Cocoa Ration Body Butter

This is my 4^th product under my English Rose Cosmetics brand of skin care and I’d like to share with you how I’ve developed this product.

Cream, lotion, butter, oil or soufflé – which is best?

The main thing to look out for is how compatible with the skin it is, i.e. how quickly it sinks into your skin.  A product that is rich in any of the following ingredients; almond oil, apricot oil, canola oil, coconut oil, jojoba oil, lecithin, olive oil, shea butter, and soybean oil etc. are all similar to skins own lipids (oils) and will hence boost the existing lipid barrier.

Synthetic products such as Silicones, Petrolatum, Paraffinum Liquidum sit at the skin surface and act as a barrier to environmental aggression and help prevent TEWL (Tran epidermal water loss) so they can be classed as moisturisers.

• Oils that have high natural oil content (a lot contain silicones) will be the most compatible, but can be messy to apply.
• Lotions often take a long time to be absorbed as they have a high silicone content, however in more  humid climates they may be preferred
• Creams, butters and soufflé are typically thicker than lotions.  My preference is for butters as I like the buttery texture usually attributed to high cocoa or shea butter content.  The natural characteristic of these is that they are solid at room temperature yet melt when applied to the skin.

What should we expect for a Body Butter/Cream, lotion, oil etc?

When applying a body product to our skin we are enhancing the function of the skin in its role as a barrier against the environment.   If we lose too much moisture our skin becomes dryer, thinner and less elastic, and more vulnerable to environmental attack and wrinkles.  Therefore we need to preventing moisture loss (TEWL) or boosting skin moisture levels with skin compliant oils and water.

Skin that is not looked after will manifest by being dry, flaky, inflamed, redness, wrinkly so the message is look after you skin and it will look after you. 

Cocoa Ration Body Butter from English Rose Cosmetics

Cocoa butter is used at a high level and is 2^nd on the ingredient list, next are emulsifiers and light oils as emollients, 10^th on the list is glycerine which is a natural based humectant (locks in moisture) 11^th is Shea Butter and Avocado Oil is 12^th on the list. I’ve used a little bit of Beeswax to help with the structure, Coconut fragrance (free of allergens) and Vanilla which combined gives it a lovely fragrance that is good enough to eat.

I do not use Petrol in any of my products ie Petrolatum or Paraffinum Liquidum – there are so many more effective vegetable products which are more expensive, but our skin deserves it.

It is packed in a recyclable 200ml jar with retro aluminium lid, with a wide enough neck to put your fingers in to scoop out the butter.

 

Available from www.english-rose-cosmetics.com

Vaseline Cocoa Butter Revitalising Gel Body

I picked up this product as I do like cocoa butter as it’s a lovely natural ingredient with a high nourishing content with good skin affinity and this seemed like a novel variant.

Ingredients
Petrolatum – contains lots of it
Cocoa Butter – doesn’t contain any, only cocoa butter fragrance, which I find misleading
Brazilian & almond Oil – inexpensive natural vegetable oils & almond oils

Petrolatum (Pet Jelly)
Petrolatum is a by product of petrol and is very cheap around 50p / kg.  It’s been used in cosmetics for decades because it does perform well in moisturisation tests.  If I pick up a premium product ie Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream and see that petrolatum features quite high on the ingredient list, I put it back, as I think it’s insulting to market a product as premium that contains petrolatum.  There are natural alternatives from castor oil which is naturally sourced from castor beans (Ricinus communis).   I did at one time present this to the UK cosmetic industry, although it was generally acknowledged that it was an excellent substitute for petrolatum, it was considered way too expensive at > £5 / kg.  If the personal care industry was very serious about moving to a natural alternative and switched en masse than economies of scale would make it possible for to bring prices down.

Moisturisation Tests

Emollients or moisturisers are generally tested by their ability to prevent TEWL (trans epidermal water loss) or evaporation of the natural water content of our skin.   Petrolatum lies as a heavy occlusive layer on the skin surface thereby preventing TEWL, vegetable oils are similar to the oils naturally present in the skin, and therefore add moisture in a more natural way.   Petrolatums are often used as a standard or benchmark in TEWL tests so its very effective occlusive agent.  I have met people who only use Vaseline on their skin, and their skin is usually in very good condition for their age, so I guess if you ever found yourself home and really couldn’t afford anything decent – Vaseline would be your best option. 

Skin Affinity
Feels like molten Vaseline and feels very greasy, however skin continues to feel moisturised after a few hours which not all body lotions deliver.

Rating
Value for money – £4.89 over-priced for Vaseline
Availability – Boots, Superdrug and most supermarkets
Effectiveness – I was surprised at how moisturised my skin felt a few hours after
Pampering factor – I do like the high sheen it leaves on legs, so think it’s a good summer time product
Recommended – just OK