Why unrefined shea butter works on dry skin

Shea butter is the base of almost everything we make, and it is the ingredient people ask about most. Here is what it is doing on your skin, in plain terms.

Unrefined is not a marketing word

Refining shea strips its colour and smell, and takes a good deal of its vitamin content with it. What is left spreads easily and smells of nothing, which is convenient for a factory and less useful for your skin. We use unrefined shea, which is why our butters are the colour they are and carry a faint nutty smell under the scent.

What it actually does

• Sits on the skin as an occlusive layer, slowing how fast water leaves it
• Carries fatty acids — mostly oleic and stearic — that soften rough patches
• Brings vitamins A and E along with it, which refining largely removes

Why we whip it

Raw shea straight from the block is hard, grainy and hard to spread, so most people use far too much and end up greasy. Whipping it with mango butter and lighter oils makes it light enough to press into skin without dragging. Same ingredient, far less of it needed.

Use it on damp skin

This is the part that changes the result most. Shea butter seals in water rather than adding it, so applied to dry skin it has nothing to seal. Use it within a minute or two of a shower, while your skin is still damp, and the same amount of butter does noticeably more.