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Shea Butter shaving?

Ok i rarely go to barber shops and i went to a new one this weekend. The barber told me my scalp was tight and dry and to get some raw shea butter to use on my head. (i keep it shaved bald). i was trying to look up this and noticed on youtube a guy used some Shea Butter moisturizer to shave a guy with. have any of you heard of this before? Also i need to know of any experiences with shea butter. will this help? is this a good preshave agent to stop razor bumps?

here is the youtube link

rtsp://v7.cache3.c.youtube.com/CjULENy73wIaLAnsalhsA79kYxMYJCAkFEIGbXYtcmltSARSB3Jlc3VsdHNg4aScvKG-5qBPDA==/0/0/0/video.3gp


 
Using Shea Butter like that is going to be the same thing as shaving with just a shave oil. Some people really like that, but there isn't any cushion if that is something you like.

Shea Butter is an anti-inflammatory and has a lot of great healing properties. It is going to definitely help with your scalp dryness. The only caution I would give is if you are allergic to latex you may react to shea butter as it has natural latex in it.
 
There are also shea butter shaving creams and soaps, which might be a good middle ground. I personally only have Spencer & Devon shave cream that has s.b. in it, but it's a great cream and leaves my face feeling great.

Looks like Pre de Provence and Honeybee are soaps w/ shea.
 
I wouldn't recommend using raw shea butter to shave with. It will either clog your razor or just provide an oil thin coating instead of actual lather. There are however, some very good shaving soaps (mostly from France) that have varying amounts of shea butter added to them. Soaps like Pre de Provence and Provence Sante, provide a nice lather and a good shave, IMHO, but nothing is going to get rid of ingrown hairs other than better technique and ingrown-hair specific treatments like TendSkin (or a homebrew version).
 
When you are looking for shea butter, be careful of what you are actually getting.

Shea butter is an off-white or ivory color. It is extracted from the Karite nut

If it is a bright yellow it is not shea butter, it is a butter that is extracted from a different nut. It's very similar but with less anti-inflammatory/healing properties than shea butter, but it is not true shea butter. (About 90% of what you see sold as shea butter in the U.S. after a quick search is NOT shea.)

L'Occitan's shea butter is highly refined and is actually white in color. Supposedly at lot of the anti-inflammatory properties of the shea nut are removed in the refining process.
 
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Actually raw unrefined shea is a buttery yellow. The more the butter is refined the whiter it becomes, but it also loses some of its healing properties. If you like lather and cushion you are going to want to use a good shaving soap/cream. If you have a really dry scalp make sure you are getting one that is sulfate & detergent free. Shea butter would be a good option to use as a straight moisturizer for the skin but it is going to feel really, really oily and take a while to absorb in.
 
Actually raw unrefined shea is a buttery yellow. The more the butter is refined the whiter it becomes, but it also loses some of its healing properties. If you like lather and cushion you are going to want to use a good shaving soap/cream. If you have a really dry scalp make sure you are getting one that is sulfate & detergent free. Shea butter would be a good option to use as a straight moisturizer for the skin but it is going to feel really, really oily and take a while to absorb in.

Re-check your facts. Did a LOT of reading on this 6 months ago, and the sites selling the "yellow" stuff will say one thing, and so do a lot of ignorant people on youtube... It can have a yellowish tinge to the tan color, but it is never a bright yellow. If it's bright yellow it's either not from the butyrospermum parkii tree, OR it's been cut with cheaper oils. I wish I could find back the rather scientific article I came across detailing the differences, and the actual name of the tree that the bright golden stuff comes from.

If it's pure white, like L'Occitan, then yes, it's been highly refined shea, if it's bright yellow, however it's not shea to begin with.

"
There's only one Shea Butter, however, here in the US, Kpangnan (pronounced "painya") Butter is affectionately KNOWN as "Yellow Shea Butter" or "Golden Shea Butter" which comes from the Butter Tree, (INCI name Pentadesma butyracea), while true, unrefined Shea Butter comes from a totally different tree (INCI name Butyrospermum parkii or Vitellaria paradoxa) in a different region with different climates. Although they are both great natural butter, please don't be confused about whats being labeled as Shea Butter.

Kpangnan unsaponifiable value is not as high as unrefined shea butter. Both are great for the skin, however, Shea Butter is better for the hair. Kpangnan Butter is a soft, powdery type of butter that melts into the skin and gives it a dry, silky feeling. Its great for eczema, sun burned or damaged skin and can be combined with other ingredients to further enhance, however, Shea butter provides more moisturizing affects on the skin AND hair, leaving it looking and feeling shiny and healthy."

Found the name of the bright yellow stuff ... Kpangnan butter ... Or often called "African Butter"
 
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I frequently use pure, unrefined African Shea Butter (Butyrospermum parkii) as a moisturizer for my hands. I play djembe drums and it can be really hard on the hands, so Shea Butter is a great way of soothing and moisturizing my abused paws! I wouldn't try shaving with it...it certainly would gunk up the razor badly, and although it would provide great glide, it would give zero cushion for the blade.
 
Institut Karité shaving soap contains 25% shea butter.

NO, Institut Karité does **NOT** contain 25% shea butter... IK contains 25% "Shea butter moisturizing cream" Meaning that it contains 25% of a moisturizing cream that itself contains a small percentage of shea butter.

It doesn't even contain anywhere CLOSE to 25% shea butter!

It's a very deceptive advertising gimmick... I happen to like the product, and use the product, DESPITE their deceptive marketing.

 
bkfist I am interested in why you are so aggressive? I make my living dealing with these ingredients on a daily basis. I have a friend in Scotland who brings in raw, unrefined shea butter from a women's group in Africa. I'm pretty sure I just might be qualified to know what these products look like in their different states, as well as knowing what those different states bring to the table as far as medicinal properties goes. I find your comments insulting and uncalled for, I will treat you with respect but I am going to require the same in return.

Cheers
Lindalu
 
I got some good input for ya,I was really intrested in this as far as a post shave product.I bought the L'occitan shea butter and warm it up just a little bit after my shave(a lil bit goes a looong way)and rubb it deep into my skin,and i can honestly say that my complextion has very much improved.I really dont know about shaving with it but i can imagine there wouldnt be much cushion
 
Can't give any info on the skin benefits, but you could definitely shave with it; you can shave with nothing but cold water so long as you keep your skin wet, so shea butter'd probably work great. Then again I'm not a believer in cushion being of any benefit, s'long as it keeps your face slick then shave away!
 
bkfist I am interested in why you are so aggressive? I make my living dealing with these ingredients on a daily basis. I have a friend in Scotland who brings in raw, unrefined shea butter from a women's group in Africa. I'm pretty sure I just might be qualified to know what these products look like in their different states, as well as knowing what those different states bring to the table as far as medicinal properties goes. I find your comments insulting and uncalled for, I will treat you with respect but I am going to require the same in return.

Cheers
Lindalu

I apologize, did not mean to be aggressive or insulting. I also know you are not personally trying to sell any product on here.
I don't have a problem with you, I do, however have a problem when other companies misrepresent products. IE selling Kpangnan butter as shea butter. My first purchase of "shea butter" was, in reality, misrepresented kpangnan butter, and am simply trying to save someone else the expense of buying "fake goods".

No disrespect to you was intended.
 
Can anyone recommend a good brand?

Not exactly a "recommendation", but I found the real stuff at http://aaasheabutter.com last fall. All I can say is the product I got smelled fresh (and smelled like shea) melts at the proper body temperature, and worked very well for me through the winter. I also came across http://sheabutterhut.com/ yesterday, and also appears to be legit in color/texture for what raw un-refined shea should look like, but I have no experience with them as to quality of product.

A 4 ounce container goes a LONG ways...
 
I apologize, did not mean to be aggressive or insulting. I also know you are not personally trying to sell any product on here.
I don't have a problem with you, I do, however have a problem when other companies misrepresent products. IE selling Kpangnan butter as shea butter. My first purchase of "shea butter" was, in reality, misrepresented kpangnan butter, and am simply trying to save someone else the expense of buying "fake goods".

No disrespect to you was intended.

Thank you...

Cheers
 
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