Be Whole

Woah, this product smells amazing.

It actually began melting between my fingers before spreading it all over my arms this evening. We’ve had a good couple of hot days in Cape Town this October, so the heat from my fingertips easily liquified the ingredients.

Have you used Buuya before? Let me know in the comment section below. 

I’m a sucker for beautifully fragranced products. This reminds me of those expensive scented candles that people keep in their bathrooms but never use. It’s likely the rich vanilla essential oil and shea butter that you’ll get a whiff of first.

Shea butter is my go-to for full-body hydration from hair to face and body, so I was eager to try Buuya’s blend of African and tropical butters.

Texture and packaging:

The butter comes in a 125 ml resealable hard plastic container. The packaging is quite earthy and neutral-looking which would suit the bathroom setting at a luxury nature reserve.

The ingredients are said to be whipped into its rich, buttery texture, which explains why it melted so easily onto my skin as I applied it.

Experience as a styling cream: 

First of all: don’t use a lot. I’d read the direction on the container before using the product and was expecting a much creamier texture to style my hair. I’ve tried twisting my hair using unrefined shea butter before and my hair literally frizzed within an hour of untying the twists. I really had no expectations for this butter.

My hair was freshly washed – damp – and had absolutely no other products on it before applying the butter. And with only one product applied after twisting, my hair dried quite quickly and was 90% dry when I woke up the next morning.

Tip: Your twists should be completely dry before untying them otherwise your hair will frizz. Click here to watch my twist out video tutorial. 

Pro:

Once I untied my hair, I did have a bit of frizz but I was really impressed with how shiny and defined my twists looked, especially since achieving a defined style with a butter is extremely difficult with my hair type (3c/ 4a). The twist out lasted me three days with the help of my sleep cap.

Con:

I used about a R5 coin size amount on each half of my hair, which is a lot for a butter but a little for a styling product (on my hair).

At the touch of my hair, I could still feel an oily residue on my hands by day 3. This was of course because I’d used too much product, but also because one of the ingredients, likely the coconut oil, wasn’t being absorbed by my hair follicles. I’d recommend using an almond size amount on each half of your hair if you have type 3 or 4 hair, and much less for type 2 hair.

Experience as a body product:

I definitely wouldn’t need to wear any perfume when using this butter on my skin. `Since it blends some of my favourite natural ingredients to use on my body, I liberally applied it from my hands to my feet. It’s rich but doesn’t feel heavy on my skin and a little goes a long way.

I’d recommend using this as a body butter in the evening, after a shower, since the use of oils as a daytime moisturiser can increase your skin’s sensitivity to the sun.

What’s in it:

Unrefined shea butter, coconut oil, sunflower seed oil, olive fruit oil, Mongongo seed oil, Mafura seed butter, vanilla essential oil blend, and pure vitamin E oil.

Price Range: 

With the caliber of ingredients in this butter, I’d say that it’s a massive bargain for R125. A tub of each ingredient on its own would cost much more.

Buuya offers a variety of other hair and body products, which you can find on their website via this link.