(Mangifera indica · INCI: Mangifera Indica Seed Butter)
Biomimetic lipid · Rich in oleic and stearic acids · Cushioning butter · Non-greasy · Upcycled from the mango harvest
5 min read · A butter in the Resilience Balm
Mango seed butter for menopausal skin is one of the two butters that give our Resilience Balm its beautiful solid-to-melt texture. Pressed from the kernel inside the mango stone, it is a soft, cushioning butter that melts on contact with skin, rich enough to nourish deeply yet lighter and less waxy than many butters.
The lipid gap, and the role of butters
The lipid gap of perimenopause leaves skin drier and hungrier for lipids, and a solid balm is one of the most effective ways to deliver them, concentrated, anhydrous, and slow-releasing as it warms into the skin. Butters are what make a balm a balm: they give it structure at room temperature and melt into a nourishing layer on contact. Mango butter is our softer, more cushioning butter. Read more in The Lipid Gap.
The fatty-acid profile
Mango butter is built chiefly on oleic acid (omega-9) and stearic acid (a saturated fatty acid), in fairly even measure, with some palmitic and linoleic. The oleic acid brings softening and cushioning; the stearic acid gives structure and a velvety slip. That combination is why mango butter feels rich but melts cleanly rather than sitting greasy, and why it makes such a pleasant balm base.
What mango butter does for skin
- Deeply nourishing: a concentrated lipid that helps replenish dry, depleted skin.
- Cushioning and softening: melts into a soft, conditioning layer that leaves skin supple.
- Non-greasy finish: lighter and less waxy in feel than many butters.
- Comfortable on dry, mature skin: a rich base suited to skin that has lost its lipids.
Where it comes from
Mango butter is another circular ingredient. Mangoes are grown across the tropics for their fruit, and the large stone at the centre, and the oil-rich kernel inside it, is usually discarded. Recovering that kernel to press its butter turns a vast food byproduct into a valuable lipid, so nothing is grown to be wasted. It is the same upcycling ethos behind our pomegranate and black currant oils, applied to a butter.
What the research shows
As with the oils, the science is about fatty acids and the barrier. Reviews of vegetable butters in dermatology describe how their oleic and stearic acids condition and soften the skin surface and help form a protective, moisture-retaining layer (vegetable butters and oils review, 2022). We present mango butter on the basis of that fatty-acid chemistry and its cushioning role in the balm.
Ingredient profile
- INCI: Mangifera Indica Seed Butter
- Common name: Mango butter, mango seed butter
- Key fatty acids: oleic (omega-9) and stearic, with palmitic and linoleic
- Character: soft, cushioning, melts on contact, non-greasy
- Sourcing: upcycled from mango kernels
- In Philogeni: in the Resilience Balm
Featured in
Mango butter is one of the two butters in the Resilience Balm, our most-loved formula, where it gives the balm its soft, cushioning melt alongside illipe butter and the M-Veil active complex.
Common questions
Is mango butter good for menopausal skin?
Yes. It is a rich, cushioning lipid well suited to the drier, more depleted skin of perimenopause and beyond, and it feels lighter than many butters.
Is mango butter greasy?
Less than most. Its balance of oleic and stearic acids means it melts in and conditions without a heavy, greasy residue.
Is it sustainable?
Yes. Mango butter is pressed from kernels that are a byproduct of the fruit harvest, otherwise discarded.
References and further reading
- Vegetable butters and oils as cosmetically active ingredients: a review of clinical studies (2022). PubMed Central
At a glance
- Common name: Mango seed butter
- INCI: Mangifera Indica Seed Butter
- Key fatty acids: oleic and stearic
- Cosmetic function: nourishing, cushioning balm base
- Sourcing: upcycled from mango kernels
- Found in: Resilience Balm
- Status: vegan, plant-derived
A soft, cushioning butter rescued from the mango harvest, it gives the Resilience Balm its melt. Shop the Resilience Balm.