Did you know that Cocolume products are handmade and anhydrous? But what does “anhydrous” mean?

Anhydrous literally means “without water” and used in cosmetic & skin care to describe products which contain no water. 

Most beauty products contain anywhere from 70-80% water, with shampoos, gels, and toners ringing in closer to 95%. Beauty products with water (or aqua) as one of the first ingredients. This means that the products are going to be diluted—and likely not as effective. 

Contrary to popular belief, water itself topically, isn’t great for hydrating the skin.. Yes, it is incredibly hydrating if you drink it and it is the first step to great skin care, but when it’s applied to skin, it can actually be drying. (This is why sometimes on certain people skin often feels tight or dry after a shower). Also, water breeds microorganisms and bacteria, therefore it requires preservatives to keep the product safe.

Anhydrous products have several advantages over high water content products. They penetrate the skin barrier more efficiently delivering lipophilic (fat loving/oil soluble) ingredients into skin cells where they are most needed. When these ingredients are dissolved in oil based formulations they penetrate the skin further, where as products containing significant amounts of water, do not penetrate the skin barrier as efficiently.  Clinical tests have actually shown that many inexpensive cream or lotion “moisturizers” lead to skin damage when used on a regular basis, the exact opposite of what they are intended to do..

However, when you remove water from a product, you can produce more highly concentrated formulas. These formulas are naturally self-preserving and often use concentrated forms of antioxidants to keep their formulas fresh, which carry additional benefits. 

Cocolume products are highly concentrated, and use only the best ingredients nature has to offer, which means our products are effective and less product is needed for each application.

In other words, a little goes a long way.