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Cocoa Butter
Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter · Theobroma Cacao Seed ButterBarrier
A classic rich body butter. It can clog pores, and stretch-mark claims are mostly anecdotal.
What it does
It’s high in saturated fats and a classic in body butters, lip balms and stretch-mark products. It can clog pores, though the few small tests disagree. The stretch-mark evidence is mostly anecdotal: moisturizing helps with itching, but the prevention claim is weaker than the marketing.
The EU’s ingredient database lists it as an emollient (gives skin a soft, smooth look).European Commission, CosIng (© European Union, CC BY 4.0) · uses put in plain words by Drop ↗
The evidence, graded
emergingIn rabbit-ear tests, isopropyl myristate, isopropyl palmitate, cocoa butter and other esters clogged pores, while petrolatum and paraffin did not; a 1989 test graded “coconut butter” 4 of 5. The rabbit test is more sensitive than human skin, and whether high scorers clog human pores is uncertain. In a small human test, finished products with them did not necessarily clog pores. The 1989 test graded mineral oil 0 to 2, squalane and dimethicone 1, glycerin 0; hyaluronic acid is untested.Nguyen 2007 · Cutaneous and Ocular Toxicology ↗ Graded per the methodology: strong · moderate · emerging · expert consensus. A weak source on a strong claim gets the weaker label.
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