The Body Shop Shea Butter

I’m more excited about this simple bag of shea butter than just about anything I’ve had on my desk this week. The Body Shop has a tradition of working with Ghana community trade (the Tungteiya Women’s Association since 1994) to sustainably and ethically source their shea butter. If you wonder where the benefits are seen for these communities, think education, sanitation, healthcare and health care not to mention self-esteem, independence and worth. I mean, it’s really so much more than a packet of shea.

The possibilities of this product are endless – the first thing I’d do is make a little pot of tinted balm by combining the shea with a dot of lipstick, mashing and mixing well (I get little pots from Muji but they’re everywhere now in ‘travel’ sections. You can also make a lip scrub by adding some sugar – one teaspoon of shea to one teaspoon of sugar will do it, but remember you can use this on your hair, nails and cuticles, skin and feet (do the overnight sock treatment). If you want to get super-creative, mix some shea butter with some bubble bath at two thirds shea and one third bubbles in a silicone ice tray. Pop in the freezer and use two per bath. Finally, if you’ve got a surfeit of powder highlighters (who hasn’t?), you can make a shimmery skin-gleam by crushing up the highlight and mixing well with the shea.

You will need to warm the butter in your hands – depending on the temperature of wherever you are – because it is a little solid until it gets warmer. I can quite see myself happily mixing up endless tinted balms (my favourite kind of lip cover) by sacrificing the tip of a rarely worn lipstick. That’s a productive afternoon – you could even get your friends round with their rarely-worns and make it a sociable beauty party… add wine, obviously :-). The Shea Butter (150ml) is HERE, non affiliate HERE.

Similar to this

The Body Shop Limited Edition Rose de Mai Cleansing…

Aviela Pure Shea Butter