How I Use Coconut Oil

I’ve been toying with giving coconut oil a try for a while. Every time I go to Costco I see the giant tub of it and I’ve wondered more than once, “What does one do with coconut oil?” My mother in law was kind enough to get me a jar for Christmas and since then I’ve been researching and trying ways to use it.

So far I’ve tried…

I’ve used it as a lip balm. Over the holidays I had a terrible sinus infection (and an ear infection too) which turned me into a mouth breather. If you’ve ever been a mouth breather before you know it dries your lips out something fierce. I dabbed some coconut oil on a few times a day and my dry, cracked lips were feeling better in no time.

Lotion. The stuff works wonders on dry skin, hands, legs, feet, you name it. It goes on very greasy but gets absorbed quickly.  I keep a little Tupperware container with some coconut oil in it in my bathroom so it’s always on hand.

This next one I never saw coming.

Oil pulling. I had never heard of it before a few fellow bloggers opened my eyes to what it is and what it does. Cindy and Miranda give good descriptions and it’ll save you some time Googling. I’ve been starting my day oil pulling for the past week or so and I’m interested in seeing some results. Once I start seeing the benefits of oil pulling I’ll write a full post on it…Stay tuned.

Have you ever tried oil pulling?

I started adding it to my lunchtime cup of green tea. The coconut oil adds a nice flavor and helps make me feel full.

Finally, I’ve used the coconut oil as a hairstyling product. If you’ve ever met me you might know that I have very unfortunate hair. It’s fine, stick straight for the most part with curls that stick out from my temples and it frizzes with the slightest amount of moisture. I tired the oil first with dry hair and it worked very well smoothing things out. When I put it in damp hair and then dried it I got much nicer results. You need to be careful though, a little goes a long way and too much makes you look greasy.

Look for more posts on how I incorporate coconut oil into my (healthy) lifestyle.

Have you ever tried coconut oil? What do you use it for?