Why I absolutely cannot live without Coconut Oil

I'm in love with the Coco!!!

The use of Coconut oil is by no means a new phenomenon. However, since I was apparently living under a rock, I only discovered the wonders of this oil in recent years. It is a carrier oil which pretty much means it is a vegetable or base oil which is used to dilute essential oils for use on the skin or in the hair. For the sake of not sounding repetitive, I'll be referring to Coconut Oil as CO for the remainder of this post. In another post I will also delve into the difference between a carrier oil and an essential oil and how they compliment each other.

Throughout my teens I suffered from slight skin discoloration on my face. This used to annoy the heaven out of me(yes I wrote heaven and not hell lol)!! This discoloration was predominantly under my eyes and around my lips. For the life of me I couldn't understand it. When I became pregnant with my daughter the discoloration around my eyes worsened. After giving birth my skin returned to what was my "normal". In 2013, I was ballin' and had cash to spare(rolls eyes) and I went to Jencare Skin Farm hoping I could find a cure! So after the in house dermatologist examined my face for a minute, maybe less, she diagnosed me with eczema. Of course I had no clue what this was. She told me to stay away from acidic and dairy foods even oily foods. Hellooooo, everything that I love fell under those three categories! Orange juice, milk, chocolate, cheese, pizza and the list goes on! The dermatologist prescribed some products and I left feeling like I was just told that I was cured, til I went home and looked in the mirror. Earth to Renée, your face is STILL discolored! 

I used the products and they provided a temporary fix but I did not have the discipline to fully alter my diet nor was I ballin' consistently so I had to watch my spending. And so the search began for cheaper skincare products. Where do you turn if you want to know something? Google!!! I then learnt that CO was not only useful in your hair, but would be greatly beneficial for my skin! Imagine my excitement!!! A Budget friendly skincare product that could actually work?!? You didn't have to tell me twice.

Typically us Jamaicans tend to look to farin(the USA) first when seeking to source beauty products because we think we can save a few pennies by shopping online... and yes I'm a typical Jamaican lol. From my reading the Nutiva CO had great reviews so I purchased three(3) jars. Maaaaan did I love that stuff! It was thick and it smelled great! Liquid gold comes to mind when I think of CO. I used it on my whole body. Yes mi did frighten! But what a good thing I did!! My skin began to feel much softer and many scars I had from my childhood either disappeared or diminished in appearance significantly. Stretch marks became lighter as well. My face liked the coconut oil but Lord the "shine" was a bummer for me. I mean who wants to walk around with their face looking like a frying pan?

The CO kept my eczema under control but then I faced a new problem of having an excessively oily face. What to do? Use less! Duuuuuh. So while the skin on my body from the neck down was loving the CO, my face was far too greasy for my taste. Through a series of "quantity testing", I soon learnt the sufficient amount that I needed for my face. Then, adult acne happened!!! Now I don't believe that there was a correlation between the CO use and my acne. Simply put, stress and life happened! Seriously! Lol Yes now I can laugh but in 2014 it was another story.

I stopped using CO on my face completely because I now had to become my own dermatologist and find out how to cure this darn acne. My body was still loving CO then, but the face, hmm not so much. I cured my acne on my own and yes I used all natural products! I will share how I did this in a future post.

My hair loves CO when it is used in small amounts on my dry hair. I use it also as a Pre-poo and when I do this I use a very large quantity because when rinsing most of it is removed and it helps me to retain moisture in my hair. I sometimes use it as an ingredient in my hot oil treatment. Cold pressed CO has trace elements of protein and for those who are protein sensitive like myself, must learn how to use CO effectively in their hair.

Benefits of Coconut Oil:
-Skin Moisturizer

-Natural Sunscreen

-Removes/Diminishes Scars & Stretch marks  

-Hair Oil(scalp and hair length/strands) 

-Natural treatment for Yeast 

-Weight Loss

-Excellent for use in turning your regular baby wipes into SUPER wipes 

-Cuticle Oil 

-Base ingredient for your eye-cream

Believe me the list of benefits goes on and on but you can find that out in your homework! Yes I gave you homework! Hello I just schooled you! Lol Kidding! I buy my CO at the Coconut Board on Waterloo Road in Kingston, Jamaica for JMD$1000. A 500ml bottle lasts me for three(3) months. Both my daughter and I use it.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. This post was based on personal experiences. 

I think I might need "Oils Anonymous"

So after my hair suffered major heat damage back in 2012 I chopped everything off and decided a fresh start was needed. This lead me to Youtube. Since I had no clue how to take care of my hair, I wanted to watch what others did to achieve long, beautiful, healthy tresses! 

 I watched videos religiously everyday. It became an obsession overnight lol. Many ladies on their hair journeys hailed the use of organic/natural oils in their beauty regimens. I then started using some of these oils on my skin and noticed vast improvement. Oils are also a great alternative to many expensive beauty and skincare products which use inorganic ingredients that can often result in allergic reactions which many of us turn a blind eye to or go unnoticed! Whilst I have not tried every oil, I have tried many. Oils are divided into two categories really: Carrier Oils and Essential Oils.

As time goes by I will share my experiences with various oils. Hopefully my experiences will help someone!