Words by Sami Blackford aka The Skin Stylist
Picture credit: Paul Hill

Cocoa butter is one of my most favourite ingredients; I love using it because it smells just delicious, and because it has so many great benefits for the skin.

What is cocoa butter & how is it produced?

Cocoa butter comes from the cocoa bean which is found inside the cocoa pod which grows on from the cacao tree. Cacao pods are also where we get cocoa from to make chocolate – that’s why good-quality cocoa butter has a wonderful chocolate-y scent.

To produce the cocoa butter, these seeds must be fermented in banana leaves, dried, roasted and pressed, releasing the vegetable fat we know as cocoa butter.

Alternatively, the beans can be cold-processed. Cold-pressed cocoa butter is made by pressing the whole bean thus retaining vital antioxidants. This cold-pressing process uses only the heat from the friction caused when pressing the bean which helps protect the antioxidants.

How does cocoa butter benefit the skin?

Because of its natural make-up and its nutrient and fatty acid content, cocoa butter is amazing for dry skin and can actually penetrate further than the top layer of the skin, meaning it moisturises deep-down and really nourishes the skin.

• Antioxidant action

Free-radicals are small molecules formed during the body’s metabolism when energy is generated from glucose in every cell in your body. They are also formed by exposure to pollutants such as car fumes, pesticides, and tobacco smoke.

These free-radicals destroy cells, and when these are skin cells you begin to age. Your skin wrinkles and dries up, and you begin to take on the look of somebody years older than you are. They do this through a process known as oxidation (a good way to think of it is to consider how iron rusts when it oxidises), and antioxidants can prevent it. They neutralize the free-radicals, and prevent your skin cells from being destroyed.

Cocoa butter contains a number of different antioxidants which can kill-off a wide range of different free-radicals. In fact, cocoa butter contains a much higher antioxidant concentration then even blueberries and other superfoods.

• Stretch mark reduction

Cocoa butter is widely noted to help reduce stretch marks. This is most likely due to its nutrient and anti-oxidant content, as we’ve seen above.

There are no guarantees, but many women claim that regular use of cocoa butter was what kept their stretch marks away.

Now, I can’t promise that cocoa butter, alone, will keep stretch marks away completely. As I always say, the health of your skin is dependant on more than just what you apply to it every day. For more information about preventing and healing stretch marks, read “natural healing for stretch marks“.

• Other benefits

Cocoa butter is high in fatty acids, meaning it can penetrate deep-down into the skin and hydrate from within. Cocoa butter can also be helpful for many skin problems like eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis, and skin irritation.

How do I use cocoa butter?

You can use cocoa butter as-is (it comes in fairly hard, solid blocks) as a body moisturiser, or add it to a hot bath.

Alternatively, there are plenty of products on the market which contain cocoa butter.

I love using cocoa butter when designing products for Freyaluna. After years of research and development, we make this amazing raw ingredient much more user-friendly by including it in our natural skincare products.

For example, it can be found in our Cocoa Body Butter – a rich buttery cream that’s wonderful for all-over your body, and our Body Butter Bars – for use as a body moisturiser or as part of traditional massage. But we also use it in our Cupcake Bath Melts – a little skin-nourishing indulgence at bath time, and even in our Patchouli & Orange Hand Cream – a wonderful cream for everyday use, for dealing with dermatitis, as well as soothing dry irritated skin.

At Freyaluna, we use only unrefined cocoa butter which we source from fair trade community co-operative projects in Ghana where the cocoa butter is harvested in a sustainable way.

We use cocoa butter in a wide variety of products to ensure our customers can get the impressive effects of this fantastic ingredient in a number of ways, and for a number of skincare needs.

Until next time, stay beautiful!

Sami x

With thanks to… About.com

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Sami Blackford is The Skin Stylist, the force of passion behind Love Yourself Naturally, and founder of the Freyaluna natural skincare brand.

After battling acne for many years, Sami finally found the secret path to clear and healthy skin, and she has since made it her mission to reach out to women around the world and help them along the same journey. Using a unique blend of natural skincare, nutrition and lifestyle advice, and a caring nature, she guides women to the healthy skin they deserve to see reflected in the mirror.

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