Coconut Oil: The Miracle Moisturizer
by Susan Kihleng
I’m not used to the cold! I’m pretty sure my body was not designed to live in cold weather – I was made to live on a tropical island! Good thing I do! But for a year, our family is transplanted to the good ‘ole USA and right now, I’m fighting the “dry skin blues” through these winter months. At first as it started getting chilly, I noticed mild dryness on my hands, but as winter progressed, it’s like all signs of moisture has been sucked right out of me! My hands were dry and scaly, peeling, cracked and itchy, arms and legs weren’t much better, and then the worst – my scalp started flaking! Ok, time to take serious measures! While of course back home in the tropics the air is moist and my skin never dries out, it occurred to me that I’m not exposing my skin to natural oils here as I do regularly there.
It’s easy to see why our skin drys out during the winter months. After all, we’re surrounded for 4-6 months with cold, dry air. Not easy to avoid, short of moving to the Caribbean for the winter (not a bad idea?). Adding a humidifier to your home can help some, but overall, this is just part of winter. And of course we have one of the biggest contributors to dry skin: Hot showers! I know, who wants to take a cold shower during the winter! But seriously, do you need the water hot enough to cook an egg? Frequent hot showers can strip your body of its natural oils, leaving your skin dry and flaky. It’s a matter of what you’re used to (back in Pohnpei we only have cold showers – but of course that’s not such a big deal when the temp outside is 95!). You can adjust your body to showers that aren’t so hot.
So what’s the simple secret to combatting dry skin? Coconut Oil!
Uses for coconut oil to combat dryness:
- Massage small amounts of coconut oil into the driest areas of your skin often throughout the day.
- When showering, begin by massaging coconut oil into your scalp; leave for a few minutes, then shampoo and condition as usual.
- Before bed, coat your hands and feet with coconut oil and sleep with soft gloves and socks on.
- Cook with coconut oil and add coconut oil to smoothies and other foods! No, you will not get “fat” from this as so many assume. Coconut oil consumption has actually been shown to aid in weight loss! And consuming the oil will improve your skin elasticity!
One more tip on combatting dryness: drink LOTS of water!
Happy moisturizing!