Is anyone else wondering what you might look like now if you’d chosen a wholesome youth versus adventurous and fancy free? By which I mean a bar-hopping, sun junky who enjoyed herself a cigarette now and then, but mostly a lot? I do, and I’ve fallen for a lot of marketing strategies aimed at people like me, who really just need to chill and take proper care of themselves.
The truth is, the cosmetic industry capitalizes on our regrets. Whether those are the fact of inheriting our parents’ genes, having smoked too many Marlboro Lights or slathering ourselves with baby oil every summer on the beach, the message is “Our products can undo the effects of living.” Unless they’ve got season passes to the fountain of youth, I am skeptical.
Usually this message comes from someone who 1) has not actually reached the age of consent; 2) has been lacquered with the same polyurethane used on cars; or 3) has succumbed to so much plastic surgery that there is enough skin left over to make a new person.
I am all for “aging gracefully,” but very much resent being encouraged to do so by someone who is half non-biodegradable. What I want is sound advice about non-toxic products that caress, soothe and restore. Enter Shea Butter!
Lately, the concept of “pro-aging” is taking hold – what a relief. Since it’s going to happen anyway, I’d rather not feel obliged to wipe out every physical indication of the process. Why not take care of what we have rather than buying into the idea that our 20-year-old skin is there, and just waiting to be excavated by the right product?
When you’re young and think you’ll live forever, you don’t worry that joyful, exuberant times with friends will create laugh lines. That summer picnics on the beach will result in freckles you’ll try to cover up later. That your precious babies will cause that furrow in your brow. That the responsibilities of a career you love will produce such dark circles under your eyes. That life – “duh” – ages you.
Would you trade it for anything? No way! It is said that your eyes are windows to your soul. Similarly by the time you’re 50+, your face is a map of your life – good or bad – and it seems to me that we should embrace the story told by our lines and creases; by the furrows in our brow, a sag or a bag here and there. Embrace our skin, friends, not starve it. Enter Shea Butter!
I’m not about erasing what is. Or pretending to be young when I’m not – except when I use words like “psyched,” “awesome” and “wicked” – which ironically date me like a prune and send my kids cringing into a corner.
As you might be, too, I’m just trying to survive my children’s teenage years – more lines and wrinkles – so that I can be a properly aged grandma to their kids, while not stealing their boyfriends with my bewitching youth thanks to antioxidants, collagen creams and booty implants.
None-the-less, when I’m not whining about the way commercialism warps how I feel about aging, I do watch for sustainable compounds that can make good on their promises without contributing more damage from toxic additives. Shea Butter is one of those I’ve found to be luxuriant and beneficial to my skin.
WHAT EXACTLY IS SHEA BUTTER? Aside from an all natural goop that makes you go “mmm!”
Shea Butter is a semi-solid fat extracted from the nuts of the native African shea tree, and known for its moisturizing and emollient properties, making it a popular ingredient in creams, lotions, and balms. Shea Butter also contains vitamins and fatty acids that can help soothe and protect the skin. Not only does it hydrate by trapping moisture but it has anti-inflammatory properties that can help reduce redness and irritation. The unrefined version, which retains more of the natural nutrients and properties, is pale yellow or ivory colored and has a nutty, smoky scent, not to be confused with a charcuterie board delicacy, though it is edible.
We’re all busy with life, but given that the stars align and I do get that tiny window of me-time, I look for products that contain Shea Butter for the rich buttery feel and lasting effects of its natural emollients.
Shea is commonly known in topically-applied skin products but consider the cleansing and moisturizing agents you’re using on a regular basis prior to hydration. Try to ensure that your soaps and moisturizers include Shea Butter as a major player in their composition.
A great alternative to grocery store soaps and body washes are handmade, lovingly-crafted bar soaps. Many of these contain Shea Butter as a core ingredient. Ones I’ve tried and love are Blnded Bliss’ (blndedbliss.com) artisanal bars, because they’re created with utmost care by and for families and with only the best clean ingredients the makers can get their hands on.
The Cozy-In Chamomile bar is rich with a nourishing blend of oils, including 100% Grass Fed Beef Tallow (learn about the benefits of beef tallow soap here), coconut, castor, olive oils and organic unrefined shea butter.
Kempt & Dapper is designed for those seeking 100% natural, non-toxic ingredients, with a skin-soothing blend of tallow, shea butter, and oils that deeply hydrate.
FOR AFTER-BATH? Feel like a fertility goddess every time you open the jar.
Ahh those precious moments when you can squeeze in a bit of pampering. Though it’s generally just enough time to drop your towel on the floor, don’t forget, body butter. It’s the genuine “glue,” besides you that holds it all together.
Blnded Bliss’ Whipped Tallow Body Butter, crafted from 100% grass-fed, grass-finished beef tallow (suet), is a nutrient-packed formula that combines raw, fair trade Shea Butter, emu oil, and sweet almond oil infused with calendula flower. You’ll enjoy the healing and rejuvenating properties of frankincense, making this body butter ideal for all-over hydration, skin repair, and, as a gift to the senses. It’s perfect for daily use, soothing skin irritations while infusing skin repair properties for even the most raw areas of your body.
DIFFERENT SOAPS FOR DIFFERENT FOLKS – Feel unreasonably smug about how moisturized you are.
Because everyone’s skin is different—even the skin on one body can exhibit distinct characteristics from toe to tail—there are soaps available for every type. From Blnded Bliss, your new products address sustainability, artisanal quality and purity of ingredients all while creating an opulent experience in self-care. They are about incorporating love and joy into every bar, so that you can have spa-at-home moments whenever you need them.
Aging with grace really just means letting it all happen anyway — but doing it with flair, good lighting, and the right serums. The ‘grace’ part? That’s you, calling the shots with a little self-care and a few carefully chosen products that help soften the landing. Consider Shea Butter as a constant in your path to aging gracefully.
The Overhead Bin 
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