PRODUCTION OF BODY CREAM FROM COCONUT OIL USING VANILLA FRAGRANCE

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Body cream is a soft substance or thick liquid used on the skin to protect it or make it feel soft. Body creams are readily used to keep the skin soft and useful. (Oxford Advanced Dictionary; 5th edition) hundreds of thousands of types of body cream have been developed. Body creams come in form of body emollient, moisturizing cream, antiseptic cream face cream etc. 
An emollient describes something that is softening or smoothing to the skin, or describes anything that is put on sunburned skin for soothing. Example of an emollient include Aloe Vera. Many ingredients have been used both in earlier times and now in the production of body cream and those may include; animal fat, olive oil, mineral oil, petroleum jelly, coconut oil, cardamom, honey, wine, vitamins alpha and beta hydroxyl acids, minerals etc and these ingredients have their respective functions in making the body soft, removing fine lines, age spots, wrinkles, dead skin cells etc.
This work will be focusing on coconut oil as a cream ingredient. Coconut oil is an edible oil extract from the kernel or meat of matured coconuts harvested from the coconut palm (cocos nucifera). It has served as the primary source of fat in the diet of millions of people for generations. It has various applications in food, medicine and industry. Coconut oil is very heat-stable, low in rancidity, lasting up to two years owing to its high saturated fat content (DGA 2010). 
Researchers of skin care products have discovered the secret that skin care products contains coconut oil as part of its ingredient should be sought for especially by those who have dry skin and really want to avoid premature aging (APCC, 2011). Apart from the ingredients, fragrance have been added to these body creams to make them appealing to the buyer. Now the question is
What is fragrance? 
A fragrance is any substance either in oily, gaseous, or liquid form out on the skin in order for one to smell nice. (Oxford Advanced Leaner’s dictionary 5th edition) so fragrances are added to a cream to improve the perfume quality of the cream in order to make it appealing to the buyers.
Fragrances added to creams can come in different forms like the rose fragrance, strawberry fragrance, apple fragrance, banana fragrance, pineapple fragrance, vanilla fragrance etc. but in this work, we will be using vanilla as the creams fragrance. Now the question is, 
What is vanilla?
Vanilla is a substance obtained from the beans of a tropical vanilla plant, used to give flavor to sweet foods or other manufactured products, like ice cream, body cream, juice, custards etc. (Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary 5th edition). Vanilla is the only fruit-bearing member of the orchid family which have its origin from central Mexico. 
Vanilla beans are grown in several distinct regions of the world. They produce vanilla beans with unique regional characteristics and attributes, each particularly suited for different use. This work will highlight on the various regions that cultivate vanilla beans, their unique regional characteristics and attribute and even the different uses which those vanilla beans are particularly suited for and their method of extractions. 
Vanilla essential oil has a lovely earthy-sweet scent that brings is comfort and a sense of fulfillment. It is used in aromatherapy and in the perfume industry (Sooper Articles, 2009). So, the production of body cream involves the process of making cream either for personal use or in large quantities for commercial purposes for this production processes to be effective, the producer must take extreme care in order to make sure that the right steps or procedures are properly and carefully adhered to, the ingredients and fragrance added in the right quantity and proportion in order to achieve the desired result.

1.2 AIMS OF THE WORK
The main aim of this work is to produce body cream from coconut oil using vanilla fragrance. This work will also examine other things like;
– Users of body cream 
– Role of coconut oil and vanilla fragrance in body cream
– Materials and methods of extraction of coconut oil. 
– Functions of the ingredients used in making body cream
– Effect of coconut and vanilla on the body.