September is Raw Month at Amazingy Magazine. After all the indulgences of the summer it’s time to get back to basics: Every week we’ll be posting an article on a completely natural product and tell you all about their amazing properties, adding DIY tips and tricks as a bonus. The best part; you can incorporate these products in your beauty rituals, but also stock ‘em up in your kitchen cabinets for a health boost from the inside out.
Up until now I have only been using coconut in my kitchen; I’ve added coconut milk to delicious Thai soups and fruity shakes and have sprinkled grated coconut over muesli and pastries. But I’ve never paid much attention to coconut oil, let alone its use as a remedy for all kinds of ailments, or even as a beauty product. I clearly didn’t realize how many different ways this oil could be used.
During my travels through South East Asia I drank freshly harvested coconut water for the first time, which turns out to be very low in calories but filled with minerals. I also bought a bottle of cold pressed coconut oil from a coconut plantation. On the label of the oil, there were three obvious uses listed: to be used as massage oil, as a suntan accelerator or on your hair as a mask, where you’d simply let it soak in overnight, or just rub it daily into dry ends.
The health benefits of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids derived from plants is no longer a secret. The main components of coconut oil however – lauric acid and caprylic acid – have strong anti-bacterial, antiviral and anti-fungal properties. Used internally, the oil not only strengthens the immune and digestive system, but also improves the bodies ability to concentrate and boosts vitamin intake. In addition, coconut oil has some external First Aid uses: it can be used for insect bites, skin fungi, rashes of all kinds and can even offer relief in case of oral herpes, more commonly known as cold sores.
In Ayurvedic medicine, oil cures have been used for thousands of years. The fundamental thought behind it is, that oil pulls toxins from the body, binds them and by doing so soothes many systematic illnesses such as migraines.
A particularly valuable tip for oral hygiene is to: swish around a tablespoon of coconut oil in your mouth for around 20 minutes, just like you would do with any mouthwash. Afterwards, spit out the oil and rinse with a water and sea salt mixture. It’s advised to do oil pulling in the morning before eating breakfast. Brushing your teeth afterward eating will clean your mouth of remaining toxins.
The antibacterial effect of caprylic acid and lauric acid have been proven to prevent plaque formation and caries. Some people familiar with the practice have also reported that oil pulling has a teeth whitening effect to some extent.
Coconut oil not only takes care of your skin, but also smells deliciously like summer. The oil has a natural sun protection factor (SPF) of 4, and it moisturizes the skin while having a cooling effect at the same time. If you combine it with aloe vera, you can also use it as an after-sun care product.
Due to its antibacterial effect – after all, it is those sweat loving bacteria that make us smell – coconut oil can even be used as a deodorant. Just put a few drops, not more than a pea sized amount under your arms: problem solved!
The following home-spa treatments I’ve tried out myself, and found them to be very beneficial. Because they are so easy to create I wouldn’t want you to be deprived of them. Most recipes I’ve estimated the mixture of ingredients and can be easily worked with.
Note: At room temperature, coconut oil is firm and white, but at about 25 degrees it becomes liquid oil. The quality of the oil does not suffer when changing the physical state of it.
Ingredients
Preparation: Melt the oil by scooping a cup of coconut oil into a bowl, and put this into a pot with hot water .
Method: Mix the sugar with the oil. Add a bit more sugar or oil until you get a creamy texture. Apply either to dry or to moist skin. Your skin will be freed from its dull and dry looking winter residue. Next, apply the homemade body butter.
– 1 cup of coconut oil – Optional: a bit of shea butter – 1 teaspoon of vitamin E (from the pharmacy) – A few drops of your preferred essential oil. (For example: Chamomile is ideal to soothe skin, rosehip oil has an anti-aging effect and lemon or peppermint oil give that extra fresh kick.)
Preparation: it’s best to use a food processor to help with the mixing. In addition, it’s handy to have a few little jars ready, which you can fill with the body butter. They make great gifts when packaged and wrapped nicely.
Method: Put all ingredients in a blender, and you’re already done. The added oils unfold their effects the most if you apply the mixture freshly out of the shower, when your skin is still moist. It doesn’t leave behind a fatty film; but rather a wonderful glow.
Last but not least and probably the most decisive plus of using coconut oil, is for facial care. Because coconut oil is filled with antioxidants and is non-comedogenic, this means it won’t cause black heads and won’t clog your pores. Hence, this oil can also be used for oily skin that is prone to blemishes. Some of you might raise your eyebrows at using oil when you already have oily skin, but it is definitely worth a try. Coconut oil is just like jojoba oil, pH-neutral, and slows down the skins natural oil production of sebum. Skin problems can actually be put under control again by using coconut oil.
As with all personal care products, you should always choose a high quality product, in this case, it’s a cold pressed oil derived with bio-organic farming. In most cases, to create coconut oil the flesh (or dried flesh) from the nut is pressed, and the coconut milk then heated to recover the oil. Through this process a lot of vital and beneficial ingredients are unfortunately lost.
Even still, buying a bio-organic product, you would not be able to reap any of the benefits of that compared to the raw and natural coconut oil. This is why the label of your purchased oil should always mention that its cold pressed. The RMS Beauty Coconut Oil is prepared in a special way: the coconut pulp gets centrifuged on the day of its harvest. By using this method, the RMS Beauty Coconut Oil maintains the highest proportions of lauric acid, antioxidants and as an added bonus: the oil will not go rancid for a very long time. For those of you who’d like to go that extra mile when it comes to taking care of your skin with coconut oil, this might be the one to go for.
The Oil Cleansing Method has been buzzing around on countless beauty blogs for some time now and coconut oil can be a great addition to your routine if you’ve already tried it. Depending on your skin type, a variety of oils can be used in a variety of mixtures to create your personal facial cleanser.
If you haven’t given it a try yet, you can at the very least use coconut oil to remove waterproof eye make up. All you need to do is put a few drops on a cotton pad, press it against your eyelids for a few seconds, and then softly wipe from your eyelids down onto the eyelashes. Remember not to rub! Your make up will be gone in mere seconds and the soft and sensitive skin around your eyes will be nourished at the same time.
For those of you already fiddling with oils; try some coconut oil in case of dry lips, or torn cuticles.
There are countless other ways to make us of all the wonderful benefits of coconut oil, even when it comes to your household. At the coconut research center and and Dr. Mercola’s you can find even more information on that.
Which tips and tricks have you already tried, and care to share?
*Original written in German by Ruth Labes, translated by Csilla Liptai
Ruth is a friend to all walks of life and a language nerd. She studied linguistics and worked as a journalist, editor and translator. You'll find her geared up in regular 80's outfits, with her camera swung around her neck or hot on the keyboard translating. She seeks out true beauty amongst the mundane and finds nothing sexier than someone with good grammar.
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I am very surprise after reading this post that there are so many uses of coconut oil.Thank you so much for sharing this I would like to prefer organic Smoilie coconut oil. For more details visit Smoilie.com
