Can you use shea butter on your face?

Many of our customers use our whipped butters on their face – as an acne treatment, to reduce scarring and blemishes, as a makeup remover and a daily moisturizer. I use them as an anti-aging under-eye cream, massaging a dab of Vanilla Latte Blended Butter under each eye before bed.

But what is the science behind using shea butter on face, and are there any risks?

Let’s start with what science *has* established – shea butter is amazing for skin. From Healthline.com;

“High concentrations of fatty acids and vitamins make shea butter an ideal cosmetic ingredient for softening skin. Shea butter also has anti-inflammatory and healing properties. Using shea butter on your body, especially your face, can condition, tone, and soothe your skin.”

Shea butter reduces redness and swelling (which is why it’s a great anti-acne treatment), and locks in moisture for several hours. It also reduces blemishes and uneven tone.

It boosts collagen production and slows collagen breakdown, resulting in plumper skin and less fine lines and wrinkles.

How to use shea butter on face

You can rub whipped butter onto your bare face for a gentle glow, or apply makeup on top of it. You can also use it as a face mask. If you like lighter moisturizers (like water-based gels or serums) then a face mask is a great way to get the benefits of shea butter without having it on your face all day. From UPenn Medicine;

“Face masks allow ingredients to penetrate better into your skin in a short amount of time [and] can offer a more concentrated dose and more intense version of its ingredients compared to other forms of applications.”

Risks and Side Effects

The good news is that shea butter is an incredibly safe natural ingredient, even for those prone to allergies. From Healthline.com;

“Shea butter is an incredibly low-risk topical ingredient. Allergic reactions to shea butter are rare.
Even people who are allergic to tree nuts, the family that shea nuts belong to, have a low risk of reaction to shea butter on their face. Researchers believe this is because shea nuts contain little of the tree-nut proteins that trigger allergies.”

The bad news? Shea butter can definitely clog pores.

I mentioned earlier that I use Vanilla Latte Blended Butter as an eye cream. If I were to apply it anywhere else on my face I would break out. My U-zone (cheeks and chin) is incredibly acne prone, and in the past I’ve found that applying whipped butter there brings painful red, under-the-skin pimples. Even The American Academy of Dermatology suggests that shea butter can clog pores and cause acne, particularly in acne-prone skin.

Conclusion

If your face responds well to our whipped shea butter (no breakouts) then you are incredibly lucky! You have found a powerful moisturizing, anti-acne, anti-blemish and anti-aging cream.

If your face doesn’t respond well, not all is lost. You can use our whipped butter on your face in a more targeted way (like I do) or just use it for bodycare and haircare.

And if you’re looking to build an anti-inflammatory, anti-blemish, anti-aging regimen that won’t break out your skin, try our African black soap! It’s an incredibly powerful ingredient when paired with a good toner and moisturizer.

Have you used our whipped butters on your face? How did they work?