# Black people and cocoa butter
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-people-and-cocoa-butter/446544
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [April 23, 2008, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-people-and-cocoa-butter/446544 "2008-04-23T14:10:56Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Monstera\_deliciosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstera_deliciosa)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2008, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-people-and-cocoa-butter/446544/21 "2008-04-24T22:34:45Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot]
Why yes, I did do a presentation on Skin Structure and Function for a biology class once, how could you tell? đ
[/QUOTE]
Damn, I should have known that if I waited someone would come along with a better answer.
Thanks **WhyNot**. đ
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### Author:  [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2008, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-people-and-cocoa-butter/446544/22 "2008-04-24T22:43:17Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot]
Why yes, I did do a presentation on Skin Structure and Function for a biology class once, how could you tell? đ
[/QUOTE]
Is there anything you DONâT know??? (And I mean that in a tone of deep admiration, not sarcasm!)
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### Author:  [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2008, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-people-and-cocoa-butter/446544/23 "2008-04-24T22:44:12Z")
[QUOTE=Scumpup]
My school has a predominantly black student body. We keep a bottle of lotion in every classroom and the kids make pretty liberal use of it. They can be extremely cruel to each other with comments about ashy skin and/or nappy hair.
[/QUOTE]
I learn something new every day. Is there a budget line item for cocoa butter at predominately black schools or is this something the teachers do out of habit?
I understand dry skin but cocoa butter is the last thing I would use.
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### Author:  [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2008, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-people-and-cocoa-butter/446544/24 "2008-04-24T22:53:50Z")
[QUOTE=Asimovian]
Is there anything you DONâT know??? (And I mean that in a tone of deep admiration, not sarcasm!)
[/QUOTE]
Oh, quite a bit! Ask me anything related to math, or computers, or aviation, or history, or public relations, and Iâm mum as a stone! Politics and sports and Iâm downright idiotic! Iâm just a big olâ biology geek in disguise. đ I donât have a degree in it, but Iâve just researched and learned a lot of it over the years, and I never throw a paper out! My greatest asset is a memory for where to look up stuff I learned and forgot a long time ago. And I think because Iâm not a real âexpertâ, I can explain a lot of things at a simple level - 'cause thatâs all **I** understand it at. (I hope so anyway - one of the things thatâs attracting me to nursing is patient education.) I donât tackle the really hard questions, I leave that to the people with letters after their name.
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### Author:  [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2008, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-people-and-cocoa-butter/446544/25 "2008-04-24T23:15:05Z")
[QUOTE=Magiver]
I learn something new every day. Is there a budget line item for cocoa butter at predominately black schools or is this something the teachers do out of habit?
I understand dry skin but cocoa butter is the last thing I would use.
[/QUOTE]
Itâs distributed out of the nurseâs office, so I would say that it is covered under her discretionary budget money.
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### Author:  [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2008, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-people-and-cocoa-butter/446544/26 "2008-04-24T23:20:00Z")
[QUOTE=you with the face]
Stealth ash is the funniest thing that Iâve read on this board in a long time.
[/QUOTE]
Thanks. đ
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### Author:  [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)
#### Post date: [April 25, 2008, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-people-and-cocoa-butter/446544/27 "2008-04-25T02:52:13Z")
I am a person of northern European ancestry, and I use cocoa butter all winter for my flaky, itchy legs and hands. Mostly before I go to bed. I love it. Itâs more concentrated than lotions, the first ingredient of which is always water. I found it several years back, and I love the aroma. The first time I used it, my husband came into the bedroom, started sniffing and said âCookies?â Hey, anything that makes you smell like fresh-baked cookies canât be bad!
I didnât know you could get economical large containers of it though. Iâll have to look for it in the âethnicâ section of the supermarket instead of going to the specialty cosmetics store where I first found it.
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### Author:  [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)
#### Post date: [April 25, 2008, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-people-and-cocoa-butter/446544/28 "2008-04-25T03:07:48Z")
I do occasionally notice ashiness on White folks, but itâs got to be really _bad_.
I taught in a predom - well, letâs face it, entirely Black school. I taught elementary, but if I taught middle or high I would probably have lotion and deodorant on hand, because I can see how kids would get crucified if they didnât have access to it.
There are levels of ashiness. The usual stuff can be handled with Jergenâs. Little tougher on the elbows, you need cocoa butter. If itâs out of control⌠Vaseline. Cocoa butter is more penetrating than Jergenâs and it smells nice (to me, anyway). In an all-Black group, cocoa butter and coconut oil are pretty common smells. But whenever I had either of these substances on in an a predominantly White group, I would get people saying, âHey, you smell like coconuts!â (Usually followed by, âbut I think it smells nice,â but in elementary school I caught shit for it.)
On preview, what **MLS** said.
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### Author:  [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)
#### Post date: [April 25, 2008, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-people-and-cocoa-butter/446544/29 "2008-04-25T03:20:19Z")
[QUOTE=Scumpup]
They can be extremely cruel to each other with comments about ashy skin and/or nappy hair.
[/QUOTE]
When we lived in Boulder, the girls had a hell of a time keeping the ashies away, with such low humidity. You could hear some pretty cutting remarks about being too âcountryâ if someone was ashy.
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### Author:  [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)
#### Post date: [April 25, 2008, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-people-and-cocoa-butter/446544/30 "2008-04-25T04:59:01Z")
[QUOTE=EJsGirl]
When we lived in Boulder, the girls had a hell of a time keeping the ashies away, with such low humidity. You could hear some pretty cutting remarks about being too âcountryâ if someone was ashy.
[/QUOTE]
Itâs funny - since I was 9 and we moved in from the country and I went to public schools, I attended 60+% black public schools. It wasnât until I became a public librarian with ears out to young peopleâs conversations that I learned the word âpeaseyâ, though.
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### Author:  [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)
#### Post date: [April 25, 2008, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-people-and-cocoa-butter/446544/31 "2008-04-25T15:02:17Z")
This is all fascinating. This is the sort of back-and-forth that makes me love this place.
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### Author:  [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)
#### Post date: [April 25, 2008, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-people-and-cocoa-butter/446544/32 "2008-04-25T16:17:45Z")
[QUOTE=Hippy Hollow]
Little tougher on the elbows, you need cocoa butter. If itâs out of control⌠Vaseline.
[/QUOTE]
My doctor actually recommends creamy petroleum jelly or cocoa butter for the ridiculously dry skin my blindingly white self gets. Jergens might as well be water for all the good it does. Even Cetaphil isnât strong enough. Semi-solid lotions are way better than the thin, watery ones that come in pump bottles.
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### Author:  [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)
#### Post date: [April 25, 2008, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-people-and-cocoa-butter/446544/33 "2008-04-25T16:44:40Z")
Something about this whole conversation is beginning to, well, rub me the wrong wayâŚ
âŚcanât put my finger on what.
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### Author:  [@Millit\_the\_Frail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Millit_the_Frail)
#### Post date: [April 25, 2008, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-people-and-cocoa-butter/446544/34 "2008-04-25T20:53:40Z")
My husband, Whitey McPaste, uses cocoa butter for his extremely dry skin. Itâs cheap and doesnât smell like flowers, which I think is the big appeal. He always told me that the black ladies at his former workplace mooched it off him all the time, but I never made a larger connection until now. Thanks Dopers!
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### Author:  [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)
#### Post date: [April 26, 2008, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-people-and-cocoa-butter/446544/35 "2008-04-26T01:21:08Z")
[QUOTE=Miss Purl McKnittington]
My doctor actually recommends creamy petroleum jelly or cocoa butter for the ridiculously dry skin my blindingly white self gets. Jergens might as well be water for all the good it does. Even Cetaphil isnât strong enough. Semi-solid lotions are way better than the thin, watery ones that come in pump bottles.
[/QUOTE]
I generally stick to stuff with a cocoa butter or shea butter base. My favorite hand lotion is [The Body Shopâs Hemp Hand Protector](http://www.thebodyshop.com/bodyshop/browse/product_detail.jsp?productId=prod5950023); I deal with books all day at work and it works really well for me. (Who knew handling paper all day would be so drying?) When I was dealing with cracked winter skin before I discovered this, Iâd use vaseline-based hand lotions like [Neutrogenaâs Norwegian Formula Hand Cream](http://www.drugstore.com/qxp17010_333181_sespider/neutrogena_norwegian_formula/hand_cream_fragrance_free.htm). Both moisturize really well, but I find that the hemp hand lotion sinks into my skin more readily than the petroleum based stuff.
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### Author:  [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)
#### Post date: [April 26, 2008, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-people-and-cocoa-butter/446544/36 "2008-04-26T10:14:14Z")
Here in Cameroon, shea butter is produced locally and used rather widely, as are a variety of oils that I know nothing about. Even if your skin is not dry, the air is so dry that your lips will crack, your feet flake and your elbows turn to sandpaper.
Store-bought moisterizer has more prestige, and empty bottles of moisterizer are considered the most appropriate way to decorate the headboard of your bed. Some people will have dozens of bottles, carefully placed in glassed off cabinets that seem to be made specifically for that purpose.
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### Author:  [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)
#### Post date: [April 26, 2008, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-people-and-cocoa-butter/446544/37 "2008-04-26T17:23:59Z")
This explains a horrible Saturday Night Live sketch where Horatio Sanz (Hispanic) played burly singer Aaron Neville (African American) as a TV judge, and he would often sing in his high-pitched, vibrato-laden voice about âCo-ho-ho-ho-ho-coa bu-huh-huh-huh-hut-ter!â and hold court recesses to rub it on himself.
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### Author:  [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)
#### Post date: [April 26, 2008, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-people-and-cocoa-butter/446544/38 "2008-04-26T19:36:09Z")
[QUOTE=nashiitashii]
My favorite hand lotion is [The Body Shopâs Hemp Hand Protector](http://www.thebodyshop.com/bodyshop/browse/product_detail.jsp?productId=prod5950023); I deal with books all day at work and it works really well for me. (Who knew handling paper all day would be so drying?)
[/QUOTE]
Filing stuff in manila envelopes also sucks the moisture out of your hands.
That Hemp Hand Protector is the bomb. I know I swear by it, as do some friends of mine who have to wash their hands constantly- flight attendants, nurses, and the mom of an immune-suppressed baby. Most lotions wash off the first time you get your hands wet- the hemp stuff from The Body Shop seems to âstick.â
I have also used [Heavy Duty Hand Gear](http://www.beautyofasite.com/product-1256.html), âfor hands that do more than wave!â đ
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### Author:  [@Monstera\_deliciosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstera_deliciosa)
#### Post date: [April 26, 2008, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-people-and-cocoa-butter/446544/39 "2008-04-26T19:41:28Z")
[QUOTE=Big Bad Voodoo Lou]
This explains a horrible Saturday Night Live sketch where Horatio Sanz (Hispanic) played burly singer Aaron Neville (African American) as a TV judge, and he would often sing in his high-pitched, vibrato-laden voice about âCo-ho-ho-ho-ho-coa bu-huh-huh-huh-hut-ter!â and hold court recesses to rub it on himself.
[/QUOTE]
The sketch may have been horrible as actually performed, (I didnât see it) but your description of it cracked me up!
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### Author:  [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2008, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-people-and-cocoa-butter/446544/40 "2008-04-27T03:07:16Z")
[QUOTE=KayElCee]
The sketch may have been horrible as actually performed, (I didnât see it) but your description of it cracked me up!
[/QUOTE]
Transcript:
> **[SNL Transcripts: Hilary Swank: 02/19/05: City Court with Aaron Neville - SNL...](https://snltranscripts.jt.org/04/04maaron.phtml)**
>
>  Saturday Night Live Transcripts Season 30: Episode 13Search Now:
Another Neville/cocoa butter sketch:
> **[SNL Transcripts: Steve Martin: 02/04/06: Super Bowl XL Rehearsals - SNL...](https://snltranscripts.jt.org/05/05lsuperbowl.phtml)**
>
>  Saturday Night Live Transcripts Season 31: Episode 12
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