Nature's top ten moisturizers

Here is a list of the top 5 butters and the top 5 oils that are derived from plants (botanical) with an explanation of what their virtues are.

Butters

• Shea butter because it is highly emollient and a good skin protectant
• Illipe butter because it's moisture is long lasting and it is great at softening the skin
• Pumpkin butter because it is both rejuvenating and revitalizing for dry and damaged skin
• Avocado butter because it makes skin really soft and supple
• Kokum butter because it is not greasy and is absorbed more quickly than most other butters (including shea)

Oils

• Rosehip oil absorbs quickly into the skin and has great anti aging properties as well
• Apricot kernel oil is also quickly absorbed into the skin and is cheaper than rosehip if you don't need or want the anti aging properties
• Neem oil even though this one is stinky, it is great for all kinds of skin problems including eczema and psorasis and fungal infections and has been used for centuries
• Macadamia nut because it is known to be regenerative
• Meadowfoam oil for whatever reason is superior to other moisturizers when it comes to rejuvenating and moisturizing the cuticles around your finger nails.

A few notes about a few other gifts of nature that didn't make the top ten list because you can only put ten on a top ten list.  LOL  Tucuma butter is great for the hair and has been purported to both tone and moisturize dry/mature skin.  Further it is considered by some to have anti inflammatory, and anti septic properties and therefore good for acne, eczema and dry irritated skin and a suggested ingredient for a pomade.  I did not include this one in my top ten for two reasons, one it is very expensive and the other is I have not had any experience with it.

Camellia seed oil is also purported to both revitalize and rejuvenate both hair and skin.  This flower grows in both China and Japan and for centuries has been used as both a hair conditioner and a treatment to strengthen brittle nails.

Hazelnut oil is also well known for its astringent qualities and is deeply penetrating and stimulating to the circulatory system.  It helps to both tone and tighten the skin, plus can be used by all skin types.

There are other butters and oils from nature but to the best of my knowledge, they do not have any benefits that vary from those above.  Plus some of them are very expensive and you have to watch out for things like orange butter which may contain ingredients that are not listed.