Shea Butter?

I wanted to explain my thought process on WHY I chose the ingredients I did for my Concentrated Skin Serum. So to start I will talk about SHEA BUTTER!?!

To begin there are many variations of Shea from organic, non organic . All the way to Refined, color, location… Its surprising to be honest. So OFF I went to find out what I wanted to use in my product. Reddit, google, chat GPT, all the sourcess I used to find out more information. Until one long night on reddit I read people mentioning Shea Nilotica!

SHEA NILOTICA is very different from its sister more commonly known as Western shea. Nilotica is mainly derived from… you probably guessed it… eastern Africa. Western shea is derived from a different tree than Nilotica.

Western Shea comes from Vitellaria paradoxa tree

Eastern Shea comes from Vitellaria nilotica tree

Western Shea butter is higher in a fatty acid called Stearic Acid, which gives it a much more firm and wax like texture. This also makes it more likely to be too much for sensitive facial skin. Mind you, WS(Western Shea) is likely safe for those blessed with regular skin. The type of skin that can be washed with body wash, dish soap and the likes and shine, glow and be blemish free. (cries in sensitive skin)

So to the rescue comes SHEAAAA NILOTICAAAA!!!! This one is superbly more creamy, less of the characteristic scent of WS and the absorption is much superior to its sister.

Nilotica has a much higher Oleic fatty acid than WS that offers deeper and faster hydration. High in vitamins A and E, its honestly an amazing product. I chose an organic, cold pressed Shea Nilotica so I can keep everything great about shea Intact for the final product. I process my serum in a very low heat method to ensure all of the delicate compounds do not get affected. This is why most higher end oils, extracts try to remove or lower the heat as much as possible as it tends to degrade things.

So in the end this is why I ended up choosing Shea Nilotica, I still wanted the benefits of Western Shea but without it making my serum feel heavy, waxy or oily. Despite my skin being so sensitive to products it still has a very HIGH need for moisture and protection but my skin dislikes having thick and heavy products on it. It dislikes fragrances, essential oils (which come to find out most if not all EO’s are not safe to be anywhere near your lips or mouth even AFTER dilution).

SO BOOM! Thats my thought process to the beautiful ingredient of shea in my wonderful serum! Stay tuned for upcoming posts about the rest of the FANTASTIC ingredients in my serum.

Thanks for stopping by and reading. Take Care! <3