Basic ingredients for natural soaps& cosmetic products: Cacao butter

"Cocoa butter, also called theobroma oil, is a pale-yellow, edible vegetable fat extracted from the cocoa bean. It is used to make chocolate, as well as some ointments, toiletries, and pharmaceuticals. Cocoa butter has a cocoa flavour and aroma.
 
Cocoa butter is obtained from whole cocoa beans, which are fermented, roasted, and then separated from their hulls. About 54–58% of the residue is cocoa butter. Chocolate liquor is pressed to separate the cocoa butter from the cocoa solids. The Broma process is used to extract cocoa butter from ground cacao beans. Cocoa butter is usually deodorized to remove its strong and undesirable taste." source Wikipedia

Because cocoa butter is a fat, one of its most obvious benefits is its value as a moisturizing agent.
Cocoa butter is an excellent emollient. It melts at body temperature and is quickly and easily absorbed into the skin.
According to StretchMarksCream.net, it penetrates not only the top layer of skin but the dermis layer as well where the body is more able to retain the moisture. 

 Cocoa butter can be applied both to scarring and the skin surrounding it. In addition to softening and moisturizing your skin, it will smooth out the tone and texture of it, making scars look less noticeable.

Furthermore, applying cocoa butter topically on a daily basis can help facilitate repairing damaged skin. In order for the body to regrow skin tissue, the skin must be well hydrated.

Therefore, cocoa butter's unique ability to lock moisture in at the deeper levels of the skin make it particularly beneficial as a treatment for scars.

Read more about the Karite butter here and the Coconut butter here and the cacao butter-chocolate lotion benefits.


We will use Cacao butter for soap making and in other cosmetic products at the GLI:N Workshops.

With love
Rita