Cocoa Butter, Theobroma cacao, is a hard, but creamy yellow butter with the distinct aroma of chocolate. It is pressed from the cacao bean found inside the cocoa pod on the cacao tree. Each large, gourd-shaped cocoa pod contains about 30 to 40 cocoa seeds. When the seeds are dried, roasted, and pressed, the vegetable fat is extracted from the beans.
Cocoa butter is an excellent all-over-the-body moisturizer as it acts as an emollient (softening and soothing to the skin) that adds a protective layer that locks in natural moisture. It soothes and softens dry, itchy skin.
The natural emollient, moisturizing and antioxidant characteristics of cocoa butter make it an excellent choice for dry overworked skin. Cocoa butter is often found in products that claim to reduce the appearance of stretch marks and scars.
In soap, cocoa butter helps make a hard, very moisturizing bar, with a creamy lather that is great for very dry skin.
In hair care, cocoa butter easily absorbs into the hair and imparts a sheen. It locks in moisture and helps protect the hair shaft. Creamy cocoa butter infuses hair strands with essential moisture to help improve texture, prevent breakage, and promote increased volume and hair strength. It is a natural remedy for hair frizz and people with curly hair often swear by cocoa butter for its ability to tame and detangle coarse porous hair. It also helps prevent hair loss due to breakage for those with fine or damaged hair. Cocoa butter can help replenish lost oils due to chemical processing, such as coloring and perms.
Our unrefined, organic cocoa butter has not been bleached or deodorized which ensures that all of its nourishing properties remain intact --plus, it smells good enough to eat!
The words "cocoa" and "cacao" are often confusing. Raw cacao butter and cocoa butter are essentially the same, except that the manufacturing process differs a bit. When it comes to processing, cocoa butter undergoes roasting and grinding of the cacao beans along with the pressing process to extract the fat. When processing cacao butter, the temperatures used are controlled and do not exceed 115 F (about 46 C), so it is considered more "raw" than cocoa butter.
Fair Trade Certified™ is the global brand of Fair Trade USA, a nonprofit organization. Using Fair Trade Certified™ Organic Cocoa Butter supports quality products that improve lives and protect the environment.
