Raw shea butter for hair growth: benefits and usage
The usefulness of shea butter for hair has been known for many years. There could hardly be a face or body cream without this butter, needless to say anything about shampoos and other hair products. Yet, are there ways to use raw shea butter for hair, especially for growth and strength?
The effect of raw shea butter
When applied to the skin, this butter makes it smooth, firm, and always young. When used for hair, the butter is one of the most powerful and effective means that nourish, strengthen, and revive dry, fragile, and damaged hair, especially the ones with split ends.
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Natural oils are a treasury of vitamins (mostly, oil dispersive like A, E, D, F), natural proteins, fatty acids, and many other minerals and useful elements that can get deep into hair follicles. Natural oils and butter are a perfect moisturizing means that can bring moisture deep into the hair structure and keep it there. The softening, protection, nourishing, and moistening the shea butter provides makes it useful for any hair types.
How does human hair grow and how can shea butter help?
Human hair grows in the follicle. The part that’s above the surface of the skin is not growing by itself. It receives nutrition and moisture from the hair roots and experiences the impact of the outer world. If something happens, the growth slows down or stops at all. Hair starts to fall out and become thin, weak, and fragile. There are many different factors that can influence the hair growth and disturb it. Yet, there are practically no means to make hair grow faster or anew in places where it has fallen out completely.
Normally, the hair that’s located on people’s heads grows by 1 to 1.5cm per month. It’s practically impossible to make it grow faster unless you have a genetic ability. However, there are a couple of reasons why people start to think that their hair grows too slowly.
- It really starts to grow slowly because of an illness, inner deficit of nutrition or useful elements, a treatment, or some outer impact.
- It lacks nutrition from the roots, becomes dry and fragile, splits at the ends, or gets broken somewhere along the length of each hair.
In case the matter of the slow or no hair growth lies within the first number of factors, there’s practically nothing to be done with it. When the disease is treated, the deficit replenished, and the treatment is over, the hair will eventually regain its strength and health in most cases. If the problem is in the factors mentioned in the number 2, shea butter for hair benefits can help.
NOTE: there are hair conditions that cause hair fall and slowing down of the hair growth. These conditions should be treated by a doctor only. Homemade means can do only worse if the situation is complicated. If you are not sure about the condition of your hair and scalp, visit a doctor first and make sure that you don’t have a serious scalp disease before you start procedures at home.
How to use shea butter for hair growth?
The therapeutic effect of shea butter helps reduce or completely treat different unpleasant things that happen to people’s hair: dandruff, itching, dryness, fragility of hair, and weakness. It can help reduce the impact of beauty procedures like hot hairstyling, dying, straightening, etc. Of course, it cannot make your hair grow faster at the roots, yet, it can help you grow your hair visually within a shorter time because your hair will not break in the middle of its length.
If you apply shea butter to the scalp and hair follicles, it will moisten them perfectly and help the follicles retain the moisture inside. It will also fight the dryness of your scalp caused by sun, heat, unsuitable hair care means, and so on, and so reduce the itching and dandruff. Besides that, the circulation of blood will increase in your scalp, and even those hair follicles that have been in the so-called sleeping phase will wake up and start to grow.
If you apply the shea butter to the length of your hair, you will provide it with moisture and nourishment that doesn’t reach it from the roots. Thus, you will make your hair more flexible and durable to breaking. Of course, the butter cannot glue together the already split hair ends but the moistening can prevent further splitting. By avoiding this, you will notice how your hair will easily add about 3cm within a couple of months. This is the real and absolutely wonderful shea butter natural hair growth effect.
As is, the butter has a firm structure and looks like a thick and rich cream of a milky colour. When applied to the skin, it starts to melt immediately. Before usage, it’s recommended to heat a cup with the butter slightly by allowing its bottom in hot water. The butter can be stored at a room temperature for about two years.
Now, it’s time to know how to use the shea butter to receive the best of its usefulness.
Shea butter hair growth recipes
- Warm the butter up slightly and apply to the entire length of your hair, involving the roots and especially the ends with tender gestures and a light massage. Cover your head with a piece of polyethylene for the additional heating, and allow for 30 minutes. Remove the polyethylene and wash your hair carefully with shampoo. The additional heating helps the useful elements from the butter reach the inner layers inside your hair.
- Take 1 teaspoon of shea butter, add ½ teaspoon of flax oil, castor oil, and burdock oil. Warm the mixture up and apply just like in the previous recipe. Make sure that you keep your hair warm all the time while the oils are applied. In the end, carefully wash your hair and remove all the remnants of oils. If something is left, it will look untidy and make hair fall out due to its heaviness. This mask stimulates hair follicles and wakes up the sleeping ones.
- Take 50g of shea butter, mix it with 2 tablespoons of olive oil (previously warmed up slightly). Apply onto the hair like in the previous recipes, keep for 30 minutes and then wash away with shampoo. This mask will prevent splitting of the ends, give your hair enough moisture to be firm and healthy, and a perfect shine. In addition, this mask can prevent the hair fall that’s caused by some lack of vitamins and minerals.
- Melt 1 teaspoon of shea butter and mix with 1 teaspoon of avocado oil. Add three drops of geranium essential oil and three drops of vetiver essential oil. Apply as in previous examples and wash away with shampoo in 30 minutes. This is a mask for hair strength and sheen. If you add only a little red hot pepper, the mask will also improve the blood circulation and boost the sleeping hair follicles.
As you can see, there's nothing complicated in making these natural and effective hair masks. Try the shea butter recipes for hair and you'll never regret!
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Source: Legit.ng
