Stinky Skincare Ingredients: How to Work With Cocoa Butter
Welcome to part 4 in this mini-series of working with stinky ingredients!
Now that you've been exercising your nose and making all kinds of amazing discoveries at how clever your nostrils are at picking out subtle details and undertones (if not, check the links below to previous posts), let's get busy with today's project.
We're going to 'bend' the scent of a very popular ingredient for skincare and haircare: cocoa butter.
It almost seems unfair to call this a stinky ingredient. Most people love the smell and taste of a chocolate bar. I know I do. I actually also love the scent of cocoa butter if I am thinking of food.
But we're putting it on our skin.
Not Everyone Wants to Smell like Food all Day
As delicious and chocolatey as cocoa butter might smell in the container, it can become dominant and downright overpowering when it is applied to the skin in a leave-on product.In a body butter, non-chocolate-tasting lip balm, or any other water-free product, cocoa butter has an uncanny ability to take over and become downright cloying.
Never fear!
No need to work against it when we can work with it. We shall include cocoa butter as a component of our fragrance.
Here's a little exercise on how to do just that.
The Base Note – Cocoa Butter
Melt 5 grams (a teaspoon) of cocoa butter in a small glass container (5 grams for each scent you want to create).Have your essential oils ready.
Sniff the cocoa butter. Note the heavy, creamy, and chocolate-like properties. This is the base note of your scent.
Next step is to decide which direction to go, then choose middle and top notes.
Here are a couple of examples to get you started.
Woodsy
For a woodsy scent, add a component such as cedarwood, rosewood, petitigrain, or sandalwood. A combination of these could even be used. Round out the blend by introducing an element of citrus freshness – bergamot, mandarin, blood orange, grapefruit, or lemon could all be considered.Oriental
To bend your cocoa butter in a more exotic direction, add myhrr or frankincense. Introduce a floral element with rose or geranium, then consider a titch of vanilla to round out the scent and make it deliciously exotic.Floral
For a floral scent, start with a woodsy component to anchor the chocolate-ness of the cocoa butter. Add florals on top, but choose rich florals such as geranium, or rose. The lighter florals risk being 'buried'. Chamomile – with its inherent earthy note – is another useful option. Lavender and/or an element of citrus can be added to round out the scent.More? You Decide!
Want to try something else? Go for it! Now that your nose is 'tuned in', go forth and create fabulous scents with cocoa butter as the base note!Note: this series of 'stinky ingredient' exercises is all about combining the natural scent of the ingredient with essential oils. Because fragrance oils and I have never been good friends, I am unfortunately unable to offer any input if you have questions regarding the use of synthetic fragrances.
Do Tell
Which scent combos did you add to cocoa butter to bend the scent in the direction you wanted? Were you happy with them?Previous Posts about Stinky Ingredients
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