10 Ways to Use Raw Cocoa Butter in Your Hair Regimen
Most people love a little cocoa in one form or another: Cocoa Butter, chocolate, Cocoa Oil, not to mention that cup of hot cocoa in the fridge below zero temperatures. No doubt it will show up in cakes and desserts this holiday, so why not in your hair regimen? If you check several commercial hair products you will recognize that cocoa is one of the ingredients.
It seems manufacturers are wising up and finding ways to use it that can promote healthy hair. So why not try it for yourself? Let’s see if I can convince you with 10 ways you can add coco butter to your regimen:
It Repairs: owing to the high proportion of saturated fats derived from stearic and palmitic acids as well as minerals and vitamins inclusive of Vitamin E, concentrations of protein, potassium, calcium, magnesium and copper, Cocoa Butter has healing properties that can repair damaged hair.
Moisturizing Conditioner*: we already know Cocoa Butter is good for your skin because it is high in vitamin E which fights wrinkles and dull striations, but did you know that it is also a great moisturizer for the hair? Now before you go grab some Cocoa Butter Lotion and slather it on to your hair, I am referring to 100% edible Cocoa Butter, or Extra Virgin Cocoa Butter*.
As it turns out, Cocoa Butter can be used to bake, to make chocolate, to moisutrize the skin and to moisturize the hair. Edible coconut can blended with a cheap conditioner to boost moisturizing benefits. This means you can get softer more manageable hair by using cocoa butter.
Deep Conditioner*: you may also benefit from it as a deep conditioning* treatment by blending it with Shea Butter or the oil of your choice to make a great deep conditioner*. Why not whip up some Cocoa Butter* with some honey or Aloe Vera Juice* to lock that moisture into your strands. The possibilities for experimentation are endless.
Leave-in Conditioner*/Cream: you can melt some Cocoa Butter in a sauce pan, add your choice of oils* or other additives such as honey* or Aloe Juice and whip to make your own leave-in or styling product. You can also forego melting it and just using the oils* and Cocoa Butter* in a food processor* to create a cream that you can use as your leave-in.
Volumizer: if you have thin hair cocoa butter* may add volume to your hair, so your styles can hold longer and look fuller.
Sealant: Rubbing the bar of raw cocoa on wet hair or moisturized hair can seal in the moisture so hair does not become dry, brittle and lifeless. This will bode well for length retention and could be your solution to lifted cuticles through which moisture escapes.
Protectant: use of Cocoa Butter overtime can help protect hair from chlorine damage if you live in a hard water area. Also, by using it you have one less thing to worry about if you take a dip in the pool or go to the beach!
It can also lessen the effects of the sun on your hair since Cocoa Butter is a fat which does not burn the way other fats tend to. It has a rather high tolerance for heat once it is melted, so weather you rub the wax like block onto your hair or melt it down into an oil, your hair heat damage can be lessened. It is also great for use before blow drying.
Hot oil treatment: it can be melted down and used as a hot oil treatment. Be careful not to leave it on for more that 15 minutes though, because it solidifies at room temperature.
Anti-itch scalp balm: owing to the fatty content of the Cocoa Butter, it can be applied to the scalp o relieve dryness that often causes itching and it will not clog the pores on your scalp like many other conditioners tend to do.
Hair loss solution: over the years Cocoa Butter has been used as a pain ingredient in hair loss solutions. This may be due in part to the trace amounts of caffeine that exist.
