Ingredient

Fair Trade Colombian Cocoa Butter

Theobroma cacao

This butter, a true moisturising treat for the skin and hair, is extracted from cocoa beans grown and harvested by a community fighting for its independence.

Where do we purchase this butter?

Lush has been buying Fair Trade-certified cocoa beans from the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó (northwestern Colombia) since 2010. The community lives in a region ravaged by armed conflicts. Families settled here in the 1960s and have been committed to non-violence since the end of the 1970s.

The farmers have incorporated permaculture techniques into their growing practices, such as mixed planting and composting, so they don’t need to buy pesticides and fertilisers. Once they have grown and collected the cocoa beans, they are shipped to Europe for processing into butter and powder.

What are the benefits of cocoa butter for your skin and hair?

• As an emollient, it softens and moisturises the skin.
• Conditions the hair, improving shine and combability.
• Contains oleic acid, a mono-unsaturated fatty acid that is highly compatible with our natural sebum and allows the butter to be more easily absorbed into the skin. 

What are the benefits of cocoa butter in our formulae?

Cocoa butter contains stearic acid, a skin-softening fatty acid that acts as an emulsifier. This means that the butter helps bind oil and water together, preventing products from separating. Combined with the solid nature of the butter, this emulsifying property creates tight emulsions that leave no room for microbes to move and grow, helping products to remain fresher for longer. 

For even more details on cocoa please visit this dedicated page.