Shea butter is an ingredient that is found in a variety of skincare products. If you are looking to make your own moisturizer, most of the recipes will recommend that you use shea butter as it is nourishing and moisturizing.
However, due to the thick consistency of shea butter, lots of people think that it plays a big part in clogging up your pores. As shea butter is found in so many skincare products, can this be true?
Our pores help to release oil and dirt from our skin so that it can remain healthy and clean. However, if your pores are clogged up, these impurities have no way of getting out of your skin.
This is why it is extremely important to take care of your skin and not let your pores become blocked.
As shea butter is thick, people are worried that it contributes to not letting your skin breathe. Find out more below about why shea butter is so popular in skin care and if it is doing more harm than good to your skin.
Benefits Of Shea Butter
As shea butter is so good for your skin, what areas does it target? One of the main reasons that shea butter is so popular is due to the variety of benefits of this one ingredient. Here are the benefits that shea butter has on your skin.
Anti-Aging Properties
As shea butter is extremely moisturizing, it can reduce the appearance of wrinkles on your skin as it is incredibly soothing on your skin.
It is packed full of vitamins, antioxidants, and fatty acids that also contribute to the anti-aging properties of shea butter.
Anti-Inflammatory
If you suffer from skin irritations such as eczema, shea butter can soothe these conditions as it is full of anti-inflammatory properties. The soothing feeling of shea butter on your skin can help to calm down skin flare-ups.
Antioxidants
Applying antioxidants to your skin protects them from harmful chemicals in pollution and UV rays. This means that shea butter can protect your skin due to the high levels of antioxidants that are found in it.
Applying this to your skin will help to take care of your skin and protect it from harmful chemicals.
Moisturizing
As shea butter contains fatty acids, you may think that it sounds bad for your skin. Fatty acids thoroughly moisturize your skin and strengthen the moisture barrier.
This helps to contain moisture in your skin and prevent it from drying out.
Contains Vitamins And Minerals
As shea butter contains vitamin A and vitamin E, it helps to nourish your skin and to keep it moisturized, preventing dryness or cracking.
The vitamins and minerals that are found in shea butter help to prevent the skin from becoming damaged or dull.
Heals Skin
As mentioned above, the fatty acids that are found in shea butter keep the skin moisturized, but they also help to nourish the skin and reduce the appearance of scars, acne, and even cuts on the skin.
It helps to heal wounds in the skin and helps them to heal quickly.
Comedogenicity
If you are concerned that shea butter may be clogging your pores, it is important to look at the comedogenicity scale.
Comedogenicity shows if the product that you are using on your skin is likely to cause your pores to clog.
If you are using something on your skin that has a high comedogenicity, it will likely cause your skin to break out.
If a product is non-comedogenic, that means it doesn’t contribute to clogging your pores or promotes acne. These are safe to use if you want to avoid breakouts, but remember that all skin is different.
Just because a product is non-comedogenic, doesn’t mean that your skin won’t react to it.
What Rating Is Shea Butter On The Comedogenicity Scale?
As the comedogenicity scale shows how good a product is for your skin, you will be able to tell if you should avoid it or not.
If you suspect that shea butter is clogging your pores, seeing where it is on the scale will determine whether it is the shea butter or something else that you are using.
What Is The Scale?
The comedogenicity scale is ranked 0-5. If the product is ranked 0, this means that it is non-comedogenic and doesn’t clog up your pores. On the opposite side of the scale is rank 5.
If a product is ranked at 5, this means that it will clog your pores up.
Using anything ranked between 0-2 on the scale is safe to use on your skin and won’t clog up your pores, but anything ranked 3-5 has a good chance of clogging up your pores.
Shea Butter
On the comedogenicity scale, shea butter is ranked at 0. This means that it is non-comedogenic and does not clog your pores.
Shea butter can sometimes be ranked between 0-1, but it does not clog your pores due to the low ratings on the scale.
However, shea butter has a high rating of oleic acid, which can lead to clogging pores. This means that if you have oily skin, shea butter may not work for you and could clog your pores.
This doesn’t mean that it will as shea butter is used by people with oily skin and they have no problems. It just means that you need to listen to your skin and remember that all skin is different.
Related: Does Hyaluronic Acid Cause Acne?
Final Thoughts
To conclude, shea butter is usually rated 0 on the comedogenic scale as it helps to moisturize and nourish your skin. This means that shea butter doesn’t clog your pores and is safe to use to keep your skin healthy.
However, it is important to remember that all skin types are different. As shea butter contains oleic acid, this can cause pores to clog on some skin types.
Remember to listen to your skin and only use what you are comfortable with.