Why Should You Use Cocoa Butter? It’s UhMaaaZing!

Hello friend! Let’s begin our discovery of what makes a great body lotion (or body butter, which is a thicker, but not heavier, version of a lotion). Why should you use cocoa butter? Ah, keep reading, friend.

There are three parts to a healthy body lotion:

  1. An excellent base
  2. An effective carrier oil
  3. Appropriate essential oils.

In this post I’d like to introduce you to a favorite base of mine.

Why use cocoa butter? Let’s find out more about this awesome bean.

Cocoa Butter

Cocoa butter comes from beans of the cocoa tree, which was first cultivated by the Mayans. Today most cocoa comes from trees located in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

Cocoa beans have been used for many years in making chocolate, but have only fairly recently been realized for their amazing skin moisturizing and healing properties. Once the cocoa bean pods open, the beans are removed and then pressed into cocoa butter, which is technically a vegetable fat. It is best to find raw cocoa butter that is organic and unrefined. This means that the beans have been touched as little as possible by humans, so that they retain their inherently excellent qualities. In fact, when cocoa beans have been harvested, they can simply be put into sacks and placed in a warm room. The natural heat (no added heat necessary!) pulls the natural cocoa butter out so that it can be collected. It is then cooled and becomes a semi-solid form.

Why I Love Raw, Organic, Unrefined Cocoa Butter

There are a few base butters that I really like in body lotions and butters (shea butter is my second favorite), but cocoa butter is always on top for me (and it makes up a great proportion of my handcrafted Pronounce skincare items).

Moisturizer
Cocoa butter is a rich and creamy natural moisturizer. As mentioned above, cocoa butter is a fat, but it is a stable fat, but will “melt” when applied to your skin. This means that natural cocoa butter simply soak into your skin for easy absorption (it’s like your skin drinks it). When cocoa butter “melts” into your skin, it is not only incredibly moisturizing, but also provides that nice barrier needed for protection.

Sounds like pretty awesome stuff, huh!? I swear by this butter, as I have seen remarkable changes in my son’s skin and my own since we started using it. Not only in our eczema-ridden skin, but my family and friends who have used it have also raved about the moisturizing effects it has had for them.

Here’s my “beware” statement for this post…

Make sure that any products you are using with cocoa butter in them utilize raw, unrefined, organic cocoa butter; otherwise, many of the properties I explained above could become null and void… simply stripped from the cocoa butter.

Also, make sure that “cocoa butter” isn’t a mile down the list of ingredients in your products. Well, actually… you should not use products that have ingredient lists that long, but you should at least make sure that cocoa butter is in the top few ingredients listed in your products. If it is not, it is likely a marketing ploy, just making you think that you’ll get the benefits of cocoa butter, but in reality there isn’t enough to make a bit of difference.

xo,

Can’t wait to DIY?

Please, head on over to my Pronounce Skincare Shop where I sell Cocoa Butter. While you are there, please look around at all of my other skincare creations. I love making them for my family and for you!

This Was A Featured Post at Small Footprint Fridays! Oh Lardy featured this post on their Friday Happy Hour! This post was shared at: Homemade Mondays, Like Mama ~ Like Daughter.

Comments 12

  2. My first day reading ! Thank you so much for the information and your site !!! Will continue to read and comment !!

    Reply

  4. Where can I get GOOD Cocoa butter? My mom used to use it all the time. It was wrapped in a Hershey’s wrapper. I think she got it at a nutrition store.

    Any ideas? Thanks

    Reply

    1. Ahh, great question. I go through a TON of cocoa butter in the body products that I sell and have placed orders through a few various places. I have received some that were good and some were major disappointments. :/

      THIS is the best cocoa butter I’ve sourced. It is quite aromatic, consistent in quality and texture, and is overall my favorite (for baking and for using in body products).

      You can grab it in my retail store or online in my Herbal Boutique HERE.

      Thanks for stopping by,
      Jess

      Reply

  5. Hi Scratch Mommy, I just found this post on the forum at VGN! I adore raw cocoa butter and use it to make chocolate treats and to moisturize my skin. I like mixing it with coconut oil. I will share this info on my Facebook page.

    Reply

  7. This is a great primer on cocoa butter. And it does smell just uhmaaazing! Your post is the number two feature on Small Footprint Fridays this week! Thanks for sharing it!

    Reply

    1. Oh wow! How awesome!

      I am glad that so many people are also interested in UhMaaaZing Cocoa Butter. 🙂

      Thanks so much for hosting such a great blog hop, Dawn. There are always so many interesting posts. I will definitely be back!

      Jess

      Reply

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