INCI names / Shea butter
Shea butter INCI name
The INCI name for shea butter is Butyrospermum Parkii Butter in a lotion or balm, and Sodium Shea Butterate in cold-process soap, where the oil reacts with lye and the oil itself is no longer in the finished bar.
| In lotions, balms and other cosmetics | Butyrospermum Parkii Butter |
|---|---|
| In cold-process soap (sodium hydroxide) | Sodium Shea Butterate |
| In liquid soap (potassium hydroxide) | Potassium Shea Butterate |
| Superfat share in soap (unreacted) | Butyrospermum Parkii Butter |
| On a US label | Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter; in soap, Sodium Shea Butterate (no FDA registry record; printed as the EU name) |
| In Great Britain and Northern Ireland | The same names as the EU. Northern Ireland uses the EU glossary cited below; Great Britain still uses the glossary it kept from the EU, where the same names have other entry numbers. Potassium Shea Butterate is newer than that glossary: in Great Britain it is the name from the generally accepted nomenclature that Article 19(6) points to, and the label reads the same. |
| Also entered as | shea, shea nut butter, karite butter, karite |
Glossary citation: Sodium Shea Butterate #26983; Butyrospermum Parkii Butter #4214; Potassium Shea Butterate #22753 (Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2025/1175 on EUR-Lex).
One detail catches many labels: the EU glossary name has no common name in brackets. In the EU and the UK it is "Butyrospermum Parkii Butter"; the bracketed form, "Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter", is the US name.
In the soap or skincare tool, put it on its own line with its weight, for example "shea butter, 30", and the tool prints the right name for the product type and the region you choose.
Transcribed from the EU glossary of common ingredient names (Implementing Decision (EU) 2025/1175) and checked against it; the US names are the ones FDA's substance registry (GSRS) records. A labelling reference, not safety advice.