Plant butters, the other way to call them as Cosmetic butters, are natural creams obtained from plant-based sources such as beans, nuts, and seeds. These natural creams are perfect for restoring the skin's moisture balance. In addition to their moisturising benefits, they also have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant properties and contain essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals.
It is called butter, so obviously, it doesn’t contain water and has a thick, nourishing consistency and is occlusive, which means it helps lock in skin’s moisture, securing acid mantle, known as skin’s barrier.
Botanical butters keep a special place in the body care industry. These great plant fats may not need any other ingredients to make an exceptional moisturiser on their own. It’s a standalone ingredient, which means it can be applied directly to the skin or in blends to get its benefits. However, it is used in a wide range of skin and hair care products as an ingredient. It gives the formulation a beautiful creamy, smooth, and substantial viscosity. It adds suppleness and lightness to skin and hair formulations and relieves from roughness, dryness, irritation and breakage.
These butters are solid at room temperature, making them ideal for giving viscosity to the body care concoction, such as body butters, lip balms, lotion bars, soaps, salves, hair conditioners, and much more.
Plant butters are thicker than carrier oils because the presence of saturated fatty acids is more than unsaturated fatty acids. However, they share the same (but in different proportion) fatty acid profile in a composition. Every butter is distinct from another and displays its own unique properties and function. Every butter has more or less the same melting point, but every butter melts when it comes in contact with body heat.
The standard variables associated with all butters are that they contain strong emollience and pliability. They fix the problems of rashes, blemishes, peeling, dryness, scratching, cracking, blistering, wound healing, wrinkles, roughness, inflammation, aches, stinging sensations, and exhaustion. Butters are known to encourage the wellbeing of the skin and hair while providing revitalising and restorative properties, which enables all of them to be used in a variety of way to protect hair, face, hands, and feet.
Skin types
These plant butters are best suited for
Dehydrated
Dry
Irritated
Mature and
Ageing skin
Sensitive skins, too, if they do not have any allergy to nuts, seeds and beans.
When to use butters?
The best time to use these butters is after the shower when the skin is moist. It allows the skin to absorb the butter quickly. However, I would personally not recommend going out after applying it to yourself. It will attract dust and dirt, which is not good for the skin and lead to breakouts and blackheads. So, the safe and ideal time to use them is at night so that the butter gets a good time to work effectively on your skin for better hydration and moisturisation.
As natural butters melt when it comes to contact with the skin, they are rapidly absorbed into the deep layers. Butters, since they are mainly concentrated, do not need to be applied in large doses. Until getting properly hydrated, it is best to start with a pea-sized quantity of body butter all over the desired area of skin and work your way to the amount required.
Butters can be categorised into two types – Unrefined and Refined
The whole extraction and treatment process decides whether the butter should be tagged unrefined (crude) or refined.
Unrefined butters
Unrefined butters are cold-pressed and unprocessed butters. The extraction method of unrefined butter involves a mixture of conventional handcrafting methods and a mechanical system of pressing leaves them primarily crude.
Conscious consumers and beauty seekers look out for less modified oils and butters. Unrefined or cold-pressed oils are being pursued by many because unrefined has a high content of unsaponifiable ingredients that help the skin create its collagen, keeping the skin fresh by activating its tissue and cells. It has calming, hydrating and nurturing attributes that make it ideal for hair and skin affected by dryness.
The presence of anti-elastase agents makes them a potent anti-stretch active ingredient. For example, Shea butter has helped facilitate cells' development and capillaries' circulation, which works to cure minor cuts, skin splits, fissures, and inflammatory conditions. Shea butter also has the advantage of UV protection that can be mixed into products for sun protection.
Purity and reliability are the main challenges of unrefined butter, mainly for cosmetic manufacturers. If the selection of nuts and butter production is not handled correctly, it can lead to an undesirable content of FFA. Rich in Free Fatty Acids (FFA) indicates volatility and shorter shelf life, meaning high FFA content is problematic. Good knowledge in the gathering and extraction methods of nuts is essential to obtain traditionally extracted butter of the highest quality that offers all the desired benefits.
Refined butters
The extraction process is taken forward to refining by incorporating measures to create natural oils and butters more stable and simpler to work with other cosmetic raw ingredients. This process is followed by bleaching, a method for eliminating colour generating compounds. It is thereby purifying the fat or oil and finally deodorising them to eliminate residue, which gives rise to unwanted colour and smell in fats and oils. Bleaching and deodorising are essential because the butter's scent and colour should not be overshadowing other ingredients. Deodorization is steam distillation under a vacuum at a high temperature. After the refinement of oil, deodorisation is done to eliminate the insoluble impurities in the oil.
When the butters have noticeable scents, it is preferred to use their refined form to stop their natural fragrances from overpowering the final product's smell. Unrefined varieties are otherwise advised for their prominent features. However, Butters in any form are more or less acceptable for most, if not all, skin types.
Classification OF Butter
Butters can be classified into Hard, Medium and Soft according to their solidity.
Hard Butter
This is a firm butter that doesn’t readily melt and absorbed in contact with the skin. Its firmness makes butter brittle, close in texture to wax. It needs to be sliced or chopped to take its part out of the jar or whatever packing it is in.
Compared to a standard emollient with a smooth, creamy texture, more effort is needed to be rubbed in.
Butters which fall in this category are - Babassu – Refined, Cocoa – Cold Pressed/Crude, Sal Seed – Refined, Murumuru – Refined, Shea Crude, Cupuacu – Ultra Refined.
Medium Butter
It's neither hard nor soft. The texture is slightly firm and melts on skin contact.
Butters which fall in this category are - Shea Organic, Kokum Refined, Cocoa Refined.
Soft Butter
Such butters are smooth and creamy, so easily spreadable. They melt quickly as soon come in contact with the skin. Example is Shea
Now, as we already know, plant butter comes from Nut, Beans and Seeds. Let’s see which butter comes in Nut, Beans and Seeds and their properties:
Nuts butter: Shea
Seed/Kernel butter: Tucuma, Kokum, Cupuacu, Sal Seed, Mango, Babassu – Refined, Ucuuba, Murumuru, Mowrah
Beans butter: Cocoa butter, Soy butter
Is there any side effects of Plant Butters??
These butters are not intended for consumption but only for external use.
They should be stored out of children's reach.
For individuals who are susceptible to sensitivities, a patch test will be a good idea. It may be performed on the inner arm or any part of the body that is insensitive. Within 48 hours, the absence of an allergic reaction means that the butter is fit to use.
In contrast to other emollients, butters tend to have a heavier, thicker, greasier, and longer-lasting coating on the skin. So, people with oily/acne-prone or already having acne should avoid them.
Butters are not meant for facial skin as they can behave as comedogenic. Butters are for the body.
People who are allergic to nuts are at a greater risk of developing a butter allergy and should stop using them.
Inflammation, blisters, scratching, rashes, swelling are possible side effects of topical butters. In the case of an allergic reaction, withdraw from the use of the butter product and immediately consult a physician for necessary measures.
Please consult a medical professional before using it to avoid these side effects.
Storing Butter
Butters with a high concentration of free fatty acids will typically have a shorter shelf life of up to 6 months.
Butters, those that have a long shelf life, are rich in natural antioxidant properties. Like the ones with high vitamin E content. Antioxidant components prevent oxidation or delay the process and may last for one year or so.
To maintain the quality and maximise the shelf life of organic cosmetic butters, they should be handled in the same way as organic carrier oils. Keep in a cool, dark place in an airtight container to achieve better shelf life and quality for longer.
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