Coconut Oil... And Why I LOVE IT!

I know... you've probably read and heard a lot about Coconut Oil over the last several months and years, but I'm just now coming around so bear with me and my excitement, umkay?  :)

See this giant jar I got at Sam's...

It's SO wonderful.  It was less than $9 and I've barely put a dent in it in the last 3 months. What do I do with it?  Glad you asked.

• I cook with it sometimes... it's a great high-heat oil.
• I put a little in our breakfast smoothies to sneak some healthy fat in... And you can't taste it in there :).
• When my hair is feeling dry, I put a tiny amount in my hands, let it melt, and rub it on the ends of my hair... repairs damage and makes it SO soft!
• I keep a small container of it in the bathroom and use it remove my makeup (yes) and as a lotion for our incredibly dry winter hands. 

Happy little container of Coconut Oil for our bathroom.

Did I say makeup remover?  Yes... yes I did.  I am not sure when it was exactly, but sometime a few months ago it hit me: I wonder if coconut oil would be a good eye makeup remover.  I thought perhaps I'd pioneered a new beauty tip and I would quickly become famous because of my beauty genius.  Yah, not so much... if you google coconut oil eye makeup remover you'll see about 1000 people thought of it before I did :). Still, I was pretty pumped.  The coconut oil removes every drop of my waterproof eye makeup like a dream.  I'm a big fan of using makeup cleansing waters like Bioderma or my favorite (CHEAPER) option, Boots no 7 Expert Sensitive Gentle Toner, to remove makeup.  I feel like they remove makeup really well and then when you wash your face, you're actually removing dirt and oils that are down in your pores. But, after using the coconut oil to remove my eye makeup, I wondered if it would remove my face makeup well too... It did.

Here's how it works:  

1. I grab a small amount of coconut oil out of my container.
2. I hold it between my fingers and let it begin to melt.  The oil melts at 70 degrees so it will melt quickly in your fingers.  
3. Then, I rub the oil on my eyes... not my eyeballs, but my closed eyes :). 
4. I gently massage the oil into the lashes to remove all the mascara and eyeliner.  
5. Then, I look like a raccoon.  The oil does not hurt your eyes.  It may make your vision a little blurry for a minute, but that's it. 
6. I then rub the remaining oil over my face.  
7. Once I feel like the makeup is completely broken down, I use a warm damp washcloth to remove all the makeup.  I usually rinse the washcloth a few times and go over my face again, just to make sure I remove it all.  The oil does not leave my face feeling oily... just soft and moisturized.  Then I can wash my face, add my nighttime moisturizer, etc.  

When my face got REALLY dry this winter, I used coconut oil as my nighttime moisturizer and it helped.  I just rubbed some on and gave it about five minutes to soak into my skin before going to bed.  LOVELY.  My skin was super soft the next day.  

And the coconut oil was FANTASTIC for my kids's eczema.  Their hands get SO dry and red in the winter and putting this on before bed every night fixed them right up.  And when you consider that all of the lotions and creams marketed for eczema are around $15, coconut oil is a BARGAIN.  

Now, having said all this good stuff, I feel it's important to tell you I don't cook with coconut oil exclusively... There's still some debate over if coconut oil is as heart-healthy as everyone says.  It does contain a high amount of lauric acid which can increase your HDL (good cholesterol).  But, it also contains a high amount of saturated fats... which are not good, obviously.  Just wanted to throw that disclaimer out there :).

I highly recommend running out to your nearest Sams or Costco and grabbing a big ol' jar of this stuff.  You will smell all tropical and your skin will love you for it :).