Coconut Oil

The Coconut tree is called the “Tree of Life” because all the parts of the entire tree–from top to bottom–are used to sustain human life.Inside the shell lies the meat and coconut water, so it must be the most useful tree in the world.  It’s definitely the most resilient. Coconut trees are found in tropical and subtropical regions of the world where even in conditions with very little nourishment they flourish, growing taller than most of the plants around it.  Which brings me to…

Oil around the world, women for centuries have incorporated natural oils such as coconut into their skincare routine. While it won’t make you grow taller it will make your skin feel wonderful, which at least will help elevate your mood. And that’s a tall order in itself.

After having tested numerous beauty products myself,  I decided to go back to making and selling a few of my own.  Even in a competitive market.  Four of these oils make up the base to my deluxe facial oil (to which I then add other essential oils). Since essential oils are highly concentrated, a carrier oil (I refer to it as a base) is needed for dilution, efficacy and ease of application.

For full disclusure, I’m going to give a bit of background on each of what I put in there starting with Coconut Oil in its fractionated form.

Coconut Oil for Face:

Fractionated coconut oil (or virgin coconut oil) in this form is distilled down to its fattiest acids. The distilling process makes fractionated coconut the perfect addition to your beauty routine.  Coconut oil in all its forms is excellent for skin but when mixing with other oils (including essential oils) the fractionated form is best.

Fractionated coconut oil is tasteless, odorless, and usually more expensive than regular coconut oil. It is produced through hydrolysis and steam distillation. It’s important to note that no added products or chemicals are incorporated into the mixture during this time, so fractionated coconut oil remains a natural product. Significantly, it includes medium-chain triglycerides. Therefore, it has a protracted shelf existence.

Coconut oil itself is chemically composed of two types of fatty acids: long-chain fatty acids and medium-chain fatty acids. With fractionated coconut oil, the two key fatty acids are separated, leaving you mostly with the medium-chain fatty acids.

Regular coconut oil only becomes liquid under high temperatures (78 degrees F) and has a greasy feel. Because of this unique difference, fractionated coconut oil is best used for therapeutic purposes. Regular coconut oil, on the other hand, is solid at cool or room temperature, but liquid when heated. Because it has such a high concentration of saturated fat, fractionated coconut oil is much more stable than regular coconut oil.

What does it do? It helps smooth skin and works as an antioxidant. It also binds other ingredients together, and can work as a preservative of sorts to make the active ingredients in skincare last longer as a more natural alternative to other synthetic chemicals found in many topical skin products.

In case you’re wondering about my background in all of this…

I don’t have one.  Kidding.  I’ve always taken an interest in skincare and over time have sampled many, many products.  Other than through sheer trial and error, as a side interest I trained and graduated from George Brown College – School of Makeup and Esthetics when I lived in Toronto. Even though I’ve never worked as an esthetician I have (had in some cases) gained some knowledge.  I made beautiful face and body products from scratch. I’ve never had fillers or botox or anything other than regular facials. That’s not to say I could not use some work (ha!) it’s just that I’ve not done so. At least so far. Never say never.

I’ll continue to go through my list of ingredients with some background about them..because if you’re interested in purchasing something you should know what’s in them beforehand.

“Remember it’s better to create something and be criticized than to create nothing and criticize others.” – Ricky Gervais