Ingredient Spotlight: Shea Butter

Ingredient Spotlight · Plant Active

Shea Butter

West Africa's "women's gold." Nourishing, repairing and protective, shea butter is the benchmark emollient for dry, sensitive or stressed skin.

The portrait of a butter that has crossed the centuries without aging a day.

NourishingRepairingProtectiveSoothingAnti-dehydration

Shop our shea butter treatments

Common name: Shea butter, shea, karité.
INCI name: Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter.
Family, type: Plant fat; emollient, nourishing and protective.
Found in nature: The kernels of the shea fruit (Vitellaria paradoxa), a savanna tree of West Africa, from Senegal to Uganda.
How it's obtained: The kernels are dried, crushed and pressed; the butter is then filtered and, depending on use, refined to neutralize its scent.

Typical concentration: 1% to 5% in a face cream, up to 20% or more in a body balm or massage candle.
Organoleptic properties: Appearance: solid ivory to pale yellow butter that melts on contact with skin; Scent: soft, slightly nutty.
Physical characteristics: Oil-soluble; melting point close to body temperature (90-100°F); rich in oleic and stearic acids and in unsaponifiables (triterpenes, vitamin E, phytosterols)^1,2.
Benefits: Nourishing, repairing, protective, soothing, anti-dehydration, softening.
Cosmetic indications: Dry to very dry skin, sensitive skin, skin exposed to cold or sun; hands, lips, body. Oily skin will prefer light formulas where it's used at low levels.

Did you know?A little history

In West Africa, the shea is a sacred tree: it takes fifteen to twenty years to bear its first fruit, and it lives for several centuries.

Its harvest and processing are traditionally reserved for women, hence its nickname "women's gold." Legend has it that the Queen of Sheba and Cleopatra had it brought in by entire caravans.

Shea butter has always been used to protect skin from the sun and the dry harmattan wind, heal chapped skin and massage newborns. Modern cosmetic science has simply confirmed what generations already knew¹.

General useShea in everyday life

Edible, shea butter is used as a cooking fat in Africa and appears in some European chocolates. But it's on the skin that it gives its best.

What sets it apart is its unusually high unsaponifiable fraction (up to 10%, versus 1% for most oils): it concentrates triterpenes with soothing, repairing properties, antioxidant vitamin E and phytosterols that strengthen the skin barrier^1,2.

Raw or refined butter? Raw shea keeps its scent and color; refined shea is more neutral and stable, which lets it pair with essential oils without scent interference. Both retain most of their fatty acids.

Cosmetic useIts properties on skin

NourishingIts oleic and stearic fatty acids replenish the lipids dry skin lacks and restore suppleness¹.
ProtectiveIt forms a breathable film that shields against cold, wind and dehydration.
RepairingIts triterpenes and vitamin E support the repair of damaged, chapped or tight skin².
SoothingShea's unsaponifiables help calm the discomfort of reactive skin^2,3.
Anti-dehydrationBy limiting transepidermal water loss, it keeps the outer layer hydrated.
SofteningOn the body and hands, it restores elasticity and softness to rough areas.

FormulationShea at Yon-Ka

One form, the butter itself, but very different dosages depending on whether the formula targets the face, the body or massage.

Main nourishing active

Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter

In treatments for dry, sensitive or exposed skin, shea is a key ingredient: it carries the nourishing and protective role of the formula.

Nutri Defense Creme · Sensitive Creme · Elastine Jour · Elastine Nuit · Creme Mains · Lait Auto-Bronzant · Taiga Massage Oil Candle

Formula emollient

Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter

In other creams, it brings comfort and a rich texture, alongside different main actives.

Hydra N°1 Creme · Time Resist Jour · Time Resist Nuit · Advanced Optimizer Creme · La Crème – Excellence Code

In cosmeticsUses

Nourishing, repairing face creams;
Soothing care for sensitive skin;
Hand creams and lip balms;
Body milks and butters;
Massage candles and oils.

The Yon-Ka approach

Shea nourishes, but it doesn't do everything. In Nutri Defense, we pair it with omega-rich organic sacha inchi oil and probiotics; in Sensitive Creme, with the soothing Sensibiotic complex; in the Elastine duo, with smoothing peptides. The butter brings comfort; the plant and biotechnology bring performance.

The science of the active, the sensoriality of the plant.

How to useAdding it to your ritual

At night in winter
Nutri Defense Creme or Sensitive Creme after Lotion Yon-Ka, in a generous layer over the face and neck.
Hands, several times a day
Creme Mains after every wash, focusing on the cuticles.
The body
The Taiga Massage Oil Candle, melted for a few minutes then poured warm, for a nourishing massage.

Good to knowStorage and precautions

Shea butter is a stable fat, not very prone to oxidation thanks to its natural vitamin E. Store your products at room temperature, away from heat.

Very well tolerated, including by sensitive skin and during pregnancy. Although it comes from a tree nut, refined shea butter contains virtually no allergenic proteins; if you have a confirmed allergy, ask your doctor. Its comedogenic rating is low, but very oily skin will prefer lighter textures.

Go furtherSources

Lin T.K., Zhong L., Santiago J.L. Anti-Inflammatory and Skin Barrier Repair Effects of Topical Application of Some Plant Oils. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2018; 19(1): 70. PubMed
Akihisa T. et al. Anti-inflammatory and chemopreventive effects of triterpene cinnamates and acetates from shea fat. Journal of Oleo Science, 2010; 59(6): 273-280. PubMed
Verma N. et al. Anti-inflammatory effects of shea butter through inhibition of iNOS, COX-2, and cytokines via the NF-κB pathway in LPS-activated J774 macrophage cells. Journal of Complementary and Integrative Medicine, 2012; 9: art. 4. PubMed
COSMILE Europe (Cosmetics Europe), cosmetic ingredient database, Butyrospermum Parkii Butter. cosmileeurope.eu