Shea Butter drying to hair anyone?

chesleeb

New Member
For the past two months I have using Royal Crown and Glovers Mane and I have been loving it but this week I decided to try shea butter. Although every one raves about it, it just dries my hair and I seem to have to re apply it throughout the week. I just love my grease and since my mix I have noticed some serious growth for real:drunk:. I saw a video on YT talking about Dax Super Lanolin has anyone used it here? If so is it thick like wax and how did work out for you?
 

Qualitee

New Member
Shea butter didn't work for me at first. I started using Jane Carter nourish and shine and it amazing.
 

Krystle~Hime

Well-Known Member
I like shea butter but I prefer to mix it with cocoa butter or/And castor oil.
People loves to do "Shealoe" mix, shea butter + aloe vera, they sometimes add their favorite oil.
 

Dposh167

Well-Known Member
yes!
there was a thread a long time ago talking about shea making some people's hair hard. And i'm one of them. I love shea on the body...but i can't use it on my hair like that
 

faithVA

Well-Known Member
Shea butter works for me if I apply a light oil to my hair first or I blend the shea with oils. For my hair what happens is that butters are too heavy for my hair, so they don't seal the moisture in properly and my hair dries out. The oil applied to the hair or mixed with the shea butter, provides another layer helping the sealing process.
 

nisemac

Well-Known Member
i use it as a heavy seal after applying my leave in and moisturizer. leaves my hair really soft. i also use it to seal my ends when twisting or cornrowing, and it leave my ends feeling really soft.
 

CurlsBazillion

Well-Known Member
I rarely use shea butter to seal the length of my hair but I do use a small amount on my ends every now and again. It's a great sealant and my hair likes it.

By the way....I love love loovvee Avocado butter :love: it NEVER made my hair hard or dry.
 
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dancinstallion

Well-Known Member
shea butter alone can be drying. I always spray a moisturizer on first then seal with the shea butter that I mixed with oils like avocado, coconut, olive and a little castor oil. I love it.

I will try adding aloe vera to it too.
 

CurlsBazillion

Well-Known Member
shea butter alone can be drying. I always spray a moisturizer on first then seal with the shea butter that I mixed with oils like avocado, coconut, olive and a little castor oil. I love it.

I will try adding aloe vera to it too.

yeah that would be the key, OP are you moisturizing before adding shea butter?
 

Paris Belle

Active Member
I prefer to melt my shea butter in a bowl first and I always use it when my hair is wet or damp. Usually I use a leave-in mixture and moisturizer first and then apply the melted shea butter to my hair. Sometimes I mix the melted shea butter with another oil like olive or coconut oil to make my own butter.

HTH.
 

Lucie

Dancin' on sunshine!
Shea better gives me nice waves (appearance-wise) but my hair feels sticky and hard. I did a twist out and it looked great but felt horrible, LOL.
 

greenandchic

Well-Known Member
I really only use it to slick back my edges (like in my photo below). On the length of my hair its too drying unless its blended with other butters and oils.
 

Curlykale

New Member
I cannot use it pure, but it feels like a good idea when mixed to other things.
I buy preservatives like optiphen from soapmaking stores, then I use an electric whipper and I add a bit at a time some distilled water, flaxseed gel or aloe juice for a non greasy "frosting" like shealoe. I then add it to conditioners in small quantities too.

If you love grease, I have heard good things about lanolin too and I guess you could even add it to your whipped butter. Otherwise, still if you love grease, I like hydrogenated oils too. They are still called "butters" but they are different than shea in consistency and behaviour (avocado butter, olive butter...).
 

Leeda.the.Paladin

Well-Known Member
I love shea butter but I have seen that a lot of people don't like it as a moisturizer or that they use it as a sealant rather than a moisturizer.
 

LilMissRed

Well-Known Member
I can't use straight Shea butter on my hair either... 'shealoe' :heart2: but no can do just the Shea alone :nono:
 

melissa-bee

Well-Known Member
I always apply shea butter to damp hair.
If I applied it to dry hair I would be sealing in dryness so it would make my hair dry.
 

Uniqzoe

New Member
Like others have stated I cannot use pure Shea butter on my hair, not only does it seem to dry it out but it also makes it look dull and ashy. However when I mix it with oils, aloe and water the results are much better. Which reminds me I have been sleeping on my homemade mixes lately. LOL!
 

Tiye

New Member
The key to getting max benefit from shea butter as with any other product is applying it with a light hand.

If it's making your hair hard, ashy, dry, etc. that's because you used way too much. Take a pea sized amount, liquify it between the palms of your hand, then apply it - preferably to damp hair that doesn't have a lot of product on it.
 
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afrofaithful

Well-Known Member
I used to think the same thing. I actually made a thread about it too! But I went out of town on a whim and forgot to pack my hair stuff. All my grandma had was some olive oil, shea butter, and water. I had the best twist out ever!! What I changed was using only a small amount on each twist section, I spritz with aloe water mix, cover in a small amount of shea, then go over that with an oil. I use the aloe juice and grapeseed oil now, but then I had to with what I had!! I now get pretty consistent results, where before sometimes my twist outs looked good, other days not so much...
 

A856

Well-Known Member
a little OT, but how are you ladies mixing oils with your shea butter?? Mines is hard as a rock until I rub it in between my hands. I got mines from a local African shop, it's suppose to be the original.
Are you melting it first then mixing oils in and letting it solidify? Or does it stay in a creamy consistancy??
 

ladykpnyc

New Member
My hair loves Shea butter when it's mixed with an oil. I usually mix it with coconut oil and ginger EO. Works like a charm!
 

regina07

Well-Known Member
I mix shea butter with EVCO and Castor Oil and use the mix to seal my ends. My hair loves it and it's great for winter protection because it's heavy.
 

FtrDrO

New Member
My hair HATES shea butter. No matter how I use it, it leaves my hair dry, coated, and brittle feeling. Whether it's just plain shea butter or in a product, my hair reacts negatively.
 
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