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Cocoa butter benefits for skin include locking in moisture and protecting the skin from oxidative stress, among many more!
Found in various creams and soaps, as well as your favorite chocolates(!), cocoa butter is a wonderful ingredient for moisturizing dry flaky skin and healing irritated, acne-sensitive skin. The beneficial ingredients nourish and protect your skin from the damage of free radicals caused by the environment.
Cocoa butter, a natural vegetable oil and one of the best butters for skin, stabilizes natural products and gives them the capability to be spreadable. The thick creamy consistency of cocoa butter gives products a smooth texture and adds nourishing benefits for your skin.
Cocoa butter is a natural, pure vegetable fat extracted from the cocoa seeds found inside the pod (pictured above). It is used when making chocolate, skincare products, medicines and more. The cocoa seeds are fermented, roasted, hulled, ground, and pressed to receive a pale-yellow butter that will sometimes carry with it a pleasant chocolate scent.
Cocoa butter is a stable fat, high in saturated fats and antioxidants. These two propertes give cocoa butter an amazing shelf life. The butter can last anywhere from two to five years before it will finally go rancid.
The most well-known use in skincare is as a key ingredient in lotions and creams. Let's look at a few benefits of cocoa butter to learn why people have used it for many years.
Cocoa butter is a natural product that when applied topically has many excellent benefits for your skin. The benefits for skin are attributed to the natural formation of this ingredient - high levels of vitamin K, vitamin E, and essential fatty acids.
Cocoa butter is rich in antioxidants, which help repair damage to the skin caused by free radicals. Free radicals can induce skin aging, dark patches, and dull skin. Protecting your skin from damage is a must if you want to keep your skin looking healthy and young.
The anti-inflammatory properties of cocoa butter protect your skin against the signs of aging. By soothing the infection that causes acne, it leaves your skin healthy and ready to start the process of repairing skin cells.
Cocoa butter has been utilized since the Aztecs first came across the creamy substance, they used it on their face to enhance their skin tone. Today, it is used in a wide variety of natural products to moisturize dry skin.
The emollient properties of cocoa butter make this an excellent ingredient to include in moisturizers, soaps, and creams. And cocoa butter is specifically beneficial at deeply moisturizing dry, itchy skin.
With the melting point of cocoa butter being between 34-37 degrees Celsius, it’s solid at room temperature and melts when it’s applied to the skin. This gives cocoa butter an advantage as a cream or lotion to disperse evenly while locking in moisture to hydrate the skin.
One reason cocoa butter is so valuable is its high concentration of antioxidant compounds, that include fatty acids: oleic acid, palmitic acid, and stearic acid. These fatty acids are beneficial for the body and aid in neutralizing free radicals in the skin.
The antioxidant benefits of cocoa butter protect the skin from environmental and external pressures that can lead to irritation or damage to the skin. By reducing the extent of oxidative stress, cocoa butter can help to reduce the signs of aging, especially wrinkles and dark patches.
You’ll generally see cocoa butter as an ingredient in body lotions and creams. Because it’s an edible fat, it's added to lip balms with the knowledge that it is safe for consumption. Rubbing cocoa butter products on your skin or lips every day as part of your skincare routine will keep your skin hydrated.
Acne is an incredibly embarrassing problem for both men and women of all ages. The bacteria that produced the acne infection are killed off by powerful antioxidants, such as the ones present in cocoa butter.
This natural ingredient has amazing skin benefits that not only kill off bacteria but also help to smooth out the scars left behind by acne.
Skin affected by acne can easily become damaged, but cocoa butter helps to encourage new cell growth and quicker healing times. Essentially, cocoa butter helps the dry skin remaining after a breakout to be healed to smooth, soft skin, by sealing in moisture.
Using cocoa butter on acne, and the damaged skin acne leaves behind, can be extremely powerful! However, it's probably best used in small concentrations in creams or in spot treatments on healing blemishes rather than as a full-strength facial moisturizer.
It's also a popular treatment for scars like stretch marks, though there is no science supporting the claim that any topical ingredient prevents stretch marks. Cocoa butter does contain a high content of vitamin E and deep-penetrating moisturizers provide skin with building blocks for renewal, so it does support better nourished, more hydrated skin overall with regular use.
The best time to apply restorative, healing creams and moisturizers on your face is at night. With less oxidative stress attacking your skin, your moisturizer will absorb more effectively by sinking deeply into the epidermis to add much-needed moisture.
Applying beneficial creams with natural ingredients like nutrient-rich cocoa butter to your skin at night can help rejuvenate existing skin cells while promoting skin renewal (growth of new cells).
Cocoa butter benefits for skin are plentiful: healthy, deeply moisturized skin and protection from free radicals to combat the signs of aging.
