This star ingredient is one of the best moisture replenishers for your skin.
Trendy skin-care ingredients come and go, but one that seems to stick around our beauty routines is shea butter. In case you aren’t familiar, this popular ingredient is known for its ultra-moisturizing properties and is a tried-and-true treatment for dry skin. Though there are hundreds (if not thousands) of products formulated with this nourishing ingredient, the best shea butter products have a stamp of approval from dermatologists and Allure editors alike for their conditioning formulas that’ll make your skin feel softer and suppler than ever.
The benefits of shea butter go beyond temporary moisture replenishment, according to board-certified dermatologist Kim Nichols, MD, who’s based in Connecticut. “Shea butter is rich in essential fatty acids, making it an excellent emollient for the skin, helping to simultaneously hydrate and protect,” she says. In addition, Dr. Nichols notes that shea butter is also a great source of vitamins A (also known as retinol) and E, two antioxidants that soothe and soften irritated, dry, and itchy skin. “This combination of powerhouse ingredients makes shea butter an ideal ingredient to help soothe symptoms of common skin-care conditions such as eczema, rosacea, and psoriasis, to name a few,” she says.
With this being said, Dr. Nichols recommends that oily or acne-prone skin types avoid shea butter since its dense texture can lead to clogged pores and breakouts. But, if your skin is feeling dry and chapped, look no further than these shea butter-infused beauty products. Whether you’re on the hunt for its purest form straight from the shea tree or in need of a formulation with other skin-moisturizing saviors, we’ve got you and your skin covered.
First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream
La Roche-Posay Toleriane Ultra Soothing Repair Moisturizer
Fact: the First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream is an iconic formula that effectively nourishes just about any skin type. Just ask Dr. Nichols, Allure editors, and even our readers, since this moisturizer was recommended by her and has won both our Best of Beauty and Readers’ Choice Awards. This rich, custardy formula gets its moisture-replenishing and soothing properties from shea butter, ceramides, and colloidal oatmeal.
Dr. Nichols says one of her favorite shea butter-spiked formulas is the La Roche-Posay Toleriane Ultra Soothing Repair Moisturizer, which is also an Allure Best of Beauty winner. This intensive moisturizer is fragrance-free, so it’s great for sensitive and easily irritated skin types, and it contains a moisturizing powerhouse of shea butter and glycerin.
L’Occitane Shea Butter Ultra Rich Body Cream
Jergens Deep Conditioning Shea and Cocoa Whipped Butter Body Lotion
Chances are, you probably had a stash of L’Occitane’s Shea Butter Ultra Rich Body Cream in your Y2K years, and it’s still a classic we turn to for intensive hydration. This rich, decadent cream is formulated specifically for dry and sensitive skin types and provides immediate moisture replenishment through shea butter, apricot oil, honey, and glycerin. The best part: the formula is fast-absorbing, so your skin will feel conditioned without a greasy feeling afterward.
New York City-based board-certified dermatologist Angela Lamb, MD, says the Jergens Deep Conditioning Shea and Cocoa Whipped Butter Body Lotion is a newer formula on the market that she’s impressed by. She says that this whipped lotion, which pairs shea butter with vitamins E and B3, does an excellent job of utilizing the notoriously thick, dense ingredient in a lightweight, grease-free formula.
Carbon Theory Salicylic Acid & Shea Butter Exfoliating Cleansing Bar
Drunk Elephant T.L.C. Glycolic Body Lotion
A shea-butter spiked formula that also exfoliates? Yep, it exists in the form of Carbon Theory’s Salicylic Acid & Shea Butter Exfoliating Cleansing Bar, a 2022 Allure Best of Beauty-winning option. This won our highest accolade in the facial bar soap category for its ability to exfoliate dead skin cells, pore-clogging bacteria, and excess oil away with salicylic acid while shea butter replenishes moisture.
If you’re looking to address body acne and dryness at the same time, the Allure Best of Beauty-winning Drunk Elephant T.L.C. Glycolic Body Lotion is your best bet. Along with moisture-retaining shea and marula butters, this lightweight formula is spiked with glycolic acid to instantly soften, smooth, and brighten skin.
Olay Rinse-Off Body Conditioner
Native Aluminum Coconut & Vanilla Free Deodorant
Moisturizing in the shower may sound counterintuitive, but trust us when we say that Olay’s Rinse-Off Body Conditioner will leave skin supple and smooth by the time you’re finished rinsing off. This 2021 Allure Best of Beauty winner contains shea butter and vitamin B3 (also known as niacinamide) to brighten, cleanse, and moisturize all at once.
Better-smelling pits are just a few swipes of the 2022 Allure Readers’ Choice Award-winning Native Aluminum Coconut & Vanilla Free Deodorant away. This paraben- and aluminum-free deodorant won in our Clean category for its light, sweet scent of vanilla and coconut, moisturizing duo of coconut oil and shea butter, and utilization of baking soda for its sweat-absorbing powers.
SheaMoisture 100% Raw Shea Butter
Buttah. Skin Egyptian CocoShea Body Wash
If you’d rather opt for pure shea butter, allow us to introduce you to SheaMoisture’s 100% Raw Shea Butter. Considering that the brand’s signature ingredient is shea butter, it only makes sense that it would sell a tub of the good stuff, which the brand claims are fair-trade shea butter sourced from women’s cooperatives in Northern Ghana. This unrefined shea butter can be used as a treatment for the driest parts of your skin like elbows and knees, or you can even use it as a conditioning, breakage-preventing treatment in your hair-care routine.
What do you get when you combine the benefits of shea butter with moisture-sealing cocoa butter? The Buttah. Skin Egyptian CocoShea Body Wash, also known as one of the most skin-softening body washes you’ll ever try. Each pump of this rich body cleanser treats dry patches of skin with these nourishing ingredients for a suppler, smoother feel right out of the shower.
54 Thrones African Beauty Butter
The Body Shop Shea Body Butter
Dry, cracked hands are no issue when you slather on the 54 Thrones African Beauty Butter. Not only does this hand cream contain moisturizing shea butter, but it’s also infused with baobab and jojoba oils for an intensive moisture-replenishing treatment.
Once you apply The Body Shop’s Shea Body Butter, you’ll understand why it’s been such a must-have since the early 2000s (if you know, you know). This mix of shea butter and babassu oil instantly leaves skin feeling soft and velvety-smooth, plus, it has a subtle, creamy shea butter scent that smells like a tropical vacation.
Kiehl’s Creamy Eye Treatment
Soft Services Buffing Bar
Aquaphor Lip Repair Ointment
The Kiehl’s Creamy Eye Treatment’s main ingredient may be avocado oil, but that’s not the only moisturizing ingredient that your undereyes will be treated to. It also contains shea butter to soften and prevent skin dehydration while beta-carotene acts as a brightening antioxidant.
The Soft Services Buffing Bar won an Allure Best of Beauty Award in 2022 for its keratosis pilaris- and ingrown hair-reducing powers, which are all thanks to skin-buffing microcrystal exfoliants. This bar also contians shea butter to soothe and moisturize exfoliated skin for a buttery-smooth feel without redness or irritation.
Chapped lips? Let the Aquaphor Lip Repair Ointment take care of that concern for you. This lip treatment relieves irritated skin and replenishes much-needed moisture through its key ingredients: shea butter, chamomile essence, provitamin B5, and vitamins C and E.
