While going through the sunscreens available in the market, you’ll see that many of those come with shea butter. So, you may think of using shea butter solely as a sunscreen.
I used to think the same. I’ve gone through a lot of articles and resources found on the internet to know if it is possible or not. The answer I’ve found is really interesting. Here I’m going to share what I’ve found after my research.
Can I Use Shea Butter As Sunscreen?
Shea butter is the fat taken out from the nuts of the shea tree mainly found in West Africa. People from Africa have been using shea as a natural sunscreen for a long time.
There are a lot of reasons behind this. Shea butter doesn’t come with any type of ingredient that causes irritation to the skin. As a result, it can be used on all types of skins. Besides, shea is a natural moisturizer. There are a lot more benefits that we’ll discuss later.
Also, shea comes with a natural SPF of 6-10.
For all these benefits, you can use shea butter solely as an alternative to your sunscreen. It saves your skin from the sunray.
But, there are some things to consider.
If your skin is black or brown and tans instead of being burnt, you can use shea butter only as a replacement for your sunscreen. It’ll protect your skin from the sun and moisturize.
On the other hand, if your skin is fair or pale, and prone to be burnt instead of being tanned, using shea butter alone as a protection from the sun is not a good decision. You should consider adding other ingredients.
In such a case, I suggest going for sunscreens found in the market. But if you want to make a sunscreen of your own, you’ll find a lot of recipes for making sunscreen using shea butter and other ingredients. You can try those too.
Why is Shea Butter this Good as a Sunscreen?
Shea butter comes with a lot of benefits for our skin and hair. But right now, let’s know why it is this good as sunscreen.
Shea Butter is Suitable for All Skin Types
Some proteins in nuts can trigger allergies. Though shea is another nut, it doesn’t contain those proteins at a high amount. As a result, it doesn’t cause irritation to skins. It can be applied to any type of skin.
Shea Butter doesn’t Make Your Skin Oily
Shea butter contains both oleic acid and linoleic acid. When you apply shea butter on your skin, these two balance each other. As a result, it doesn’t leave your skin oily.
It Comes with SPF Properties
The natural SPF of shea butter is around 6-10. As a result, this is very effective in protecting your skin from the sun. When mixed with other ingredients with high SPF, it works better.
It Moisturizes the Skin
Shea butter is known to moisturize the skin. It comes with a lot of fatty acids like oleic acid, linoleic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, etc.
These fatty acids restore the moisture and create a barrier to hold the moisture. As a result, your skin remains young and strong even when the weather is not supportive.
Shea Butter is Anti-inflammatory
When applied, shea butter reduces the production of inflammatory cells and heals the burnt skins because of its anti-inflammatory properties. It reduces the redness and soothes the skin slowly.
For these reasons, shea butter can be a great sunscreen for your skin.
Final Verdict
If you’re thinking of using shea butter as sunscreen, you can go for it. But make sure that your skin is not burn-prone. If so, you should look for a good recipe of making sunscreen with shea butter and other ingredients.
Using shea butter alone in this can may not bring a satisfactory result.