It’s Butter Baby!

Growing up, cocoa butter was the go-to remedy for skin conditioning and removing the dark spots from knees and elbows that constantly got scrapped as a kid.

My grandmother, the unforgettable Nana Brown always had plenty on hand. Before leaving for school, our morning ritual including the daily anointing of my knees because I was that kid who couldn’t seem to walk or run without falling.

And at Alexander Farm and Orchard, we love our butter — cocoa and shea butters.

They are used in varying percentages in the majority of all of our soaps.

Cocoa butter

Shea Butter

 
Cocoa butter

Cocoa butter is a pale-yellow, edible fat extracted from the cocoa bean. It is used to make chocolate, as well as some ointments, and soap. Cocoa butter has a cocoa flavor and aroma and if you close your eyes and breathe in one of our unscented bars, you can smell it in our soaps. It adds to our soaps luxuriousness.

Cocoa is increasingly popular around the world since it’s used to make chocolate and the cost is rising. Some cocoa butter substitutes include a blend using palm oil. Because of our commitment to being good global neighbors, we will never use palm oil in our products. Even those that claim to be from sustainable resources.

Since our recipes don’t call for very large percentages, we can continue to add to our bars. We are watching the prices though!

Shea Butter

Shea butter is a fat extracted from the nut of the African shea tree. This popular butter is used in all kinds of cosmetics, hair products and is even used in food preparations in some African countries.

There are some medicinal claims about shea butter, none of which we can claim in our soaps due to the saponification process.

We simply know that these butters add conditioning and a wonderful moisturizing element to our soaps.