Before going out into the sun, have you ever thought about applying cocoa butter? You can keep sunburn at bay when you apply cocoa butter. It seems to act almost like a mild sunscreen.
You can also use cocoa butter for sunburn if you’ve already been burnt. Cocoa butter works great for healing and soothing damaged skin.
In this article I’ll discuss how you can use cocoa butter to protect from sunburn, the benefits of using cocoa butter for sunburn, as well as how you can make your own sunburn treatment using cocoa butter!
What Is Cocoa Butter?
Cocoa butter is a plant fat that comes from the beans of the cocoa tree. These trees grow across West Africa, South America, Central America, and the Caribbean. Over 50% of cocoa butter is harvested in West Africa alone.
Up to five beans live inside the large, green fruits that the cocoa tree produces. These seeds then go through a process of roasting, stripping, and pressing.
Cocoa beans are the same thing that we use to create chocolate. But, the cocoa powder from the cocoa beans creates chocolate. The fat is the cocoa butter used in both chocolate and beauty products!
Is Cocoa Butter Good For Sunburn?
We still need more research to see if cocoa butter is really good for treating sunburns. Some say that you shouldn’t use cocoa butter, but should stick with aloe vera instead. Others say that cocoa butter is more moisturizing than aloe vera and can offer benefits.
For now, we must rely on anecdotal evidence to decide whether to use cocoa butter for sunburns.
It seems that cocoa butter can work wonders on sunburns. It is a very hydrating and moisturizing product. It can soothe your painful skin while also preventing scars and promoting healing.
When it comes down to it, you have to try cocoa butter for yourself and see how it does.
Benefits Of Cocoa Butter For Sunburn
We’ve established that cocao butter can help with sunburns, but why is this? What makes it so great?
Cocoa Butter Is Soothing & Moisturizing
Cocoa butter is a thick substance, but it easily penetrates the skin. It sinks deep within the skin’s layers so that the hydration occurs on a deeper level. The first step to healing damaged skin is providing it with hydration.
Because cocoa butter is thick, it also forms a protective layer over the skin. This protective layer holds the moisture in so that your skin stays hydrated for longer. It also protects the skin from chemicals and pollutants.
Cocoa Butter Prevents Peeling & Scarring
If you’re dealing with a nasty sunburn, you should consider trying cocoa butter. Sunburn peeling can make you feel self-conscious, and it’s downright painful.
Cocoa butter can prevent peeling and the scarring that occurs because of it. Cocoa butter is rich in antioxidants like vitamin E which fight off free radicals. Free radicals are the elements that cause damage to the skin, peeling, and aging of the skin.
Cocoa Butter Is Healing
Vitamin E is a key element in the healing of your skin. It doesn’t just prevent peeling and scarring, but it can heal the skin.
The antioxidants combine with essential fatty acids to heal damaged skin. They will promote the healing of damaged skin cells and promote the generation of new skin cells. The new skin cells will take the place of the damaged ones so that your skin heals well.
Cocoa Butter Reduces Inflammation
The fatty acids in cocoa butter also make the product an effective anti-inflammatory. The skin becomes inflamed and painful when it experiences damage. It may also slow down the healing time of your skin. By preventing swelling, cocoa butter will heal your skin faster and provide relief.
Cocoa Butter Is All-Natural
When using cocoa butter, you should choose 100% pure unrefined cocoa butter. Unrefined cocoa butter retains all the nutrients your skin needs. It contains nothing other than cocoa butter. So, it’s more natural and gentle than other products on the market.
Stay away from refined cocoa butter. It will have lost most of its nutrients during the refining process.
Are There Drawbacks Of Using Cocoa Butter On Sunburn?
Some people argue that you shouldn’t use cocoa butter for sunburns.
Cocoa Butter May Lock-In Heat
They say that cocoa butter tends to lock in heat. When you have a sunburn, the goal is to keep the temperature of your skin down. So, if this is true, then it could make the healing process more difficult.
Yet, researchers haven’t studied cocoa butter to say for certain whether this is true or not.
Some say you shouldn’t use cocoa butter for sunburns. Still, many others say it works great. For now, we can only rely on anecdotal evidence to determine whether cocoa butter is good for sunburn.
Cocoa Butter Clogs Pores
Another drawback to cocoa butter is that it is comedogenic, meaning that it can clog pores. The last thing you want when trying to heal your skin is for your pores to clog.
If you have oily skin, it might be best to avoid using cocoa butter for a sunburn. Yet, if you have normal or dry skin, cocoa butter is likely to help.
When it comes down to it, cocoa butter can help more people than not. It’s up to you to test cocoa butter and see how it works for you.
How To Use Cocoa Butter After Sun
For cocoa butter to be effective, you’ll want to apply it to your skin as quickly as you can.
Use Cocoa Butter As-Is
The simplest option is to use pure unrefined cocoa butter by itself. It is rich in nutrients that can begin to heal sunburn all on its own. You’ll use cocoa butter as you would any other moisturizer or lotion.
You can massage cocoa butter into your sunburned area as many times as you need to until your skin has healed.
If you’d like your skin to receive extra healing, try mixing cocoa butter with other products. Items like aloe vera, coconut oil, and vitamin E oil can promote faster healing.
[mv_create key=”77″ type=”recipe” title=”Cocoa Butter With Aloe Vera” thumbnail=”null”]
Everyone knows how effective aloe vera gel is on sunburns. It is super healing, and the cooling nature of aloe vera soothes burned skin. Because of this, the aloe vera and cocoa butter combination are my favorite. You will receive the absolute best, and your skin will feel much better.
To start use, massage the mixture into your skin as you would any other moisturizer. Use it as many times as you need until your skin heals.
[mv_create key=”78″ type=”recipe” title=”Cocoa Butter Lotion For Sunburn” thumbnail=”null”]
You can then massage the mixture into your skin as you would any other moisturizer. For best results, use this mixture twice a day.
[mv_create key=”79″ type=”recipe” title=”Cocoa Butter With Vitamin E” thumbnail=”null”]
Once ready, massage the mixture into your sunburned area as you would any other moisturizer. You can use this mixture twice a day for best results.
[mv_create key=”80″ type=”recipe” title=”Cocoa Butter and Coconut Oil” thumbnail=”null”]
To use, massage the mixture into your skin just like any other moisturizer. For best results, use this mixture two times a day.
Is There Cocoa Butter Sun Protection?
One reason that cocoa butter is so moisturizing is that it forms a protective layer over the skin. That layer is thick and keeps the skin safe from things like dirt, pollution, and yes…the sun.
Cocoa butter can protect the skin against up to 67% of the sun’s UV rays. It’s safe to assume that cocoa butter acts similarly to a low SPF sunscreen.
BUT, you should never use cocoa butter by itself. Cocoa butter IS NOT sunscreen. Even low SPF sunscreens are not enough to protect you from becoming burnt. Cocoa butter can offer extra protection but is not enough to protect your skin by itself.
Conclusion
You should never use cocoa butter alone if you plan on venturing into the sun for an extended period of time. Still, cocoa butter does offer significant protection against the sun.
If you are unfortunate enough to get sunburnt, cocoa butter can help with that, too. Cocoa butter is thick and moisturizing. It can soothe the skin, hydrate it, and promote healing. It can even prevent your skin from peeling and forming scars.
For the best results, consider a combination of cocoa butter and aloe vera to treat sunburnt skin.
Discover more ways to use cocoa butter on skin such as on wrinkles, stretch marks, dry skin, diaper rash and the face. You can read all our cocoa butter guides here.
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