Each of the signature soothing seven ingredients in our ocean clay cleaning bar was selected with care and purpose. Nothing was thrown in “just because.” Everything had to add something specific to the formulation, whether it was moisturizing action, superior lather, or some other wonderful soap-enhancing — and experience-enhancing — quality.
So when it came to shea butter, it was really a no-brainer to include it. This multitasking green beauty ingredient is an absolute showstopper, offering a boatload of skincare benefits.
What are they? Let’s start with what makes shea butter special as a natural beauty skincare ingredient.
Why Shea Is Considered a Superior Skincare Ingredient
Moisture, moisture, moisture. To say shea butter is moisturizing is like saying that water is wet or diamonds have sparkle. It’s no wonder it’s the star of so many lotions, creams, and cleansers.
Its super emollient properties soothe and protect the skin and may even offer some UV protection. This is all thanks to its arsenal of vitamins and fatty acids, which balance the oils on the skin and leave it smooth, clean, hydrated, and positively glowing with health and beauty.
How Shea Gives Soap Structure
Not content to just be deeply nourishing and soothing, shea butter also has practical value in soap-making. It helps harden soap, which has a huge impact on how much joy and, just as importantly, how much longevity you get out of your bar.
Softer soaps, like castile and glycerin-based soaps, are known for melting away quickly. So many of us have had the experience of taking one good, long shower and seeing our soap bar dwindle down by as much as a quarter or a third.
We didn’t want our ocean clay cleansing bar to offer a disappointing experience like this. So we included shea butter and other natural stabilizing ingredients to give it the heft and hardness it needs to go the distance while still lathering up like a dream.
How We Use Shea in Our Ocean Clay Cleansing Bar
Now, as any green beauty expert knows, not all clean beauty ingredients are created equal. There’s quality shea butter and there’s also not-so-quality shea butter.
Since we believe that you can’t make good soap from bad ingredients, we obviously chose the best form of shea butter available. That means organic, unrefined, and expeller-pressed, all the way. No chemicals were used during the extraction or processing of our shea butter, so it keeps all of its natural goodness.
We also take care not to reduce the quality or potency of these amazing natural ingredients during our own soap-making process. We “superfat” our soaps, which involves leaving some of the ingredients unreacted and in their raw state, so you get all their benefits, in addition to the nourishing clay that is the jewel in our cleansing bar. It does mean, however, that our soap is best used within one year of purchase.
Want to know more about how we pack all that goodness into one little bar? Check out our Ocean Clay Cleansing Bar page.
