Coconut Oil for Skin: Benefits and How It's Used
You can’t go very far down the natural remedy rabbit hole without bumping into coconut oil. Its benefits for your skin and body are plenty, and it seems there’s literally nothing coconut oil can’t do.
Need a healthy, delicious oil for cooking and baking? Coconut oil.
Want an alternative to body moisturizers? Coconut oil.
Need that stubborn eye makeup cleaned off? Coconut oil.
Coconut oil’s popularity has skyrocketed, so if you haven’t at least tried coconut oil by now, we’d be pretty surprised. However, even the most ardent coconut oil users may not be familiar with the full array of coconut oil benefits.
At RMS Beauty, we’ll admit we’re a little obsessed with coconut oil, and we use only the purest, highest quality, food-grade coconut oil in our products.
In this piece we’ll explore coconut oil a little more closely, talk about the benefits it has for your skin, and explain what sets our coconut oil apart.
What is Coconut Oil?
Coconut oil is a fatty, oily substance made from pressing the meat of a coconut (the white, fleshy portion). It is rich in lauric and caprylic acids. In fact, it is one of the only compounds in nature to contain high levels of these acids, second only to human breast milk.
Caprylic acid and lauric acid have anti-fungal, antibacterial, and antimicrobial properties. Coconut oil is also a natural antioxidant, which helps protect against free radical damage (aka premature aging). High levels of vitamin E in coconut oil make it an excellent emollient and moisturizer.
Coconut oil can be made by pressing fresh coconut meat or dried coconut, called copra. Coconut oil can be rendered from the coconut in several different ways.
Traditional
Traditional, hand pressed coconut oil is the most common method of extraction. This process uses heat. When heat is introduced, the levels of natural lauric acid and caprylic acid are depleted, the antioxidant capacity of the oil is reduced.
In some cases, heating the oil during the extraction process can cause rancidity and introduce bacteria.
Expeller
Expeller pressed coconut oil is a method used for extracting oil from copra (dried coconut). The copra is ground and pressed to produce a liquid that is 90% oil and 10% water. Heat is applied to remove the remaining water, resulting in an oil that is light to medium in texture, but still depleted in nutrients due to heat exposure.
Cold Pressing
Contrary to popular belief, cold pressed oil still involves heat. The heat used during cold pressing is controlled so that certain temperatures are not reached, but the heat is still hot and still depletes the nutrient profile of the oil.
Cold Centrifuge
This method of extraction delivers the rawest, purest form of coconut oil available. During this process, no heat is used, and a centrifuge is used to separate the oil from the coconut meat. This is the only process that delivers truly “raw” coconut oil, with all nutrients left intact.
This process leaves the highest levels of lauric acid (65%) in the resulting coconut oil, more than any other extraction process can deliver. This oil is the highest quality available, and the only oil RMS Beauty uses in our products.
Our coconuts are handpicked, processed immediately to avoid fermentation and oxidation, and shipped fresh to us right away. The resulting food-grade coconut oil is then used in our skin care products.
Is it Okay to Put Coconut Oil Directly On Your Skin?
Yes! In fact, we encourage it.
Coconut oil is powerful, yet gentle enough for even the most sensitive skin types. Coconut oil is an excellent skin moisturizer, which means it adds hydration to your skin. It’s also effective as an emollient, which means it helps your skin retain the moisture it has.
Because coconut oil has natural antifungal and antibacterial properties, it’s great for cleansing the skin, eliminating the need for harsh chemical ingredients that could strip your skin of natural moisture.
Additionally, coconut oil is actually beneficial for blemish-prone skin, helping balance the skin’s natural oil production, keep skin fully hydrated, and cleanse the skin of impurities.
The skin loves coconut oil in its raw state. It’s great for soothing diaper rash, shaving, and even adding to bath water to keep skin feeling silky smooth.
Can Coconut Oil Remove Dark Circles?
Practically everyone experiences dark circles beneath the eyes from time to time. Coconut oil can help lighten your dark circles and increase the hydration level of your delicate eye skin, improving the look of your eye area.
Coconut oil has soothing properties that can help calm skin irritation, and make dark circles look less visible. The added hydration can help keep your under-eye skin firm and plump, which can help you avoid the appearance of dark circles altogether.
What Are the Benefits of Coconut Oil?
It might be easier to talk about what coconut oil cannot do, and when it comes to skin improvement, that list would be relatively short.
Coconut oil is effective as a cleanser, moisturizer, skin and hair conditioner, protects against oxidative damage, and can even be eaten. The healing properties in coconut oil are the cherry on top.
What Can Coconut Oil Be Used For?
Here’s how coconut oil can be used in your daily skin care routine.
Makeup Remover
Nothing removes makeup better than coconut oil. Unlike cleansers which can contain harsh chemicals and solvents, coconut oil removes makeup easily, quickly, and naturally. It’s especially effective in removing waterproof mascara. The coconut oil easily slides the mascara off your lashes without damaging them.
Moisturizer
It goes without saying coconut oil is an excellent moisturizer. You can use it in raw form directly on your skin to help deliver a superior level of moisture and help soften and condition your skin.
Hair Treatment
Raw coconut oil is also great for your hair, and even your lashes and brows. Using a little as a conditioner can leave your hair silky and smooth and help keep it hydrated.
Sunburn
Because coconut oil has antioxidant properties and high healthy fat content, it works wonderfully for soothing sunburns and helping to renourish the skin.
Lip Balm
Because coconut oil is rich in fatty acids, it makes an excellent lip balm, offering deep hydration to your lips and helping protect against chapping and cracking.
Highlighter
Coconut oil provides the base for RMS Beauty’s award-winning Luminizer. This highlighting skin cream gives your skin an all over dewy glow that radiates health and awakens the natural beauty of your skin.
Available in six different shades, our original luminizer is clear and provides a healthy, sheer glow that radiates natural wellness.
Summary
Coconut oil is likely the most skin beneficial oil available, but it’s only as good as its extraction method. Be cautious when you buy coconut oil; just because it’s organic doesn’t mean it’s been extracted without heat.
For the purest, most skin beneficial coconut oil skin care, trust RMS Beauty to deliver. Our raw coconut cream and coconut oil-inclusive products are all made with cold centrifuge extracted coconut oil to keep the nutrient profile intact, allowing your skin to experience all the benefits of living, nourishing, absolutely limitless coconut oil!
Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5796020/