The Natural Healing Properties of Shea Butter

What is Shea butter?

Shea butter comes from the seeds of the fruit of the Shea tree. Naturally rich in vitamins A, E and F, this skin superfood does more than just moisturise, it also supplies key anti-inflammatory and anti-aging nutrients. Shea butter has a long history of medicinal use and has been used in Africa for many years to treat skin conditions and improve hair texture.

Natural Properties and Benefits

Shea butter has a rich buttery texture at room temperature. It’s also highly emollient, containing a large amount of natural fatty acids which makes it ideal for moisturising dry skin. It has anti-inflammatory properties due to the natural acidic compound lupeol cinnamate which works to reduce skin inflammation. Plus, the acids found within Shea butter boost the skin’s natural collagen production that protects and nourishes the skin – in some cases it can even reduce the appearance of wrinkles.

Texture in YES OB

YES OB includes, amongst other wonderful skin food ingredients, organic Shea butter. If you’ve ever purchased YES OB, apart from experiencing its wonderful soothing properties, you may have noticed that occasionally it can come out of the tube with a slightly grainy texture. There’s a good reason for this and we wanted to reassure you that it’s fine! The grainy texture that you may have experienced is caused by crystallization of the Shea butter, which occurs when the butter melts during warm conditions and then cools back down too slowly and falls out of solution. This is just the way the natural ingredients react to changes in temperature. Shea butter’s melting point is just above typical room temperature, which is why we recommend that you don’t store YES OB somewhere where it can be easily heated such in the bathroom, near a radiator or in direct sunlight on a window sill. This graininess doesn’t impact the quality of the product, but luckily it is very easy to fix. Simply heat your tube gently in hand hot water and then once all of the ingredients are liquid again, shake the tube thoroughly and place the tube in the fridge to cool for about an hour. This will reset the texture back to the wonderful smooth feel you expect. Once restored, make sure that you keep YES OB stored in not too warm a place.