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I love finding new natural butters and natural oils to use on my skin and hair. Unlike commercial products with chemicals and other harsh ingredients, natural butters and oils are packed with nutrients that help to nourish, hydrate, and revitalize the skin and hair. As a girl with dry skin (who is obsessed with reducing wrinkles), I love Illipe butter and Murumuru butter, and now we can add Tucuma butter to the list. The benefits of tucuma butter include healing dry skin, dry hair, reducing stretch marks, and visible signs of sun damage. It’s an excellent emollient and antioxidants powerhouse.
The tucuma palm seeds are used to make tucuma butter. Tucumas grow in Brazil and have a fruit that contains the tucuma fruit. It’s packed with antioxidant polyphenols and high levels of moisturizing fatty acids. Tucuma butter, like murumuru butter, is used to treat dry and frizzy hair.
Related: 13 Benefits of Using Body Butter vs Lotion
Due to its essential fatty acids and antioxidant properties, the benefits of tucuma butter work extremely well in skin care products and hair care products. Astrocaryum tucuma (the scientific name for the tucuma palm) is popping up on the ingredient labels of body butters and even my favorite hair mask.
The benefits of tucuma butter are due to its natural properties, including:
- Tocopherols (Vitamin E): A strong antioxidant that scavenges free radicals, helping to protect the skin from damage.
- Oleic acids: A type of monounsaturated fatty acid that helps to hydrate and maintain the skin’s barrier function.
- Myristic acid: A type of saturated fatty acid that helps to improve the texture of products.
- Linoleic acid: A type of polyunsaturated fatty acid that has anti-inflammatory properties.
- Palmitic acid: A type of saturated fatty acid that helps to improve the texture of products.
- Lauric acid: A type of saturated fatty acid that has antimicrobial properties.
- Vitamin A: This vitamin helps to improve skin elasticity.
The high amounts of vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin E oil in tucuma contribute to the butter’s natural gloss. This makes it an excellent choice for treating skin conditions, soothing coarse hair, and giving hair and skin a smooth look.
15 Benefits of Tucuma Butter
1. Moisturizing
Similar to cocoa butter and mango butter, with a rich fatty acid content, including linoleic, oleic, stearic, and palmitic acids, tucuma butter is an excellent emollient. It helps to hydrate and nourish the skin. This rich butter is often used to treat dry skin and eczema.
2. Protects From Damage
The seeds of the tucuma palm are full of antioxidant polyphenols that battle free radicals making the butter an excellent choice for those with sun damage. The butter can help to improve the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, and age spots.
3. Fights Frizz and Humidity
One of the major hair benefits is tucuma butter’s silicone-like behavior. Similar to cupuaçu butter it locks out humidity and smooths strands. During the summer curly hair girls rejoice because this butter can help keep your hair frizz-free and natural hair girls can appreciate this property when we straighten our hair.
Related: How to Keep Natural Hair from Frizzing in Humidity
4. Soothes Scalp Conditions
Tucuma butter is perfect for soothing an itchy, dry scalp. The lauric acid has antimicrobial properties that can help to treat scalp conditions like dandruff.
5. Promotes Hair Growth
The key to hair growth is retaining length, maintaining a healthy scalp, and allowing your hair to absorb the nutrients it needs. Tucuma butter does all of these things. The butter’s fatty acids help to hydrate the scalp and hair follicles encouraging growth.
6. Improving Hair’s Appearance
No matter your hair type the butter’s natural gloss can give hair a desirable shine. The butter is often used as a natural hair sealant to tame frizz and add shine. Hair in need of restructuring will also benefit from the addition of tucuma butter to hair care products. Repairing the hair’s cuticle is necessary for smooth, healthy-looking hair.
7. Fights Inflammation
The plant esters of tucuma butter have been found to have anti-inflammatory properties. This makes it an excellent choice for those with conditions like psoriasis, eczema, and dermatitis.
8. Antimicrobial
The lauric and myristic acids give tucuma butter antimicrobial properties. These properties can help to treat conditions like acne, dandruff, and other scalp conditions.
9. Nourishing
Tucuma butter is full of vitamins, including vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin E. These vitamins work together to nourish the skin and hair. The additional oils in the butter help to improve the texture of products making them ideal for those with coarse hair or dry skin.
Related: 21 Impressive Chai Tea Benefits For Skin
10. May Help Prevent Acne
Tucuma butter is rich in different kinds of fatty acids. This unique composition helps clear your skin of excess oil (sebum). Oily skin is one of the main causes of acne and pimples. This butter can help regulate the production of sebum, keeping your skin healthy and free from blemishes.
11. Reduces The Signs Of Aging
Elastin production decreases as we age. This leads to wrinkles, sagging skin, and age spots. The vitamin A in tucuma butter can help to improve elastin production, resulting in firmer, younger-looking skin.
12. Heals Wounds And Scars
The high vitamin C content of tucuma butter helps boost the production of collagen. This, in turn, helps heal wounds and scars quickly. When used regularly, it can also help reduce the appearance of stretch marks.
13. Soothes Dry And Itchy Skin
If you have dry and itchy skin, tucuma butter can be a real lifesaver. The fatty acids present in the butter help to hydrate and nourish your skin. This can soothe dryness and itchiness, and also help to treat conditions like eczema and psoriasis.
14. Glorious Glow
Tucuma butter is often used as a natural highlighter. The natural oils in the butter reflect light giving you a healthy-looking glow. This makes it an excellent choice for those with dull skin.
15. Maintain Skin’s Protective Barrier
Stearic acid is a type of saturated fat that is found in tucuma butter. This fatty acid helps to maintain the skin’s protective barrier. This barrier helps to keep the skin hydrated and prevents damage from environmental aggressors like pollution and UV rays. This acid protects the skin’s surface against water loss and helps shore up skin’s protective barrier
The best way to reap the benefits of tucuma butter is to use it raw. This means that you’ll need to purchase the butter in its purest form. You can find tucuma butter at health food stores or online. Once you have the butter, simply apply it to your skin or hair as needed. You can also add it to homemade cosmetics or use it to make your own hair and skincare products.
If you prefer to use products formulated with tucuma butter, here are a few of our favorite products:
6 Products For Hair and Skin With Tucuma Butter
Living Proof Restore Repair Hair Mask
This mask contains tucuma butter, along with other nourishing ingredients like avocado oil and shea butter. The mask is designed to deeply condition dry, damaged hair. With regular use, it can help to repair the hair’s cuticle and improve the overall texture of your hair.
Sol de Janeiro Triple Brazilian Butter™ Hair Repair Treatment Mask
Formulated with tucuma butter, this hair mask from Sol de Janeiro is designed to deeply condition and repair dry, damaged hair. It also contains other nourishing ingredients like coconut oil and cupuaçu butter. With over 800 4-star reviews, this mask is a customer favorite.
Christophe Robin Regenerating Hair Serum
One of tucuma butter’s main benefits is the silicone-like properties that allow it to prevent frizz and block humidity. This serum from Christophe Robin harnesses this property to help smooth and tame frizzy hair. The serum also contains other nourishing ingredients like argan oil and macadamia oil.
Peter Thomas Roth Vital-E™ Antioxidant Recovery Cream
This antioxidant-rich cream contains tucuma butter, along with other nourishing ingredients like butterfly ginger root extract to help reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. The cream uses technology-driven ingredients to fight free radical damage and help improve the overall appearance of your skin.
Just Nutritive Body Lotion With Tucuma Butter and Black Currant Seed Oil
We love black currant seed oil for its high vitamin C content. This lotion contains both tucuma butter and black currant seed oil to help nourish and hydrate the skin. It’s also formulated with other skin-loving ingredients that provide additional benefits like reducing the appearance of stretch marks and evening-out skin tone.
Supergoop! PLAY 100% Mineral Lotion SPF 30 with Green Algae
A major benefit of tucuma butter is its ability to provide the skin with UV protection. This sun block lotion from Supergoop! also contains green algae, which is rich in antioxidants. The lotion has a light, refreshing scent and can be used on both the face and body. It’s also water-resistant for up to 80 minutes, making it perfect for days spent outdoors.