Hola hola sweet petites,

It’s your girl, Money Honey aka Manika-Nia and I’m back with your weekly dose of love from the handbook! Today it’s all about Shea.. that buttery, creamy substance that I fully believe was crafted by the skin gods. Now, as is indicative of the title, I’ve used this butter every single night for a week. Before I get into what it did to my face I want to give you the low down on this butter and the benefits when applying it to the face.

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What is Shea Butter?

The butter actually comes from the nuts of the Shea tree. The butter that we use is the fat that is extracted from the nut. In its raw form it is a yellow color but many unrefined Shea butters are also white. Though Westerners call it Shea, it is known under many different pseudonyms depending on what part of the world you are in and who you are talking to. The tree grows naturally and in abundance in West Africa (thanks mama Africa). There are grades A through E but for all that is good and great do not concern yourself with anything less than Grade A!

The colours you may see are yellow and white. In its pure form the colour will be yellow. Raw Shea (Grade A) is yellow but may contain traces of other particles (see photo to the left) and unrefined Shea (Grade A) can be yellow or ivory-ish. Make sure that whatever you buy is unrefined and not far from its original state. I personally like the ivory colored Shea and was nervous when I first heard that any white color means it is processed. However, I have been assured by more than one source that unrefined/organic Shea’s can also be ivory in colour. Hooray!

Shea Butter Face Benefits

Shea Butter is known as a skin superfood because, well, because it has superpowers and feeds the skin with such nutrients its almost unbelievable. It is one of those all natural tings that fully absorbs in the skin and makes it more elastic, durable, and soft.

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When it comes to the face this buttery treat is so phenomenal because it works with the skin instead of against it. It smooths, moisturizes, evens, and clears the skin of unwanted blemishes. Because it has natural vitamins and fatty acids, it nourishes the face way down deep. The cinnamic acid makes it anti-inflammatory and such helps it to eliminate and aid in preventing blemishes. It contains oleic, stearic, palmitic, and linolenic acids that help boost the faces collagen as well as aid in wrinkle reduction. When used under the eyes, dark circles and puffiness are reduced.

Who Can Use it?

Anyone, and everyone! Seriously. No matter if you have oily, dry, or normal skin types, this butter will pair with your skin in a very unique way helping you to achieve your happy skin goals.

Where to Get it?

If you are in the states, try a flea market, health store, or beauty shop. Outside of the states, try similar places or else go to the handy Amazon. I like to order this one.

My Goal

To be completely honest Shea Butter is always my go-to. If a blemish tries to catch me on the come up, if my skin feels dry, peely, not as soft as it should, I always turn to Shea. Shea is totes my homegirl! But I never have used Shea Butter as a daily beauty staple. Do you get my drift? I normally turn to her when I have a problem that needs sorting out, but this time I wanted to use her as a nightly moisturizer. My skin is doing quite fab at the moment, in terms of being clear, soft and supple but I wanted to see what would happen when using my girl every night for an entire week. Some of my hopes were:

• More elastic skin
• Elimination of bags under the eyes
• Reduction of the dark stain (scar) left from a pimple that I had in February 2018 (Its April as I write this)
• A start to matching Ms #TraceyEllisRoss’s fly (omg have you seen her skin?!)

The Results

Day 1 :I Only started so nothing to report

Day 2: My skin was baby soft, but I didn’t notice too much of a change

Day 3: Skin was still soft, I saw no change in the stain, and no change in the baggies under my eyes. I did feel that my skin was being nourished from the inside out and it felt like it had a protective coat over it!

Day 4: This day was dramatic! I woke up, went into the bathroom and saw a glowing, radiant face. It was so supple, still felt protected and I was completely buzzing with my day 4 skin 😉

Day 5: I again awoke with supple, radiant skin and felt like I looked like my baby nephew with his pinchable cheeks. I also took notice to how incredibly smooth my neck felt

Day 6: Still no signs of the dark mark or bags wanting to leave my face but by this day I was waking up and looking smooth like butter

Day 7: Yielded the same results as day 6, but because it took me until day 4 to see a dramatic change, I am going to continue to use my Shea friend every night before bed

Video Results

Final Word

Shea butter has never ever let me down before and I’m even more excited to see what happens with continuous use of my buttery friend. I 100% recommend Shea Butter for your face and would love to know how it fairs with your skin. Get your own Shea friend and send us your results via facebook, insta, or twitter for a chance to win HNLH’s goody basket (Offer open until September 2018 when you’ll need the goodies for your skin)!

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