We all want beautiful, smooth, soft, radiant skin, and soft, healthy hair. Well, coconut oil may just help you achieve all of those things! I keep a jar by my sink and use coconut oil in my beauty routine every day.
We've talked a lot about the medium chain fatty acid structure of this oil a lot already, so it probably won't surprise you that this is also why it penetrates your skin and hair so easily.
Most moisturizers, lotions, creams, lip balm, etc on the market today are predominately water (and preservatives and chemicals…but thats another post for another day!) Water is rapidly absorbed by your skin and provides short-lived plumping, as in wrinkle reduction creams, but evaporates quickly leaving your skin as limp and dry as before!
A great deal of these moisturizers also contain refined oils. To understand why this is problematic, let me tell you a little about free radicals.
Our skin is bombarded all day every day with free radicals in our environment. When free radicals enter the body, often through our skin, they begin to wreak havoc by disrupting DNA, causing early signs of aging, and breaking down connective tissue. These tissues inevitably become weaker and less elastic as we age, but free radicals multiply the rate of this degeneration, causing early sagging, wrinkling, dark spots, etc. The products with refined oils are actually prone to cause free radical production. So, when you moisturize with these products, you are not only not protecting your skin against the daily assault from free radicals in our environment, you are potentially introducing more. Thankfully, our body has several members on its free radical clean up crew, including vitamin E, vitamin C, beta carotene, and antioxidants. Coconut oil has a great deal of antioxidants naturally!
So why not moisturize, prevent early signs of aging, and nourish your skin with an antioxidant-rich oil all at the same time! Coconut oil does all of these things. Plus some.
...starting to sound like an infomercial...
BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!
Side note: I have found this to be the case with a lot with natural products, actually, and that's why I am writing this blog--to research all the benefits for both you and me! You think it's pretty great at first, then you research more and more and you're like, "holy cow, where have you been all my life?! You multitask all these things I used to buy multiple (expensive) items for?"
This oil does some pretty fantastic cleansing on the skin, too. Like we learned in our last post, it has a boatload of natural antibacterial, antiseptic, antifungal properties, so not surprisingly, when used on the skin it cleans up dirt and bacteria! It also encourages your skin to stay at its normal pH. Good bacteria are happy at this pH level, but if it changes and becomes unbalanced, bad bacteria attempt to move in causing acne and other skin problems.
Now, I know it sounds counterproductive to put OIL on your face if you have OILY or ACNE PRONE skin. Let me just be the first to say, this is what I thought at first as well, but everything I read said do it, and you won't regret it. And I did it and I don't! I used to have to blot my skin within the first hour of putting on my makeup--it was bad. Then, I started moisturizing with coconut oil. Over the course of a couple weeks, I began to notice my skin was not overproducing oil anymore! That is because coconut oil and sebum actually have quite a similar makeup. So, you moisturize with coconut oil, and your skin doesn't' see the need to overreact and help you get all the moisture you took out with your soap cleanser. (I must admit. I do not use this oil as a moisturizer every single day anymore, but it did do wonders to balance my skin! Most of the time I use a vitamin E oil under my makeup, which I will blog about and post a link to soon. Truthfully, I just like that the vitamin E oil is already a liquid, so it is a tad faster to dab on a cotton ball!)
Two things I use coconut oil for on a daily basis: hair conditioning and eye makeup removal.
I have two favorite oils to put on my hair: argan oil and coconut oil. I love them both equally, and depending what I have on hand, I use them interchangeably. I only use this oil personally as a leave in conditioner, but there are several other ways it can be used. For instance, if you have dandruff, you may like to apply this oil to your scalp as a pre-shampoo moisturizer, then shampoo and condition as normal.
To use as a leave in hair conditioner:
Towel dry your hair while you run the jar of coconut oil under a stream of hot water or let it soak in a sink of hot water. The edges of the jar will melt first and then you can pour a small amount on your hand. Let me emphasize: SMALL! Trust me, I've used to much before and had to rewash my hair. It was oily well beyond presentable-in-public-status. So, that said, use about a dime size amount and rub it together between your hands. Then, apply it to your hair mid-shaft and down (I generally don't apply to my bangs). I've made the mistake of putting it all over my hair before, and my scalp was oily! So, imagine putting your hair into a mid ponytail then just put it on the parts of your hair that would make up the ponytail. Then, dry and style as normal. I actually think my hair dries faster with an oil on it, and it is definitely softer!
To use as an eye makeup remover:
Let my start off by saying, I have not tried this with waterproof mascara, so I am curious to know if it works! If you try it, please let me know in a comment below!
Same as with the leave in conditioner, melt the oil under hot water. Then pour the oil onto your fingers and gently rub the makeup off of your eyes. Once it has all been removed from your eyes, gently wipe away the oil and makeup with a cotton ball. It takes every single bit of makeup off of my eye and, it moisturizes your fragile under eye and eyelashes, too! I literally may never use another eye makeup remover as long as I live.
I've tried cleansing my entire face with the popular oil cleansing method using coconut oil, and I really wanted to like it based on how much others rave about it, but personally, I did not feel like it got all of my foundation off. My skin continued to break out and new breakouts started popping up. I'm just being straight up honest, but just because I did not love it does not mean you won't! There's a ton of people who love it, so give it a try! Also, there are other oils and blends of oils you could try which some people recommend based on skin type, which I did not try, so I am not fully versed in this method of cleansing. Right now, I have my skin clearer than it has ever been, so if it ain't broke, don't fix it! I'll share my secret weapon with you in my next post.
If you have any tried and true favorite coconut oil uses, or if you try any of these and enjoy them, please share your experience in the comments!
Here's the link to my favorite coconut oil if you missed it yesterday, and again, if you choose to purchase this or any other natural product through Vitacost.com, please use my link and save us both $10! https://www.vitacostrewards.com/jWjZPRD:
In my next post, I'll tell you about the one skin care tool I cannot live without and share my routine with you!
Disclaimer: The views of The Gray Poppy Blog are based on my passion for natural health and information provided here is researched from multiple sources prior to publishing. The information provided, however, is for informational purposes only and not intended to serve as, nor be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult with your healthcare provider before beginning any treatment regimen, supplement, exercise plan, or dietary change.
Sources:
Disclaimer: The views of The Gray Poppy Blog are based on my passion for natural health and information provided here is researched from multiple sources prior to publishing. The information provided, however, is for informational purposes only and not intended to serve as, nor be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult with your healthcare provider before beginning any treatment regimen, supplement, exercise plan, or dietary change.
Sources:
coconutoil.com/virgin-coconut-oil-for-skin-health/
No comments:
Post a Comment