The Shea Butter Bandwagon
When I decided to begin my own line of body butters, I searched high and low for the best ingredients. During that time Shea Butter dominated all body butter and skin care niches. I saw tens of dozens of small skincare business owners advertising and promoting the ultra moisturizing and soothing properties of Shea Butter. So, of course, I jumped on the Shea Butter bandwagon. Yes, Shea Butter does have amazing benefits and qualities. However, as the months and years passed, it wasn't good enough for the effect and feel that I sought.
When it comes to the side of ingredients, I've found Shea Butter to be extremely easy and simple to work with. The butter is very creamy and soft, and inexpensive. But again, the effect and benefits were not good enough for me. I experimented with several recipes and oil-to-butter ratios to reach that feel that I desired so badly.
Why did I Ditch Shea Butter
What I desired in a body butter was complete coverage for moisturized skin, lightweight feel, non-greasy, no tacky or sticky feeling, conditioning to the skin, and soothing to itchy skin. This was difficult to achieve with Shea Butter unless I incorporated water into my formulations. I am not keen on using water in body butters simply because water takes up space for other nourishing ingredients, and is commonly used as a filler in several skin & body care products. Which means adding a preservative is mandatory in prevention of bacterial growth. Incorporating water into my body butter formula was not an option for efficacy reasons.
Next, I disliked how long it took Shea Butter to penetrate and absorb into my skin. Even with dry oils (grape seed oil, etc.) added to the formula, I still found my self either rubbing/massaging for minutes at a time to get the butter to seep into my skin, or using a cloth to remove a layer of the butter from my skin. I didn't like applying the butter to my skin and not being able to immediately get dressed afterwards without the melted butter sitting on top of my skin staining my clothes. Oh boy, let's not talk about the "butter stain" left behind on leather or wooden seats! Very embarrassing.
Thirdly, Shea Butter made me sweat. I wear body butter year-round, primarily use body butter after my PM bath before bed. I want to feel soft and pampered before I head to bed. Instead, with shea butter body butter I was very uncomfortable. Felling sweaty combined with a sticky and greasy feeling was almost the last straw for me.
Finally, the breaking point came when my little one wanted to use the shea butter body butter after her bath. We applied a very thin layer. Before I could get her fully dressed, she began to itch all over! After giving her a quick wash to remove all the shea butter body butter, she was fine.
I was very disappointed in myself. Although my customers enjoyed the shea butter body butters and had no complaints, I wondered if they too only knew of Shea Butter because of it's popularity and it's bandwagon trend. I wondered if others thought more about quality, effectiveness, or if they were simply hooked on Shea Butter with a great fragrance.
What I Found That's Better Than Shea Butter
I took action. After my daughter's itch-attack from Shea Butter, I scraped the formula and went back to the drawing board. Although I had no complaints from costumers, I vowed to never again follow the crowd. I reached out to my butter vendor to inquire about their "not so popular" butters. I quickly learned that the butter's unpopularity were not due to their benefits and properties, but because of the very expensive cost.
The exotic butter that I literally became obsessed with was Sal Seed Butter (Shorea Robusta). Compared to raw Shea Butter, the feel of raw Sal Seed Butter on my skin felt like pure velvet. Despite the expensive cost of Sal Butter, I could not wait to explore and begin research on the chemical and fatty acid profiles of this butter. I was willing to pay top dollar for a better quality and natural product for my customers.
What is Sal Seed Butter?
Sal Seed Butter is comparable to Cocoa Butter in its physical composition and similar to the feel of Argan oil when melted. Sal Seed Butter is obtained from the kernels of the sal tree, Shorea Robusta - Indigenous to North, East, and Central India. Locally in India, the butter is sourced for cooking and soap production. Sal Seed Butter is solid at room temperature, and melts on direct contact to skin.
As I dived into Sal Seed Butter's fatty acid profile, I was thoroughly pleased. As a formulator, understanding fatty-acid profiles is extremely critical to attributes of what is desired in a body butter (hardness, conditioning, etc.) For an example, Oleic Acid is an unsaturated fatty acid that contributes to the conditioning and moisturizing abilities of an oil, or in this case, body butter.
Sal Seed Butter Fatty Acid Profile: I4-12% Palmitic Acid, 40-50% Stearic Acid, 35-46% Oleic Acid, 1-5% Linoleic Acid, and 4-9% Arachidic Acid (skin-conditioner).
Benefits and Uses of Sal Seed Butter
Sal Seed Butter revealed the amazing skin-conditioning properties that I sought. Furthermore I found in research that Sal Seed Butter is believed to provide soothing and anti-inflammatory properties and UV protection.
due to its rich stearic acid and oleic acid content, Sal Butter works as an outstanding natural moisturizer and softener for dry to extremely dry skin.
provides protection from sunlight
it is a staple for winter skincare since it helps soothe itching caused by dry and dehydrated skin.
sal butter naturally contains squalene which improves the skin's protective barrier.
it cleanses pores.
sal butter contains Terpene Alcohol - an anti-inflammatory ingredient and a strong antioxidant.
it. feels. like. velvet!
I began to use Sal Seed Butter for its holistic and nourishing benefits as a natural ingredient for my body butters. The outcome I crossed my fingers for was a Sal Seed-based body butter for softening, moisturizing, and soothing the skin from dryness and itchiness. In the finished product I achieved a stable (highly oxidative), spreadable butter that readily absorbed into the skin. Today, Sal Seed Butter is used in several of my body care products (butter soap, scrubs, and body butters). Remember to always read the labels.
Why Sal is Better than Shea Butter
Sal Butter is characterized by its high content of stearic acid giving it physical properties comparable with cocoa butter. It has good emollience properties making it a very suitable replacement for many synthetic emollience enhancers. It has a good softening effect and good spreadability on the skin. It has a protective effect against sunlight. Although Sal Butter does not contain high tocopherol content it has an exceptionally good oxidative stability without addition of antioxidants. This is due to the very low content of polyunsaturated fatty acids. It prevents drying of the skin and the development of wrinkles. It reduces the degeneration of the skin cells and restores the flexibility of the skin.
Natural and organic
Ability to heal damaged skin because of presence of stearic acid
Naturally contains Vitamin E
Non-sticky
Non-acidic
Non-itching
Does not require an anionic surfactant for formulations
Works against wrinkles and signs of aging (because of skin conditioning arachidic acid presence)
...and Shea Butter if you'd like to know:
Contains gum
Can be oily and sticky
Less spread & less emollient
Does not contain arachidic acid (skin conditioner)
Acidic profile may cause itching
would you use sal seed body butter?
0%yes
0%no
0%unsure
Comments