Shea Butter
Plant butter · INCI: Butyrospermum Parkii Butter
Reviewed by Elysiana Aguilar, master esthetician
How we read it
Known to clog pores. If you break out easily, this is the one to skip.
Is Shea Butter comedogenic?
Yes. Shea Butter is a known pore-clogging ingredient, and we read it as highly comedogenic. If you're acne-prone, it's worth avoiding, especially when it sits near the top of an ingredient list.
Why we read it this way
Shea butter is the fat from the nut of the shea tree, solid in the jar and softening on contact with skin, used to make creams richer and to seal in moisture. We read it as a high risk on acne-prone facial skin.
The nuance
Shea butter is widely described as safe for acne-prone skin, so our flag surprises people. Dry skin takes to it well, which is a separate question from clogging. On the body it matters far less.
Where it shows up
Shea butter is a staple of body butters, hand creams, lip balms, hair masks and curl creams, and of many face moisturizers sold for dry or sensitive skin.
Names we read the same way
- Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter
- Karite
- Shea
- Butyrospermum Parkii
- Vitellaria paradoxa
Related ingredients
One ingredient rarely tells the whole story. The acne ingredient checker reads everything in a product at once, the pore-clogging ingredients list has the rest of what we flag, and there is more on what comedogenic means. Also in the guides: What acne actually is.