Shea Butter vs. Coconut Oil: Which Is Better for Skin and Hair?

Shea butter and coconut oil are the two plant fats most people already have at home, and they're often used for the same jobs: dry skin, frizzy hair, homemade balms. They behave very differently, though. One is a soft butter that seals moisture in. The other is an oil that melts on a warm day and soaks into hair. Here's how they compare.

Where each one comes from

Shea butter is pressed from the nuts of the wild shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa), gathered by hand across Africa's savanna "shea belt". The full story is in what is shea butter. Coconut oil is pressed from the white flesh of the coconut, the fruit of the coconut palm (Cocos nucifera). The palm is a farmed tropical crop, and the Philippines, Indonesia, and India produce most of the world's coconuts. Like shea, coconut oil comes in two main forms. Virgin coconut oil is pressed from fresh coconut flesh and keeps its coconut scent. Refined coconut oil is usually made from dried coconut (copra) and is refined, bleached, and deodorized to a neutral oil, the same steps covered in refined vs. unrefined shea.

Texture and melting point

This is the difference you'll notice first. Coconut oil melts at about 76°F (24°C), so it's a white solid in a cool kitchen and a clear liquid in a warm bathroom or a summer car. It goes on thin and slick and absorbs quickly. Shea stays a soft solid at normal room temperatures and melts only around body temperature, as you rub it in. It leaves a richer, more cushioning layer that stays on the skin longer. If you want something light that disappears fast, coconut oil fits. If you want something that stays put on very dry patches, shea does.

What's in them

The two fats are built from different fatty acids. Coconut oil is around 90% saturated fat, and roughly half of it is lauric acid, a short, medium-chain fatty acid that is rare in other plant oils. That's why it melts so sharply and why it behaves differently on hair (see below). Shea is mostly stearic and oleic acid in roughly equal parts, so it's about half saturated and half unsaturated. Shea's other big difference is its unsaponifiable fraction, the non-fat compounds such as triterpenes, vitamin E, and plant sterols. In shea it runs to several percent, among the highest of any plant fat. In coconut oil it's typically under 1%.

Is shea butter or coconut oil better for your face?

For faces, shea is usually the safer bet. Commonly cited comedogenic ratings put coconut oil around 4 out of 5, meaning it's fairly likely to clog pores, and shea around 0–2. Treat these scales as rough guides: they come largely from old animal-model tests, and how a fat behaves depends on your skin and how much you use. But people prone to breakouts often report trouble with coconut oil on the face, and they usually keep it to the body. For dry skin on the body, both work well as moisturizers. Anyone managing a skin condition should talk to a dermatologist.

Shea butter vs. coconut oil for hair

This is where coconut oil has a real, measured advantage. Lauric acid is small and has an affinity for hair protein, so coconut oil can soak into the hair shaft rather than just coating it. A widely cited 2003 lab study found that coconut oil applied before washing reduced protein loss from hair, while sunflower and mineral oil did not. That makes coconut oil a good pre-wash treatment. Shea seals rather than soaks in. It sits on the surface and holds moisture in, which is why it's used as the "cream" step on damp curly and coily hair (see how to use shea butter). Many people use both: coconut oil before washing, shea after. One caution: some people find coconut oil leaves their hair stiff or straw-like, especially hair that's low in porosity. If that happens to you, cut back or switch to shea.

Scent

Virgin coconut oil smells and tastes of coconut, which most people like. Refined coconut oil is neutral. Unrefined shea smells nutty and earthy, sometimes a little smoky, and refined shea is close to odorless. If you're making something scented, use the refined version of either one.

Shelf life

Coconut oil is one of the most shelf-stable plant fats. Its heavily saturated makeup resists going rancid, and it commonly keeps two years or more stored cool and dark. Shea typically lasts 12–24 months. Melting and re-solidifying doesn't hurt coconut oil, but it can make shea go grainy. The fix is in our use and storage guide.

Can you cook with them?

Coconut oil is sold everywhere as a cooking oil, and the same jar often carries both food and skin uses on the label. Shea is edible too, but nearly all the shea sold in the US is packed and labelled as a cosmetic, not food. Cook only with shea that's sold as food-grade. Our use guide explains cooking with shea butter.

For DIY: use both

Home formulators use the two for different jobs. In soap, coconut oil gives a big, bubbly lather and strong cleansing, but too much makes a bar drying, so it's usually kept to a minority of the oils. Shea adds conditioning and a harder, longer-lasting bar. In body butters and balms, shea is the base that holds its shape, and a little coconut oil makes the blend softer and quicker to absorb. Too much coconut oil and the whole thing turns liquid on a hot day. If you make a lot, the bulk shea page shows where the per-ounce price drops.

Side by side

Which should you buy?

For a moisturizer you can use on your face as well as your body, and for sealing moisture into curly or coily hair, buy shea. For a pre-wash hair treatment, a light body oil, a cooking fat, or soapmaking, coconut oil is the better tool. They're cheap enough that many households keep both. On price, we track shea only: the butters in our directory run from about $0.81 to $3.83 per ounce, and the cheapest legitimate ones are ranked on our best value page. We don't track coconut oil listings, so compare those per ounce yourself. Choosing between butters instead? See shea butter vs. cocoa butter.