Cocoa butter is something that many people use on a daily basis. It’s a common ingredient in skincare products because of its ability to soften the skin.
You might use cocoa butter to help with skin dryness issues. Whether you use cocoa butter in a pure form or you’re using beauty products that contain cocoa butter, it’s easy to see how important and useful it is.
One problem that people have is getting cocoa butter to stay soft. If you leave the cocoa butter alone for prolonged periods of time, then it’s going to harden, and that will make it tougher to use it as intended.
How can you keep cocoa butter soft? Is there a special approach that makes this easy?
Keep reading to learn a bit more about cocoa butter so that you can have a good experience when using it. You’ll get information about how to soften it and what to do when it becomes hard.
Store the Cocoa Butter Properly
Storing the cocoa butter properly is the key to keeping it soft and easy to use. Typically, people buy cocoa butter in jars or lotion bottles, but you can also find it in lotion containers where you can squeeze the cocoa butter out.
The cocoa butter is going to solidify if you don’t store it at the right temperature. When the cocoa butter is at room temperature or colder, it’s going to start to solidify.
This is problematic if you want to use cocoa butter each day. Solving this problem is as simple as storing the cocoa butter in your refrigerator, though.
You’ll be able to reheat the cocoa butter (which will be explained later) so that it won’t be so solid. Storing cocoa butter in the fridge allows it to stay good for as long as possible.
Simply place the cocoa butter in a container that is safe to place in the refrigerator. It’s recommended to use something like an airtight plastic container that is meant for food storage.
You’ll be able to place cocoa butter in a food container like this to keep it safe. It’ll be easy to keep the cocoa butter in the fridge for as long as you need to, within reason.
Cocoa butter has a long shelf life, but it won’t stay good forever. It’s supposed to last between two and five years when stored in a refrigerator.
You Can Melt Pure Cocoa Butter to Make Your Own Products
Many like to use cocoa butter as an ingredient in their own homemade beauty products. You might be trying to make a lotion or even some lip balm.
If you have a solid chunk of cocoa butter that you want to use to make various products, then you’ll need to melt it. This isn’t that hard, but you’ll want to go about doing this in the right way.
Most people are going to use the microwave to melt cocoa butter. It’s easy to do this, but you’ll need to use a glass bowl that’s safe to put in the microwave.
Put the cocoa butter in the bowl and then place it in the microwave. You don’t need to cover the bowl for this process.
Microwave the cocoa butter for thirty seconds and then stir it with a spoon. If the cocoa butter still hasn’t fully melted yet, then you’ll want to keep microwaving it for ten seconds at a time.
Once the microwave has fully melted the cocoa butter, it’s necessary to allow it to cool. Once it has cooled, you’ll be able to use it to try to make your beauty product.
Another option is to use a double boiler to melt down a solid chunk of cocoa butter. Using a double boiler method is a safe, reliable way to melt cocoa butter so long as you have everything that you need.
Fill a pot with lukewarm water until it is half full. Place it on the stove and then position a heat-proof mixing bowl inside the pot.
You want the bowl to be large enough that it will fit snugly on the rim of the pot. It should be able to hover above the water in the pot without touching it.
Turn the stove on the lowest setting and start heating the water up. Put the cocoa butter in the mixing bowl and watch it begin to melt.
The steam from the simmering water is going to safely melt the cocoa butter for you. Stir the cocoa butter with a spoon as it’s melting, and then just keep stirring until the job is done.
Remove the pot from the stove and turn the stove off when you’re all set. The cocoa butter will need to cool before you’re able to use it.
Either the double boiler method or the microwave method will work just fine. It’s simply up to you to decide which option is more convenient.
Cocoa Butter Has Many Uses
If you’re looking to make things with cocoa butter, then you’ll have a lot to consider. There are so many different beauty and personal care products that you can make using cocoa butter as a base ingredient.
You already know that it can be used to make lotion and lip balm. It’s even possible to use it to make bath products such as bath milk.
This allows you to give your bathtub a lovely scent, and people often pair this idea with Epsom salts. It makes for a very relaxing bathing experience.
A very practical idea would be to make deodorant. Cocoa butter works really well as an ingredient in homemade deodorants.
Anyone who wants to use natural ingredients instead of buying commercial deodorants will like this idea. You could choose to make whipped soap or even face masks with this wonderful ingredient.
Cocoa butter has many uses, and you’ll have a good time experimenting with it. Just remember to store your cocoa butter properly and everything should go nicely.
Final Thoughts
You’ve learned how to keep cocoa butter safe by storing it in the fridge. Cocoa butter can be melted in the microwave or by using a simple double boiler method.
This allows you to liquefy the cocoa butter so that it can be used to make various things. It’ll be good to be able to do this if you’re interested in making your own beauty or personal care products.
If you’re just worried about storing products that contain cocoa butter, then you should follow the instructions from the manufacturer. They should have specific instructions for how to store their products to get the optimal results.
I have a bachelor’s degree in Film/Video/Media Studies, as well as an associates degree in Communications. I began producing videos and musical recordings nearly 15 years ago. I am a guitarist and bassist in Southwest MI and have been in a few different bands since 2009, and in 2012 I began building custom guitars and basses in my home workshop as well. When I’m home, I love spending time with my three pets (a dog, cat, and snake) and gardening in my backyard.