What More Can I Say About Coconut Oil?

Coconut Oil has had millions of words written about it.

It is good for you, it is bad for you, it is good for everything, it’s terrible, it causes acne…where to start?

It comes in a few forms: Virgin Coconut, which when it’s a good quality, smells amazing and is a gorgeous, pearly white. Refined coconut oil (RBD) has been filtered and treated to remove the aroma and is a creamy white. Oh, and it costs half as much as Virgin Coconut.

The Virgin is heavenly for cooking French Toast. The whole house smells like Hawaii. And for cosmetics, it is also a wonderful way to add a light, fleeting aroma to a formula without using fragrance or essential oils. 5% Virgin coconut is perfect for an alluring aroma in a lotion or even shampoo.

MCT (or caprylic/capric triglyceride) stands for Medium Chain Triglycerides, usually from coconut oil. This oil stays liquid instead of getting solid below 86° F, like RBD and Virgin do. It is great as a perfume carrier or a general liquid oil in any formula that needs a light, highly penetrating oil.

I first fell in love with coconut oil because I replaced my lotion with it. I have since blended other oils with it but coconut is still my go-to for removing makeup, conditioning my hair and getting the sticker goo off glasses and dishes. Coconut oil (or vodka also to remove sticky goo) seems to fix most anything. It is sort of the Greek Wedding/Windex equivalent in the oil world.

Another neat trick, coconut oil actually goes into the shaft of hair, which is hollow, and slowly comes out over time. If you have dry, colored, or course hair (moi!) a weekly 30 minute soak in coconut and then washing it out will keep hair much healthier and softer and shinier.

Regarding the controversy about whether or not coconut oil causes acne (comedogenic): it seems like it may for some people, but not not for everyone. Try it and see what it does. You can always do a little patch test to find out if you are sensitive to coconut oil.

The coconut we sell is from the Philippines from a company with women on the Board in leadership roles – Franklin-Baker. Amazing quality by amazing women.

Regardless, coconut oil in all forms is a must in a formulators’ and a cooks’ tool box!