Shea butter is one of the most versatile natural beauty ingredients and I use it daily in some form. I’ve used it for years in everything from my homemade lotion bars and original magnesium body butter to homemade lip balms and healing salves.

Some of of favorite uses for shea butter:

1. By itself for face and body as a natural moisturizer
2. In a shea butter lotion bar stick for easy use
3. After sun or beach exposure to replenish skin
4. Alone or in a pregnancy salve to ward off stretch marks
5. As a natural cuticle cream
6. As the best under-eye wrinkle remover and bag-reducer
7. As a massage butter
8. In my homemade velvety soft whipped body butter
9. On sore/raw noses during a cold or flu
10. Added to basic homemade lotion
11. On scars to naturally help collagen production
12. As a base for homemade deodorant
13. By itself for low-grade sun protection
14. Whipped into magnesium body butter
15. As a natural baby-care product (alone) or ingredient in baby care recipes
16. By itself on the lips or in homemade lip balms
17. In a homemade shimmer lip balm
18. On the eyelids before applying makeup to make it last longer
19. To improve skin elasticity (some even say it helps with cellulite)
20. On the hair or scalp (in mixture with other natural ingredients)
21. In homemade liquid creme foundation and makeup

TIP: If the shea butter is too thick for what you’re trying to do, melt it over very low heat and then use. Do not let it get close to boiling or you will lose beneficial properties. You can also emulsify it with other oils using the technique in my lotion recipe.