If you have ever used truly high quality raw African Shea butter, then you have no doubt noticed how smooth, soft, and plump it makes your skin look. This is especially noticeable if you use it as a night cream. But why does Shea butter do this to your skin? Is it the moisture, or perhaps the vitamins? Or does Shea butter skincare actually increase the skin’s collagen?
The happy answer to this question is yes, Shea butter can help to increase and protect your skin’s production of collagen, and it does so in a variety of ways. One of the most notable is that raw Shea butter contains naturally occurring vitamin A, which is a very well known collagen stimulating vitamin that also has antioxidant properties. As an antioxidant, vitamin A neutralizes free radicals, which effectively prevents them from wreaking havoc on your skin’s existing collagen. As a vitamin that also encourages skin cell turnover, topical application of vitamin A rich Shea butter can help keep the skin plump and firm by regularly bringing juicy new cells to the surface, while the old, brittle and dehydrated cells fall away.
Raw Shea butter also contains vitamin E and plant sterols that work to prevent and reduce inflammation, which is a major player in the collagen-destroying department. Even though the vitamin E and plant sterols found in Shea butter skincare don’t necessarily cause the skin to produce more collagen, they do protect the collagen already present, as well as the skin’s efforts at making more. Vitamin E is also famous for its wrinkle-softening effects that help to make the skin look more full and smooth.
A great way to capitalize on the collagen building and protecting effects of Shea butter is to use it in combination with other natural skin care ingredients that do the same thing. If you make your own skin care creations at home, consider adding in some collagen-loving essential oils like Geranium, or mix with another carrier oil like Seabuckthorn or Rosehip Seed. Mixing and matching skin care ingredients creates a beautiful synergy of therapeutic properties that build on each other to deliver a well rounded and potent package of healing anti-aging goodness to your skin.
Raw African Shea butter contains a host of skin healing substances, and a choice few do help to build and preserve the skin’s collagen. Used alone, or in conjunction with other ingredients of your choice, using raw Shea butter can be a valuable strategy for nourishing and protecting the elasticity and presence of collagen in your skin.