with a strong track record for barrier comfort and a low rate of irritation, which makes it reliably effective even for dry, sensitive skin.

Products with Shea Butter

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