Benefits of Kokum Butter for the Skin

Written by Chief Curly in Charge

beauty, damaged skin, hair care products, healthy skin, natural butters, skin care 1 Comment

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Last Updated on July 5th, 2018

Kokum butter is one of the best butters for use on skin due to its emollient and restorative abilities. Kokum butter is derived from the seeds of the kokum tree aka wild mangosten or red mangosten tree found in India.

Kokum butter has been used for healing for centuries in India. The butter is aka Goa butter.

Kokum butter has a hard and dry texture, similar to cocoa butter and can be blended with other butters to make it more pliable. However, it is one of the most stable vegetable butters and has a long shelf life.

It is also popularly used as an ingredient in cosmetic formulations like body creams, lip balms, hand creams, and toiletries.

7 Benefits of Kokum Butter for Skin

Kokum butter is non-comedogenic, which means it doesn’t clog pores. It is light and easily absorbed into your skin.
Kokum butter contains a significant amount of vitamin E, a potent antioxidant.
Highly moisturizing, kokum butter helps heal dry and cracked skin especially lips, elbows, knees and soles of feet. It may also aid in improving the appearance of scars and stretch marks.
Kokum butter is rich in essential fatty acids, which softens the skin and helps promote elasticity.
Due to its highly stable nature, kokum butter can help prolong the shelf life of your body butters and other DIY formulations. It especially plays well when mixed with natural oils such as coconut oil, tamanu oil, emu oil and sweet almond oil.
The essential fatty acid content in kokum butter also aids in cell oxygenation and regeneration.
Kokum butter soothes inflamed skin so if you’ve suffered sunburns or insect bites, you should pamper your skin with the body butter recipe below.

Related Content: Benefits of Illipe Nut Butter

Kokum Butter Recipe

Soften about 4 oz of kokum butter and 1 oz of illipe nut butter or cocoa butter over a bowl of hot water. Whip with a fork then pour into a jar like this one. Do not microwave the butters as this will compromise its integrity
Add in 1 teaspoon each of tamanu oil and emu oil and whip some more.
Add in 1 teaspoon of rosehip seed oil and whip again.
Set aside to cool and harden.

How to Use Kokum Butter for Skin

Use as a body butter every day on damp skin after a shower focusing on the dry and chapped areas. You can also pour a bit into a container like this one and store in your handbag for use as a lip butter and hand butter during the day.

Additional tip – if you use matte lipsticks, which can be drying, you can apply a very light layer of this butter on your lips as a base before following up with the lipstick.