What Is Cocoa Butter?
A little background: Cocoa butter comes from the cacao bean found inside the cocoa pod. The cocoa pod is a large, gourd-shaped fruit with 30 to 40 cocoa seeds. After these seeds are dried, fermented, roasted, and pressed, the vegetable fat is extracted from the beans. That fat is what we know as cocoa "butter," and what's leftover can be ground down to become cocoa powder. Because cocoa beans come from the Theobroma cacao plant, this separated cocoa fat is also known as Theobroma oil. Solid at room temperature, cocoa butter has a low melting point and a super-long shelf life of around two to five years.
Cocoa butter was first used in food, drinking chocolate, and for medicinal rituals. Over the years, men and women experimenting with cocoa butter noticed their hands were unwrinkled and moisturized from touching the butter and cocoa butter became a skincare phenomenon. Some scientific studies regarding cocoa butter suggest that the fat in cocoa butter forms a protective barrier over the skin to retain moisture, so it's praised for its ability to hydrate, nourish the skin, and improve elasticity. Cocoa butter is also rich in natural plant compounds called phytochemicals. These substances may improve blood flow to the skin and act as a natural sunblock, slowing skin aging and heal the skin. If you do some online searching you'll find a ton of articles like this one:
