Coconut Oil For Everything

By Casey Hall, 2014-05
 
 
Having heard coconut oil evangelists wax lyrical online about the wonders of this relatively affordable and easily available beauty tool, we decided to ditch our regular routine and substitute coconut oil for pretty much everything – for a whole week.
 
As someone who spends more than a little of my time reading up on, trying out and writing about beauty products, I am the kind of woman Naomi Wolf tries to save from the perils of the corporate beauty marketing machine in her 1991 book, The Beauty Myth. But even Naomi couldn’t save me.
 
When I get a facial and I’m told my skin needs more moisture, I rush out to buy the latest serums and moisturizers, no expense spared. To save my hair from the ravages of constant colouring and heat treatments, I invest in special shampoos, conditioners, leave in sprays and masks. I even shave my legs using special foam, lest they turn to scaly lizard pins.
 
In short, my heaving shelves of products would not easily be thrown away. Unlike these au natural hippies proclaiming
the benefits of coconut oil, I am prepared to spend money on a beauty routine – after all, you get what you pay for,
right?
 

It turns out, not always. One week of coconut oil (purchased online from Yihaodian at RMB 100 for a 500
gram jar) was enough to convince me not to reinvest in some things I had previously considered beauty basics,
though not enough for me to chuck the lot.
 
Make-Up Remover
 
A long time user of Benefit’s “Remove It” Make-Up Remover (RMB 230 for 177gm bottle at Sephora) because it feels gentle enough not to strip my skin of good stuff along with the day-old make-up, I found coconut oil equally as effective – particularly for the eye region. For the rest of the face, coconut oil was a little too, well, oily, but for the eyes, that moisture felt great and made applying an eye cream at night redundant – bonus savings!
 
Hair
 
This was the beauty use for coconut oil I was most sceptical about when starting this experiment. My coloured hair is constantly dry and sucks up conditioners, masks and serums at a rate that would alarm most mere mortals (in particular my husband, who would have a stroke if he knew what I spent on hair products every month).
 
Some regulars on my shelf include Phyto’s “Joba Intense Hydrating Mask” (RMB 450 for 200mls) and Kerastase Elixer Ultime (RMB 269 for 125mls), hair oil rubbed into my locks in the morning before running out the door to add both moisture and movement.
 
To use as a mask, I applied large dollops of coconut oil to my hair and worked it through, before leaving it in for an hour. I was worried the oiliness would be hard to wash out, but a double rinse with my normal shampoo did the trick, and my hair felt so soft, there was no need for conditioner post wash.
 
In terms of a leave in styling tool, a little coconut oil applied to damp hair before blow drying also works okay to prevent frizz, but felt a little heavy for my taste (and it took longer to blow dry my hair with coconut oil than regular, more expensive, hair oil.
 
Shaving Cream
 
Ditching my “Super Gentle Shaving Foam” from Sephora (RMB 119 for 200mls) in favour of coconut oil when shaving my legs is one of the best decisions I have ever made. The oil makes the razor glide over your skin and
 leaves your legs wonderfully moisturized afterwards – cutting out yet another step from my beauty routine. 
 
Lip Balm
 
A long-time devotee of Fresh’s “Lip Sugar Treatment” (RMB 150 per stick), I had thought coconut oil would be a good substitute, but it turns out coconut oil is just too thin to feel like a satisfying balm to me. Though the fatty acids contained in coconut oil are great for your lips, feeling like you’ve just eaten greasy food doesn’t feel as good.
 
Conclusion
Though I won’t be throwing away all my expensive beauty products any time soon, I will be keeping virgin coconut
oil as a shaving cream, eye make-up remover and conditioning hair treatment. All natural and a bargain to boot, coconut oil is a surprising beauty winner.