[Review] Palmer's Cocoa Butter Lotion and The Body Shop Cocoa Body Butter

Most women develop stretch marks during pregnancy but no one can tell who's gonna get them or who won't. The chances of getting stretch marks depend on a lot of factors but they say that if you get them whenever you gain weight, you most probably will get them when you're pregnant.

Can you prevent them? Most probably not but you can do something to minimize them and/or to reduce itching. They say that you can help yourself by not gaining too much weight, i.e., gaining weight more than 25-35 lbs. or what your doctor tells you. To achieve this, you should eat healthy food particularly those that will help you nourish your skin and of course, you should drink at least 8 glasses of water to keep your skin hydrated and elastic.

You can also put on creams, ointments, or oils to keep your body moisturized and to reduce itchiness, especially on your belly, breasts, sides, and thighs. And for this part, what usually comes up as a very good cream to put on during pregnancy is COCOA BUTTER. There is no indisputable proof that cocoa butter eliminates stretch marks but studies showed that it can penetrate the top layer of the skin and reach the dermis (the second layer) which gives it a better opportunity to repair any area of the skin that has been damaged. 

Having said these, let me tell you about what I honestly think of two cocoa butter products that I have tried recently.

Palmer's Organics Cocoa Butter Massage Lotion

Php607, PCX Power Plant Mall

What I love about Palmer's is that it has more ingredients and some of them are certified organic. It has aloe, cocoa extract, cocoa butter, lanolin, shea butter, soybean oil, ginseng root extract, and soluble collagen among others. 

It also has a strong cocoa scent, at least for me it's stronger than the one from The Body Shop. If you've been using Victoria's Secret or Bath and Body Works, you might like the scent of Palmer's. But if you like Aveeno or Cetaphil or Eucerin like me, your sense of smell might be a little shocked if you smell the strength of cocoa in this lotion. However, it's not totally foul-smelling or something like that. You just need to get used to it especially while you're pregnant and when your sense of smell just turns really weird.

As for the texture, it's less sticky and a bit more runny than the cocoa butter body butter from The Body Shop so I enjoy applying it on my body. However, my body doesn't feel moisturized after about 8-10 hours and I start getting itchy around my belly area. This gives me the signal that I have to re-apply the lotion.

I haven't really hopped around malls or did anything as strenuous as that during my pregnancy so I can't say whether this lotion is readily available anywhere. As far as I know, you can buy it from Rustan's or in my case, I grabbed it from PCX at the Power Plant Mall. The 250-ml bottle costs P607 and is cheaper than the body butter from The Body Shop.

The Body Shop Cocoa Butter Body Butter

P695, The Body Shop Power Plant Mall

I prefer the scent of this cocoa butter over the one from Palmer's. It's very subtle and feminine, and you smell nice even after you take your clothes off. However, it has less ingredients than Palmer's. It also has soybean oil, cocoa butter, shea butter, and lanolin among others but unlike Palmer's, it doesn't have ginseng root extract and soluble collagen.

Ginseng tones and revitalizes skin and it's commonly found in many skin care products. It helps balance the production of oil glands and can make fine lines appear less. On the other hand, collagen is a protein that helps firm the skin and reduce the signs of aging. Soluble collagen is designed that way so that it can easily pass through the pores of the skin. These two important ingredients are not in the body butter from The Body Shop.

Texture-wise, it is stickier and creamier than the one from Palmer's which makes it a little icky to apply. But once it's there on your skin, it gets absorbed pretty well and you won't feel that icky-ness unless you sweat too much. It also keeps my skin moisturized for a longer period of time, like about for 12-14 hours, and even after that period of time, I don't get any itchiness around my belly area.

There's no problem finding a Body Shop store. You can find it in any mall. You can even find a stall inside SM. Even in our province, specifically at SM Batangas, there's a store. However, it's a little more expensive than Palmer's because a 200-ml container costs P695.

My Verdict:

While the body butter from The Body Shop keeps my skin hydrated for a longer period of time, I'm more keen about getting those extra benefits that come from Palmer's additional ingredients like ginseng and soluble collagen. Also, while the scent of Palmer's is stronger, I already learned to like it because I'm reminded about chocolates anyway. And while I only know of a few shops where I can find Palmer's, I can still count on the fact that it's cheaper and that every few pesos saved can go a long way.

What about you? What's your regimen against stretch marks during pregnancy?