Cocoa Butter: More dryness/ chapiness ?

[oranget]

I came across this statement on a blog today:

"There’s a subset of the population that reacts to cocoa butter with further dryness and chapped skin"

I sit here, with about 8 lip balms and hand creams around me , which i re-apply every 5 minutes, and they all contain: Cocoa Butter. It's like a horror film.( they are calling from inside the house !!!)

Um.. this is , obviously news to me, and up until now , I just loved Cocoa Butter. Is this a well know fact ? Do any of you have this issue ?

Thank You !

 

[Obsidian]

I can't use coco butter in lip balms and if I use it in lotion, it has to be a small amount. I've found shea butter to be much better for my skin.

 

[neeners]

It could be possible. we're all different and react to things differently. I love cocoa butter, but don't really like shea.... it smells funny to me and I don't like the feeling of it on my skin (never seems to absorb). maybe try to find another butter that would work well in your recipe? mango butter perhaps (or some other butter but I have no clue which other ones are out there.....)?

 

[jenfrat]

I'm fine with it in lip balms and lotions, but I find it drying in soap.

 

[pamielynn]

Anybody can react weirdly to anything. Mango butter seems to be pretty agreeable to most people.

 

[jadelilly]

How small a subset is it? I really LOVE cocoa butter and use it a lot, at least a little bit in most of my products. Nothing else makes my skin feel as good...shea is awesome and I also love mango and coconut but cocoa...it's incredible to my skin.
I really really hope it's a small subset; seems there are people that have issues with most everything out there.
Sad...I love cocoa butter (did I say that already?)

 

[Lin]

Everyone is different. Some people somewhere are going to be sensitive to any ingredient you name. I'd try some different formulations and see if you get better results. I like combinations, not really heavy in any one thing. Cocoa butter is a good emollient, maybe something else for fast absorbing moisture... Etc. And those with chocolate allergies shouldn't use cocoa butter of course.

 

[oranget]

jadelilly asks, "How small a subset is it ? "

So far, three. Me, Obsidian, and maybe jenfrat. I think it may grow, though : )

This is just so weird to me. I love it, or thought I did, The scent makes me swoon, I love the texture. But, I just picked up about 20 carcasses of lipbalm from around the house, and the ones I stopped using all had CB, and the ones i scraped out with a toothpick, None. So, there's that.

It's good to know, of course, but now i'm like, what else do i love that is bad for me ?

Looks like it's time to make friends with Mango Butter. HI Mango !

 

[Obsidian]

Does most mango butter smell? My mom got some from WSP and it smells icky but then again, their shea smells like neem and even the coco butter doesn't have a nice scent.
I have a pound of beautiful coco butter with the riches scent of chocolate, the best I've ever smelled and I don't know what to use it for
My favorite lip balm has been beeswax, coconut oil and olive oil. Used local raw beeswax so it tastes and smells of honey.

 

[Susie]

I am so happy to know I am not the only person who reacts to cocoa butter! I was so excited to use it, then to have a rash on my lips. Have you ever had an allergic rash on your lips??? It is one of those experiences I would not wish on my worst enemy.

 

[Obsidian]

I am so happy to know I am not the only person who reacts to cocoa butter! I was so excited to use it, then to have a rash on my lips. Have you ever had an allergic rash on your lips??? It is one of those experiences I would not wish on my worst enemy.

did you use it straight on your lips or in a balm? I can take a tiny bit in balm but too much makes my lips burn. I'm sure straight would cause a rash or something equally awful.

 

[Lin]

My mango butter is really neutral in scent, couldn't really describe it. My Avocado oil has more scent I think. Or it may just be because I put the Avocado straight on my face I smell it more.

I've used straight cocoa butter on my lips. I have gotten a rash on my lips before, along with dermatitis around my mouth and nose. Never as a result of cocoa butter or my other butters though.

 

[indulgebandb]

I have mango butter from WSP and it really doesn't have much of a scent. Maybe she got a bad batch or something. From my understanding it is supposed to be fairly odorless.

 

[BabyPickles106]

I've not had a rash on my lips but have taken care of several patients with a rash on lips/tongue from eating seafood. I would be very careful using a product that had broken you out in a rash even if you weren't going to use it yourself. The potential for an even larger reaction occurs with each subsequent use. That said I love the smell of coco butter. But then Chocolate is one of my downfalls. To bad water doesn't taste like chocolate to me anyway. I would certainly drink more.

 

[Susie]

I used 10g in a 31g batch(had to check my notes). Before I started making my own lip balms, I was reacting to something new in Burt's Bees lip balms. Not as bad as I reacted to my own, but still an itchy set of lips for a week. I could not figure it out at that time, but after I reacted to the lip balm I made when the only thing I changed was changing coconut oil for cocoa butter, I went back and read the ingredients of the Burt's Bees. Bingo! Cocoa butter. I am rather grateful they did that, however, as it is why I started making lip balm, the research for which brought me to YouTube links for soapmaking. And the rest, as they say, is history.

 

[oranget]

I'm still depressed I can't use my beloved Cocoa Butter. But, knowing is way better than not knowing. I haven't thrown it out yet, it just smells too good.

 

[Saponista]

My mango butter smells lovely obsidian, kind of a bit fruity. I wonder if you had a bad batch.