little white truths

Sometime last year I went on a hunt for coconut oil because being the beauty lover that I am, I couldn't quite believe that I'd never tried it (at least in its pure form and not as an ingredient in skincare).

Coconut oil has been a big ticket item for a couple of years now: not only is it good for you to eat and use in cooking, but it's also meant to be great for your skin and can be used in a variety of ways (as a cleanser, a moisturiser, an antibacterial acne treatment etc). Some people use it on their hair too.

My adventures with coconut oil didn't start until recently because I've let this tub sit around for almost a year - I'd wanted to use Bio Oil on my pregnant belly for the most part since that worked well enough for me last time - but lately I've been venturing into other oils and this has been one of them.

So do note that this won't be a super comprehensive review because I can't compare this product to other oils (I haven't used any), but I wanted to write it anyway because I figure I can't be the only one who took a while to jump on board the coconut oil train, so it may be useful to someone. In future I'll try other coconut oils and let you know if I stumble on a favourite.

Verdict

I'm glad I've finally tested a coconut oil and it's definitely a product I'll be trying again in future. While I can't say that I've noticed extra benefits with this than I have with other oils I use in skincare, what I can say is that this costs less than most and the jar has lasted me ages, so it's good value on a price-per-use basis and that's reason enough for me to buy it again.

The oil is hard at room temperature but it does melt and become very liquid when it's hot, so don't be surprised by that because I haven't noticed any difference in quality after having seen the oil melt and then harden a number of times. It may be better to store this in the fridge, however, just to be on the safe side - particularly in warmer climates like ours.

Happily it's easy enough to dig product out of the tub when it's hard, and it melts on contact with your skin so it's not difficult to spread around. It also smells like fresh coconut so I always enjoy reaching for my tub because that's a smell I really love.

I've used this as a cleansing oil/makeup remover just to see how it fared, and while it dissolved makeup beautifully, it was also super difficult to remove (even with a cloth and an astringent cleanser) so I wouldn't try that again. If you wanted to keep some of this oil on your skin after cleansing to serve as a moisturiser as well, it wouldn't matter so much - but I personally don't love this on my face so I haven't used it as a cleanser again.

I don't love this on my face because it feels very heavy (even for my dry skin) and it just doesn't feel like it's meant to be there, if that makes any sense (!). It could just be this particular oil so I will try coconut oil on my face again in future, but with this tub I'll stick to using it on my body.

And I love this on my body! It makes a great post-shower hydrating treatment and I've enjoyed feeling it ease the discomfort of my dry skin, while smelling its fresh coconut scent. I don't use it every day or everywhere because it's quite heavy, but once I played around with it, I decided that I liked it best around my mid-section (basically anywhere that's been expanding with the pregnancy) because that's where I need hydration most.

All in all, my first adventure into coconut oil has been a good one, and while I can't say whether this particular coconut oil is better than others, it's organic, unrefined and cold-pressed (apparently that's what you want), and I do feel that it's helped hydrate my poor dry body. Plus it's cheap and this tub seems never-ending, so you really can't go wrong.

Do let me know if you've tried coconut oil and whether you have a favourite brand : )