Shea Butter users, I confused, is it for moisture or sealing?

[HoneyDew]

I'm confused about Shea Butter.

I don’t see how it can be moisturizing for hair since everyone swears that moisturizers are water based. Isn’t Shea butter just a solid oil?

Is there anyone that only uses shea butter on their hair or are you applying other things first?

 

[KiniKakes]

That is a great question.

My assumption (and I could be wrong) is that pure Shea butter is for sealing, since in its softened/melted state it is like an oil. For those who use Shea Butter for moisturizing, perhaps they are using some form of it that is water based. For example, I use the Cantu Shea Butter: Break Cure & Strengthening Treatment, which is a water-based moisturizer. I seal that in with my favorite oils.

Also keep in mind that when every person on this board uses the term "moisturizing oils," they're not all aware of the difference between a water- and oil-based moisturizer, and the importance of using both, in the correct order. I recently learned this myself, just a few months ago. Prior til that time, I thought that my carrier oils were sufficient to provide my hair with the moisture that it needed. I realized later that these oils were "nourishing" my hair, and making it feel soft/supple, but that my hair was not getting the proper "moisture."

 

[Gryphyn]

Thanks for asking this HoneyDew, I have wondered the same thing in the past.

 

[sweetascocoa]

its a sealant not a moisturiser. no oil can moisturise on its own

 

[onepraying]

I'm confused about Shea Butter.

I don’t see how it can be moisturizing for hair since everyone swears that moisturizers are water based. Isn’t Shea butter just a solid oil?

Is there anyone that only uses shea butter on their hair or are you applying other things first?

I'm sorry, but it is extremely moisturizing to my hair. It softens and stays moist for days. I don't, however, use it in it's oily state. I also don't use it alone. I whip in FOTE's Vitamin E & Aloe Vera gels as well as an oil like Surge's Lotion Motion # 9 or Hot Sixx. On this next go 'round, I plan to leave out the oil and mix in some ORS OO(of which DOES have water). ORS OO does a wonderful job at moisturizing my hair, but my coils and naps need the vibrant life it was recieving from the application of my Shea.

 

[camellia]

I use all butters after I have applied leave conditoner or just misted with water.

 

[HoneyDew]

its a sealant not a moisturiser. no oil can moisturise on its own

Yeah, well, I know that. I think and hope that everyone has heard that as many times as I have.

But I hear of people that use shea butter for moisture and it is a staple for them for that reason.

Because I have heard that, I wondered how that could be since it is just solid oil.

Even the other butters : hemp seed, mango, aloe, etc. Some people use butters daily and are satisfied with that.

That is why I am questioning the theory that you HAVE to used water based products that are marketed as moisturizing.

If a person shampoos and deep conditions several times a week and only uses butter in between washes, are they not getting enough moisture.

 

[jasmine26]

I recently used just shea butter to twist my hair and my hair wasn't as moisturized or soft as it normally is. It actually made my hair feel very dry. So, i'm assuming it must be an oil.

 

[remnant]

I read Sistaslick saying that butter contains water and oil so it does two things : moisturise and seal.
I don't remember in wich thread it was!

 

[Sassygoddess]

are you all saying that in order for my hair to be moist i have to use a water base moisturizer and then some type of seal oil?

please let me know because i didn't know this.

 

[remnant]

are you all saying that in order for my hair to be moist i have to use a water base moisturizer and then some type of seal oil?

please let me know because i didn't know this.

: first you moisturise and secondly you seal the moisture with oil!

 

[HoneyDew]

Well, I read that essential fatty acids are great moisturizers because they are like our natural sebum. Aren't essential fatty acids oils?

I don't know if Shea Butter is an EFA, but I don't see how oils and butters are only beneficial for sealing.

 

[ayoung]

OT:

HD, what are you doing w/ your IC Olive Hair Polisher? (heat protect, shine...)

 

[rosie]

In the summer when I wear my puff (or used to), I would wash my hair, let it air dry over night and in the morning, rub Shea butter in it. It would soften (hard for most products to do) my hair and keep it buttery soft and moist for a few days. I would reapply the butter about 3 days later and wash my hair on the weekend.

For me it worked as a moisturizer. No misting of water, no applying of a water based moisturizer before hand. Pure shea butter that I used to get from Crabapple Soap Factory (yeah, I know, I know, but they had the best Shea butter for the price until the company went down hill).

Before I used shea butter, my hair was hard and never really got soft no matter what I used. Even curl activator gel (which softened my hair) wore off by the end of the day, so I used SHea butter and only shea butter.

C/O wash
Condition
Rinse
Air Dry (hair is rock hard, always until the next step)
Shea Butter

Gave me really soft and MOISTURIZED hair.

Maybe in the case of only water mosturizing hair, I am the exception.

I don't follow that routine anymore, 'cause I am a PJ an CSF went crazy, so I'm still looking for a replacement butter.

I now use cocoshea from Health2go.com (they have a new name, but I can't think of it). To which I mix my curl activator gel. I use it on damp hair now. It mosturizes my hair just as well as the shea butter from CSF did.

FOR ME (YMMV), shea butter (PURE, no other ingredients added) was a moisturizer when I used it that way.

 

[HoneyDew]

OT:

HD, what are you doing w/ your IC Olive Hair Polisher? (heat protect, shine...)

I am just applying on my dry hair. I don't use it as my heat protectant. It does give shine.

I use it as a moisturizer basically. I can give you guys the ingredients when i ave it own me. (at work right now)

 

[HoneyDew]

In the summer when I wear my puff (or used to), I would wash my hair, let it air dry over night and in the morning, rub Shea butter in it. It would soften (hard for most products to do) my hair and keep it buttery soft and moist for a few days. I would reapply the butter about 3 days later and wash my hair on the weekend.

For me it worked as a moisturizer. No misting of water, no applying of a water based moisturizer before hand. Pure shea butter that I used to get from Crabapple Soap Factory (yeah, I know, I know, but they had the best Shea butter for the price until the company went down hill).

Before I used shea butter, my hair was hard and never really got soft no matter what I used. Even curl activator gel (which softened my hair) wore off by the end of the day, so I used SHea butter and only shea butter.

C/O wash
Condition
Rinse
Air Dry (hair is rock hard, always until the next step)
Shea Butter

Gave me really soft and MOISTURIZED hair.

Maybe in the case of only water mosturizing hair, I am the exception.

I don't follow that routine anymore, 'cause I am a PJ an CSF went crazy, so I'm still looking for a replacement butter.

I now use cocoshea from Health2go.com (they have a new name, but I can't think of it). To which I mix my curl activator gel. I use it on damp hair now. It mosturizes my hair just as well as the shea butter from CSF did.

FOR ME (YMMV), shea butter (PURE, no other ingredients added) was a moisturizer when I used it that way.

Thanks for sharing that!!!!

 

[Neroli]

I recently used just shea butter to twist my hair and my hair wasn't as moisturized or soft as it normally is. It actually made my hair feel very dry. So, i'm assuming it must be an oil.

That's how it did my hair, dry as dust! I was not impressed with shea butter as a hair oil . . .

 

[Suri]

I use all butters after I have applied leave conditoner or just misted with water.

I use shea butter after I apply leave in conditioners as well. But I have applied it to freshly conditioned hair before applying anything else and it is still moisturizing. erplexed