I love coconut oil! I use it on body, hair, and everything around. It is one of the most trusted and versatile oil. Let’s see how you can use coconut oil for healthy and beautiful skin.
Two instances in my life have placed this oil on pedestal for me.
Coconut oil for skin allergy
Once I had caught some allergy which gave me brown spots over the lower portion of my leg. It was so bad I could not wear a dress, skirt or shorts.
While returning from a visit to a dermatologist, with a big list of medicines to buy, I saw an ayurvedic doctor clinic. Now, it is pretty common in India to find an “Ayurvedic” doctors. But most are fake and don’t know what they are talking about. On a whim, I decided to try this Ayurvedic doctor, after all, what did I have to lose except few minutes?
The doc turned out to be a genuine guy. All he asked me to do was to use coconut oil with camphor for a month. I followed this religiously and within three weeks my entire allergy was gone. I could wear a dress again and not be ashamed of my legs anymore. World had once again become a happy place!
After this, I researched why this particular solution worked. It seems this combination brought coconut oil’s moisturizing properties with camphor’s antibacterial/antifungal properties. The combination works to fight the infection while moisturizing it at the same time.
The first time I used it, the smell reminded me of my grandma. She used to suggest this same mixture for body lotion in winters. Guess, she knew the magic of coconut oil back then.
Coconut oil for moisturized skin
And that brings to moisturing capabilities of coconut oil. As any mom would know, stretch marks are one of the most dreaded companions of pregnancy. And, they are those uninvited guests who just refuse to leave.
During my pregnancy, I used only one thing on my skin. The good old coconut oil. I used it extensively, and by extensive I mean it was my secret weapon for anything skin related.
I devised this whole routine that helped me to relax and fall asleep. Moisturized and stretch-mark free skin was an added bonus!
This humbe oil played multiple roles, some expected, some not so much.
i. Oil Massage: in the morning as pre-bath massage, post-bath moisturizer,
ii. Moisturizer: evening, to keep away the itches of expanding skin
iii. Ache reliever: night to massage my aching legs, back
iv. Mosquito repellant: as awesome as coconut oil generally is, DO NOT use it as a mosquito repellant. Coconut oil does not work as a repellant, but then it was never intended to be. It only helped me to relax and break the mental stress.
All in all, I think I used more than 2L (that’s 4.4 pounds) in 5 months.
The result, I had a big belly without a single stretch mark, only a beautifully moisturized balloon. Even the hospital nurse complimented me for the really smooth tummy. Not bad 🙂
Coconut oil details
Extraction
Coconut oil comes from the meat of mature coconuts harvested from coconut farms (Wikipedia.)The melting point of virgin coconut oil is 24 degrees Celsius (almost 76-degree Fahrenheit), meaning it will solidify in a cold climate.
Variation
This oil is available in different variations like
- Extra Virgin coconut oil: this is pure coconut oil and no refinement has been done. This is generally considered best to use as it contains most of the nutrients. This is made from pure coconuts, however, it solidifies below 24 degrees C.
- Refined coconut oil: Refined coconut oil is made from dried coconuts. Dried coconut meat is treated to high heat to remove its fragrance. This one solidifies somewhere below 15 degrees.
Fragrance
The fragrance of coconut oil pretty unique as in it smells like a coconut 🙂 Once you know how it smells, you can easily identify it even in your smoothie or curry.
Use coconut oil for healthy skin
Coconut oil is one of the best all-rounders in the world. I use it on body, hair, and everything around. Let’s see how you can also include this simple oil in your beauty regime.
Coconut oil is a versatile oil when it comes to its uses and benefits to the skin. There are numerous ways you can include this in your regime to get beautiful skin.
Moisturizer
Coconut oil works brilliantly as a moisturizer keeping the skin properly moisturized and ensuring it is not dry.
Even though coconut oil liquid above 24 degrees, it tends to solidify below that temperature. This does not affect the nutritional value in any way. You can easily liquefy the oil by either keeping it in the sun for some time or using a double boiler.
How to use coconut oil as a moisturizer?
You can use straight coconut oil as a moisturizer or mix it up with your other favorite oils to make an oil blend and use it as a body lotion.
Coconut oil moisturizer recipe
Mix equal parts coconut oil, almond oil, and olive oil. Add 5 drops of your favorite essential oil. Since this is just an oil blend use it sparingly. Also, give some time between applying this and wearing clothes as this may leave a stain.
I generally apply this and wear comfortable PJs which absorb excess of the oil. I change clothes just before leaving the house.
Pre-bath massage
In India, it is a common practice to give oil massage before bath. This is done to relieve the stress and reduce tension in the muscles. A regular massage also improves sleep pattern, gives softer skin, lustrous hair and promotes graceful aging (source).In Ayurveda, this is also called abhyanga meaning “massaging the body’s limbs” which is generally done with warm, medicated oils according to dosha.
Coconut oil can be used for self-massage to relieve the stress and relax muscles before the bath.
Coconut oil massage oil recipe
To do this, simply take some oil in a bowl, warm it either in a double boiler or between your palms and then apply all over your body. Wait for half an hour then take a bath.
One big advantage of using coconut oil in pre-massage is most of the oil gets washed away in the bath. So what you are left with is only moisturized, happy skin. Go away stains!
Deodorant
Did you know coconut oil can also keep away the stink? Me neither. Of all the uses that I was aware of using coconut oil for beautiful skin, deodorant was the last one I came across. Sweating is good for health as it removes toxins from the body. we want to keep odor away from the sweat. Due to its moisturizing capability, coconut oil keeps armpits soft and moisturized and provides a gentle deodorizing effect.
On its own, coconut oil may not be strong enough to keep tough odor of a vigorous workout or activity away, but you can give this try on a nice, relaxed, restful day where you don’t have much activity planned.
Treat stretch marks
Stretch marks are a kind of skin scarring that happens because of the rapid stretching of the skin due to weight gain.
One sad truth of life is that stretch marks can’t be removed. This is one of the cases, where prevention is better than cure. We need to keep the stretch marks at bay rather than trying to remove them once we have already got them.
And the key to avoiding stretch marks lies in moisturizing the skin properly. A moisturized skin will have better elasticity and can bounce back to its normal state without any scarring.
As I said earlier, I liberally used coconut oil during my pregnancy and it worked better than any anti-stretch mark creams or oils. The place I didn’t apply coconut oil was, face as I was scared it will break me out, and guess what, I got scarring on my nose bridge.
Is Coconut Oil good for your skin?
As you may have already guessed by now, I love using coconut oil for my skin. But, I DON’T recommend to use this on face. Coconut oil is highly comedogenic, meaning it is more susceptible to cause you breakouts.
If you have oily or acne-prone skin, I suggest you avoid heavy use of coconut oil on face. You can instead check out this post for other natural oils you can use on acne-prone face.
Final thoughts on coconut oil for skin
Coconut oil is one of the most versatile oils for skin. Right from treating dry skin to keeping stretch marks at bay, this oil is a super powerhouse of nutrients. Get your jar of coconut oil and dip into it to give your skin a luxurious treat.
How are you using coconut oil for your skin? Share your thoughts in comments.
Want to know how to include coconut oil in hair? Check my hair growth routine and use coconut oil in the head massage step.
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