kind of cocoa butter

IMHO, the less messed with, the better.

 

What's your application? Soap? lip balm? Lotion?

For soap I use the undeoderized regular stuff at about 10%. The odor hasn't come through at that amount (I've never used higher so I wouldn't know)

For balm I use either depending on the flavor

For lotion bars ditto like the balms

For lotion I use deoderized cause I usually make a huge batch and do different scents that I don't want chocolate in it!

 

I love the smell of cocoa butter. But I'm small time and don't want both kinds sitting around so I just get the regular stuff and if the scent is going to interfere with the scent I'm going for I'll use shea instead.

 

I love my shea, but it is much to soft to sub out in most applications for cocoa butter - like in balms and lotion bars.

 

Aletha,
This is all a personal preference on what kind of cocoa butter, I use mainly the unrefined.. the less it is messed with the better for your skin.. Start removing things and and bleaching and you have messed with the composition of it.. So depends on what you want to do for yourself, your customers etc..
Unrefined cocoa butter does have chunks of pure chocolate in it, will leave small flecks of choco in products, and the smell can come thru on some products..
Refined does none of these things, but what have we lost, like in white bread..
My purpose when I started was to make body products that were good for my skin, as close to good as I can get and get a good product.. So I use unrefined... but that is my personal choice.. any of them are still far superiour to a commerical product in my opinion..
Barbara

 

I prefer the unrefined myself

 

Barb, doesn't the chocolate smell come through in your lotion? I could have sworn it did when I tried it...but I would love to try it again since I am using unrefined shea, why not unrefined cocoa butter?

 

no, it does not come thru in the lotion
i get mine from columbus foods, unless a good coop is going on
barb

 

And don't forget to simply break off small amounts and sell in organza bags for bath melts. I spend about 2 mintues explaining how I use them in the bath like a lotion bar before you get out. It is wonderful and if you sell enough of it like this your cocoa butter for soaping and lotion....lipbalms yum..is free. My milk gals will start next week and it's always the same thing...kefir, cocoa butter chunks, burn balm and they will buy me out of my soap sacks and bath mitts replacing their from last year. Oh and shea, always shea. Vicki