More love for coconut oil.....

[Lottapianos]

Two new fab things I have discovered about coconut oil:

1. Boiling hot weather here in London + very dry skin = not a great look for legs. Have been lightly 'anointing' legs with a bit of coconut oil in the mornings and they have been smooth, silky, slightly shiny and not at all hot or tight all day long. No body lotion ever worked so well in hot weather for me.

2. I swear that said oiling is slowing down leg hair growth. I shave legs and usually have to re-do every 2-3 days in summer. However, in the last few weeks, since I've been using the CO, I swear that re-growth is slower (lasted for 5 days last week, and probably could have stretched another day out of it) and much softer than usual.

It really is glorious stuff. This heat is killing my hair which is dry and frizzy anyway, may try slathering some CO on it tomorrow for a couple of hours then rinsing out!

What else do you love it for?

I use it as a barrier around my hair line when I dye my hair. I've been putting it on my legs in this heat as well. I'm prone to getting hives and prickly heat and as soon as I started using the oil, I stopped getting it. It's weird.

Oh, and hair. I use Vatika hair oil which is mainly coconut oil with a few other things in there, but I put coconut oil on my hair when I run out of it.

it is fantastic for removing make up. just use it as a balm, ie., massage over face and neck then remove with hot (or warm in this weather)! flannel.

Ooh, that's interesting Nigella - I read that you shouldn't use it on your face because it can block your pores?

Sounds fab, where do you buy it?

I bought mine in an Asian grocers. It's 'pure' but not organic. It was about £3 for a big tub. I've seen a similar size on sale for up to £15 in health food shops, no idea if it's worth paying extra for organic.

Oh and it's white and solid at room temperature, but melts as soon as you rub it between palms or onto skin. It's been so hot in my bathroom that mine has been liquid for the past 2 weeks!

no it won't block your pores, Lotta - make sure you get proper good quality coconut oil though. You can tell if it's the real thing because it will be solid when cold enough, and runny when warm enough. (it behaves like butter, but at different temperatures - i.e., coconut oil goes liquid at a lower temp than butter does).

I think it's just mineral oils that block your pores and are bad for the face (for some people). For that reason, I avoid them like the plague in my skincare. I'm quite fussy with my skincare - but I am very happy to use coconut oil on my face.

Might not work for everyone however, and you will always find scare stories for everything, but why not try it by doing it once a week and see what happens? I must add I double cleanse, so I remove my makeup with a balm and then clean the skin with something like cetaphil.

oops cross post!
FWIW I read somewhere that it makes no difference if it's organic or not. The main thing is to get the kind that is solid/liquid, not just liquid. Also I have noticed a bit of a difference between cheap coconut oil and the more pricey kind that you get in Waitrose etc.

Oh that's great, thanks NigellasGuest - I use oil to take makeup off anyway but I usually use olive or almond. I reckon Waitrose and other posho shops are cottoning on to all the CO love and are just extracting the pee with their price-bumping.

if you use almond anyway you will be fine with CO!

the posh ones definitely have a better smell and taste - I used a cheap one for cooking in, and couldn't taste it. But for using on the body, it doesn't matter really (unless you are expecting to be licked )

I'm a recent convert to coconut oil and I love it. I get mine from Sainsburys - it's extra virgin and costs about 6 quid.

Having spent a fortune in the past trying to find a decent moisturiser, I decided to give CO a go and it has made a huge difference to my skin. I've been using it for a month on my face and my skin looks the best it ever has - it's plumper, smoother and the spots/blemishes on my chin have disappeared (could be due to CO being antibacterial maybe?)

If you mix turmeric and coconut oil it takes down any swelling and is used in India as a beauty aid. We use co as a mouthwash and is also better than toothpaste.
I posted a link to the advantages and uses a while ago, but may be well in the archives now and dunno if i'd find it again.
My dh suffers from a rare skin condition and my dsis from psoriasis the turmeric and co have enabled them both to come off some strong meds. The HA won't look at alternatives like this as it stops them pushing drugs. Such a shame when it really works.

there are lots of benefits of coconut oil..u can check at coconutoil.com/