Try A Gentler Coconut Oil Scalp Massage

If you are prone to winter scalp itch, like me,   a coconut oil massage spells relief.   

 

 But I lighten-up on the essential oils I use with the massage during winter. 

 

I try never to further irritate a mildly itchy scalp with heavy duty essential oils like Tea Tree,  Mint or  Eucalyptus  during really cold spells.  

 

 

 

I use these milder essential oils during winter to soothe my scalp:

 

• Lavender

• Chamomile

• Ylang-Ylang

• Rosemary

I wait until cold temperatures moderate a little, before using strong essential oils, like lime, in my massage.

 

 

How To Avoid Winter Scalp Itch

 

Also I wear a warm but breathable hat during winter. I usually avoid wool. Or I wear a light scarf beneath wool or other natural fiber caps. 

 

Blow Dryer Too Hot???

 

You can also save your scalp by lightening-up on winter hair care, like dialing down the heat on your blowdryer. 

 

Either change hair products or space-out the timing for doing your hair. Hair sprays formulated with alcohol really irritate my scalp year round.

 

Also I cover my head with a light silk scarve INDOORS, to shield my scalp and hair from  the furnace’s dry heated air.

In any case as soon as the humidity drops in winter, along with cold temperatures outdoors, I get dry ALL OVER my body.  I usually realize this when I start scratching my scalp.

 How I Saved My Scalp With Coconut Oil

So then I do a light massage:  1 teaspoon of coconut oil plus 1 drop of essential oil … I only use, maybe,  ½ of this mixture for my scalp massage.  I use the rest on my feet and hands.

 

 

Get Sexy Pretty Feet This Summer With Coconut Oil



Don’t cover-up your feet with tennis shoes in hot weather.  Coconut oil makes it easy to showcase sexy toes in golden sandals for summer.

Coconut oil makes it easy to keep your feet looking sexy pretty  without using drying soap or odor-causing moisturizers that contain petroleum products:

Here’s my coconut oil summer foot care pedicure ritual:

• Deep cleanse your feet with 2 tablespoons of coconut oil plus 2 drops of squeezed lime juice. Massage the mixture all over your feet.
• Then soak  your feet in a footbath that contains a tablespoon of bath salts or baking soda. Do not add soap.
• Remove calluses with a natural pumice rock
• Soak feet again in the footbath
• Rinse feet
• Next, massage each foot with plain coconut oil and a drop of spearmint essential oil (no lime).
• Lastly, spritz your feet with a lightweight moisturizer that contains caprylic/capric triglyceride, a coconut oil derivative.  This last important step helps to maintain a natural sheen on your feet’s skin. This ultra moisturizing derivative really helps to prevent dry flaking skin and calluses from forming.

Get Coconut Oil Protection On Low UV Level Days



Chicago's Trump Tower reflects a cloudy sky

Here in Chicago, most days are not sunny, even during the summer.  Why that is, especially these last few years, I don’t know.  But to maintain an even skin tone, I use sunscreen regardless of the UV level.  Most days it’s not high, so I use coconut oil for sunscreen.

Coconut oil is rated SPF 6 and it’s perfect for days when there’s not much sunshine and the UV levels are low.  I can get a mottled, uneven look to my skin even on cloudy days.

But my skin doesn’t get burned from the sun. So it doesn’t make sense to use a sun product with a high rating, say, SPF 50.

Coconut oil is one more weapon in my sun protection arsenal. Coconut oil provides adequate protection for my skin on days with low UV levels.

 Coconut oil is the perfect skincare product to keep my skin glowing and very even-looking without using overpowering chemicals every single day.

Coconut Oil Minimizes Strong Heavy Perfumes

Yesterday I put on my favorite magic perfume to go meet “Mr. Right”. But I put on a tad too much of the magic perfume that unfortunately has an unusual fragrance note… vomit! I can’t stand smelling it myself, so I smoothed some coconut oil over my wrists to minimize the scent.

It worked!  I could barely detect the peppery vomit scent. I don’t like it but many men do, especially the right men… those who are highly educated and wealthy. These types of men frequently make positive comments about the perfume.

Most times I only wear the magic perfume on my ankles.  But I decided to put it on my wrists for the meeting with this particular “Mr. Right”.  I could barely stand smelling it!

This luxury designer perfume’s note is not ambergris, that delicious whale vomit note.  It’s some other organic smell that I  detected in certain perfumes when I was a little girl,  before the era of synthetic fragrances. The aromatherapist in me has been meaning to research the note.

Did I mention that I can't stand that perfume and that I only wear it on rare occasions?

In any case, the coconut oil toned-down the strong scent so I wouldn’t be overpowered with my own fragrance on a hot spring day.  And how did the meeting with “Mr. Right” turn-out?  My doctor visit was fine, all’s OK.

Get Loveable Hair Color With Coconut Oil



Whatever your hair color:  Love it or leave it!



Does your hair color need a little … ummm... pep-up?  Well,  Clairol has got a little something extra for you.  Their NATURAL INSTINCTS hair coloring system now features coconut oil that they say “nourishes and protects”.

Check out the reviews at this link on their website:  NATURAL INSTINCTS REVIEWS.

Coconut oil is listed under the "Ingredients" menu tab, in the MSDS Safety Sheet- section "Conditioning Treatment".

Posso “I Can” New Coconut Oil Based Perfume

Osmia Organics touts their new perfume as an “antidote to feelings of insecurity”. Mature scents like Violet leaf, sandalwood, frankincense, melissa essential oils and extracts are infused into coconut and jojoba oils.

Learn more about the philosophy behind Posso at this link http://www.osmiaorganics.com/



photo courtesy Osmia Organics



Infusion is an ancient  holistic fragrance manufacturing process that’s once again popular with perfume makers. To me, infusion creates a full-bodied  but delicate fragrance experience for perfume lovers.

Fragrance materials are basically steeped in either animal fats or oils like coconut to extract perfume notes.

Popular perfumer Pacifica’s designs youthful fragrances that are also made with a coconut oil base.

 

How To Get Gleaming Pearly Teeth With Coconut

There are a lot of videos and blogs on the internet that claim that coconut oil works as a teeth whitener. There are also claims that “oil pulling”  with coconut oil  keeps teeth and gums healthy. 

I figure that it can’t hurt to use coconut oil on my teeth.

But here’s another coconut product that I use on my teeth that makes them look incredible:  It’s Coconut water.  Here’s how I do it.

Coconut Water Teeth Wipe Down

 

I pour a little coconut water on a paper towel.  Next I wipe my teeth, inside and out with the coconut water. Lastly, I swish my mouth with plain water from the faucet to remove any coconut sugar from the surface of my teeth.

And, my teeth look incredibly youthful!

They gleam like they did when I was younger.  No, they aren't much whiter they  just are shinier and pearlier.

Now I do this procedure after brushing with regular toothpaste in the morning. Then I usually drink a glass of plain water, a cup of coffee and a glass of coconut water.  Then I eat breakfast or drink a smoothie.

Then I use the coconut water on my teeth.

This make more sense to me than using a fluoride rinse on top of the fluoridated toothpaste I use.

Too Much Coffee and Tea

 

They get that shiny, glistening, reflective glow that young people’s teeth look like when they haven’t started drinking too much coffee or smoking cigarettes.

But alas, the pretty shiny gleaming teeth effect is only temporary.  It lasts until I drink my afternoon tea.

Get Ready for Spring Hair Showtime With Coconut Oil



She's a show-off!!



It’s ‘Hats Off’ to springtime, but is my hair ready? All winter long I wore hats outside to keep the cold air off my head. Inside I wore scarves to keep warm forced air from the furnace off of my scalp and hair. I am going to use coconut oil on my hair and scalp to get ready for a spring showtime.

Here’s my Hair Pep-Up ritual for Spring:

• Pretreat my scalp with coconut oil plus 1 drop of lime juice

• Cleanse or Shampoo hair and then condition
• Moisturize hair with coconut oil before drying
• Re-moisturize hair ends with coconut oil after drying.

Use Extra-virgin, Organic coconut oil, your hair deserves the best! 

An Itty-bitty Dollop Is Enough

A little goes a long way for most hair and beauty needs. It's not like commercial store products for hair that require you to  squeeze and squeeze-out more and more product. 

You need to only use 1 or 2 teaspoons  of organic coconut oil to get the full moisturizing benefit for your hair-some times less than that!

Coconut Oil Is The Best BB Cream!



Coconut Oil is an edible BB cream

Millions of women  living in tropical latitudes use coconut oil as a  beauty balm (BB). Coconut oil is a multi-purpose BB cream and benefits my skin in a number of different ways. 

Ways I Use Coconut Oil As A BB Cream

1. Moisturizing Facial Cleanser
2. Dry Winter Skin Moisturizer
3. Age Spot Remover
4. Skin tone cream
5. SPF 6 Sunscreen
6. Make-up Remover (not on eye makeup though)
7. Body Moisturizer that removes ashy flakes
8. Body Sheen cream
9. Hand cream
10. Foot cream

How Coconut Oil Works As A BB cream



Use Coconut Oil BB cream on your entire body

Coconut oil is edible and packed full of naturally occurring vitamins and minerals that enhance and protect your skin. The fatty acids in coconut oil are remarkably similar to human sebum.

Best Things About Coconut Oil BB Cream

• It’s vegan and cruelty-free.
• It does not contain drying petroleum products.
• It contains no artificial colors or whiteners that diminish skin tone.
• There are no artificial fragrances that can irritate skin.

How To Use Coconut Oil On Your Skin

Massage a ¼ teaspoon on your fingertips and apply to your face. Remove the oil with a warm wet facial tissue. 

On your body, coconut oil can be layered over your regular body lotion for added moisture or used by itself.

I use coconut oil BB cream in one or more ways everyday.  It leaves my skin revitalized, smooth, spotless and remarkably softer.

MAKE FRESH, TASTIER GUMBO WITH COCONUT OIL FOR MARDI GRAS




Shrimp Okra and Crayfish Gumbo



You can make your shrimp, crayfish and okra gumbo dish with a fresh new savor to celebrate Mardi Gras. Here’s how I get more savory flavor.  I sauté my onions and other vegetables in coconut oil for most dishes to bring out ALL the goodness. 

Replace bland tasting soybean, corn or canola oils with coconut oil in your traditional African-American gumbo recipe for an healthier dish.

FRUITY SOFT CLEANSERS FOR YOUR FEET

Nothing beats the sensation of massaging a piece of mashed-up fruit like cantaloupe into my feet during a pedicure. The fruit plus a little coconut oil makes a no- soap, non-irritating DIY cleanser.

Fruit and Coconut Oil Cleansers

For a moisturizing, refreshing cleanser, I also knead fruits like banana, avocado or mango on my footsies along with a few teaspoons of coconut oil.  

Deep Clean with Coconut Oil

For a deeper clean I mix coconut oil with lime, strawberries or potatoes (use only on cloudy days). 

For light exfoliation, I use a pinapple slice or a wet piece of brown coconut husk.

Floral Water and Coconut Oil

Flowers like hibiscus or rose petals are both rich in vitamin C and are good for simply soaking my feet.  After soaking, I massage them with coconut oil before going to bed.

I mostly use overripe fruit that I probably am not going to eat for these coconut oil foot cleansers.

Pat Thomas for THE COCONUT LOVERS MOJO