Cocoa butter: comfort food for your skin (and the planet)

Spoiler: It's much more than a tasty ingredient

Some people love it in chocolate, some in lip balms, some in childhood memories.
At DryDee, we love it everywhere—but especially in our solid cosmetics. Cocoa butter is one of those ingredients that never disappoints: it's good for you, it smells good, and it's naturally sexy. But beware: behind this tropical wonder lies a story of tough choices, wild climates, and responsibility.

Let's see why cocoa butter is the heart of our formulations... and why talking about it today is not just a question of skincare, but also of awareness.

What cocoa butter does for your skin (spoiler: pampering)

Cocoa butter is practically a warm blanket for the skin. Rich in beneficial fatty acids, such as oleic, stearic, and palmitic, it is a champion in:

• Deeply nourish, especially dry and tired skin
• Protect from external aggressions such as cold, wind, urban stress and annoying colleagues
• Soothe and soften, leaving skin peachy smooth
• Maintaining elasticity, which never hurts (neither at 20 nor at 50)
• And it also has a decent dose of antioxidants, which help keep free radicals and negative thoughts at bay.

In short, it's one of those ingredients that doesn't need explaining: you just need to use it once to understand that I'm on the right team.

Raw, unrefined and fragrant: just how we like it

In our laboratory we don't want it bleached, deodorized, or depersonalized.
We want it as mother nature made it: raw, unrefined, undeodorized.

For two fundamental reasons:

• Because we like to respect the ingredient and all its properties (which in industrial processes are often lost along the way)
• Because the scent of raw cocoa butter is simply heavenly—an olfactory indulgence that needs no added fragrance. It's like walking into a pastry shop, but without the calories.

Using cocoa butter in its most authentic form is our declaration of love for simplicity. It's our way of saying: "We love you just the way you are."

But then why is it (almost) a luxury today?

Spoiler alert: Cocoa is becoming an endangered commodity.
No, it's not a marketing gimmick — it's reality.

Cocoa grows in tropical areas already severely impacted by climate change: unseasonal rains, heat waves, drought, plant diseases... all of which make cultivation more unpredictable and expensive. And as often happens, those who pay the price are:

• Small farmers, often underpaid
• The environment, with deforestation and exploitation
• And yes, us too: artisanal companies and conscious consumers

Cocoa and cocoa butter prices are skyrocketing, and supply is becoming increasingly volatile. But we don't want to compromise.

True luxury today? Taking the time to choose well.

And here we enter a topic that is very important to us: everyday luxury, according to Dry Dee.

For us, luxury isn't gold or €250 creams (which often contain more marketing than substance). True luxury is choosing good, ethical, and sustainable ingredients. It's taking the time to take a slow shower with a cocoa-scented solid cosmetic, rather than using the usual plastic bottle. It's putting something truly beneficial on your skin, without unnecessary ingredients or forced processes.

It's the opposite of haste, of disposable goods, of excess.

Luxury is simplicity. Luxury is knowing where your use comes from. Luxury is using less, but better.

And yes, luxury is also that chocolatey scent that lingers on your skin and makes you smile as you walk into the office or get on the tram.

Bottom line: cocoa butter, we love you. But we respect you even more.

We at DryDee will continue to use raw and conscious cocoa butter, even if it costs more, even if it's harder to find, even if the world says to us "but really, don't you want to refine it a little?" and even if the cosmetics world wants it deodorized so they can scent it however they want!

The answer is: no, thanks.
We like it just the way it is. Natural, authentic, with its aromas and its qualities.
Because beauty, true beauty, doesn't need to be filtered.

DryDee. Solid cosmetics that are good for your skin, the planet, and your mood.