Coconut Oil!!!!

[jorjeni]

YUM!!!

I just learned about people putting this in smoothies and such and I got storms books and saw a recipe with it in it so I made it and all I have to say is YUM YUM YUM YUM!!! All these years I Have been putting coconut oil in my hair and now I find I should have been eating it also :D :D

[jaurequi]

Lol! that's great, jorjeni! I have found that coconut flavor in the various brands differ quite a bit, product to product. I have found Omega to be the best so far; it is extremely fresh tasting, which I never experienced before; and it's very coconutty in flavor.

Tell me -- how do you use it on your hair? I remember an acquaintance told me about it years ago, but I have since forgotten. She had been reared using it regularly in her native India. I've been wanting to give it a try for so long...would you mind sharing?

Thank you.

Best,

[exurb]

yeah, more about the coconut oil on our hair! I have long hair that was always very smooth silky and shiny, but now that I'm getting older it is getting drier and I am forced to use conditioners or look like broomstraw. I put another oil on it once and it dulled the shine and took MONTHS for the dullness to go away - it was awful. I've wanted to try the coconut as I don't like using "products" where I can use something simple, but I'm skeered to due to past experience. Do you know if it will dull your hair? I was also wondering if I could put mashed avocado on the hair, but didn't know if that would dull it either.

BTW jaurequi I'm very happy with the Omega too, I've also used the virgin de coco creme Alissa sells and liked that too. I ran out once, and they had the Omega at the HFS and I really like it, you just have to be careful because Omega sells different levels of quality, one is cheaper and is not the raw virgin stuff, it is labelled "for cooking", so I make sure I get the other more expensive one.

[jorjeni]

I am black so I use coconut oil almost daily on my hair but I do know that it can also be used by caucasion as a conditioner. Put some on the end of your hair and put a plastic bag on it for about 15 mins. Then take off the bag and wait about 5 mins before shampooing. You can also use castor oil for this I hear Britney spears does this on her head.

I mix it with raw shea butter and put it on my hair and body.

[exurb]

cool, thanks for the info!!! Great tip with the bag, I'm going to go do that! I've used the coconut butter on my face, only problem with it is the cats love it and want to lick it!

Also on the raw shea butter, are there places you can get it where it's not crazy expensive - It was $35 for a couple ounces when I saw it in the store. :eek: I'd love to use it too but couldn't stomach that price. If that's the normal price, then oh well, but I just hate being gouged if it's available for less.

[jaurequi]

Thanks, jorjeni. So not on the roots, I guess. My acquaintance was Indian, and she told me it used all over India for beauty care.
I also use it for skin care it's nice.
Most of the shea butters, unfortunately, are not organic. I've seen only one source online but I haven't gotten around to purchasing it. I hate buying just one item. It seems so much trouble; but I probably will do so soon. The one I use right now is okay. It lasts forever because so little is necessary. It's also very nice for skin.

exurb, I love the Omega coconut oil :)

[ambiguous]

I use a tiny bit of coconut oil instead of conditioner; after showering I just take a little between my hands and rub my hands together, and work it through my hair. I have pretty short hair, and I only need maybe 1/4 - 1/2 tsp.

[maydolphin10]

$35 is def waaay overpriced. here is shea butter for $10.75 a lb http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/butter/butter.php
scroll down to the bottom

[sweetgoddess]

Alissa sells one of the absolute best coconut oils on her site. It is divine!



http://www.alissacohen.com/virginoildecococreme.html

[Dandelion Girl]

Revvell sells some pure unrefined shea butter on her site. I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but here is the address to find it.

http://eternal-harmony.com/

She tells about it in this thread. It sounds really good.

http://www.30dayrawchallenge.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9139&highlight=shea+butter

[jorjeni]

I get mine Shea butter locally but they do shipping

www.thescentshack.com


I get all my soap making and body butter making supplies from them since I can drive out to them.

[RowanC]

I bought some coconut oil last week and started putting it on my face, after washing with honey (thx rwpsts).

My face is as soft as a baby's butt! I just love it!
I did a lot of reading this week on it and have discovered it's good for a lot of things, even eczema. Wow!

I put it under my arms after my shower and NO body odor.. This ROCKS!

[Guydiane]

I use tropical traidation I buy it in the 1 gal tubs I use it all over my body instead of lotion the I use cream de cocoa for eating and food.

Coconut Smoothie

10-12 ice cubes
1 can coconut milk, or two portions homemade coconut milk
1 tablespoon Virgin coconut oil
1 tablespoon flax seeds ground as in flax seeds, ground
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon stevia powder
Place all ingredients in a blender and process at high speed until well combined. You may are more or less ice, depending on how cold you like a smoothie.

[English Tracy]

I am interested in this thread but a bit confused. I am a white European with grey hair underneath the rather fetching shade of brown that comes in a box!! :D

Anyway, when coconut oil is warm, it is a clear liquid but otherwise is white and solid. If you put warmed oil on your hair, doesn't it solidify and become difficult to remove? I am just imagining lumps of solid coconut in my hair...eeeeewwww!

Surely you must rinse it out of your hair but how do you do that if it is oily and/or solid?

I'll definitely give this a try if someone posts a step by step hair conditioning guide. Because my hair is naturally grey and very thick, it can be quite coarse as well so this does sound a good idea.

Thanks.

Tracy

[English Tracy]

Sorry - if my prev post re hair and coconut oil should be elsewhere and not in recipes (!!!) , could somebody move it. Thanks.

Tracy

[firefaery]

I actually wash my face with it-oil attracts oil and my face has never looked so good. IT pulls out all the bad gunk.
We eat coconut oil every day to help with healing up our guts. IT's a great source of lauric and caprylic acids. LIke I needed an excuse... :rolleyes:

[RowanC]

I am interested in this thread but a bit confused. I am a white European with grey hair underneath the rather fetching shade of brown that comes in a box!! :D

Anyway, when coconut oil is warm, it is a clear liquid but otherwise is white and solid. If you put warmed oil on your hair, doesn't it solidify and become difficult to remove? I am just imagining lumps of solid coconut in my hair...eeeeewwww!
Tracy

You know, Oprah did a show yesterday on Black/White dating and I loved it. The situations created by cultural differences were comical and on both sides often were created because of ignorance. Not stupidity, but simply ignorance of how another human lives.

On thing that bugged me was that she assumed we white girls knew about what black girls go through to get dressed or their beauty routines... for example, their hair. And honestly, most of us don't have a clue. I would LOVE someone to tell me.

Anyway.. I BELIEVE that the oil is used on black hair to sort of control it, make it stay in place. On white hair, however, I don't think it would work very well, unless you wear braids or dreadlocks. For us, I think you'd put it in your hair maybe the night before, then wash it out in the morning, for conditioning. I've tried using a bit on my hands and putting it on my hair and it just weighs it down. It doesn't solidify, like you're saying, but it's just too "heavy" for my fine European white hair.

I don't know... what do other people say?

Black girls... tell us about your hair! We need to know stuff!
I feel ignorant! ::giggling:::

[English Tracy]

RowanC, it is for hair-conditioning purposes that I'd like to find a good natural way of treating my hair. The 'softening' aspect of coconut oil was very appealing but I don't think I'd like to put it on overnight and rinse it off the next day. I think it would finish my dh off if he had a coconut covered wife next to him all night!!

The other thing that interests me is when people say they eat the coconut oil on crackers. I tried some on a spoon and it didn't go down too well although I have used it in the banana cream pie to firm up the filling. Can't get to grips with eating it 'neat' yet!!

Tracy

[jorjeni]

It's not uncommon for Europeans to use oil on their hair as you would think.

Just take some coconut oil rub it in your hands to melt it and rub it in your hair mostly on the ends. Then put a plastic bag over your head(or shower cap) for about 15 mins. take it off and let your head cool down like for 5 mins. This closes the hair cuticle and helps seal the condioner in your hair shaft. Then shampoo your hair the way you normally would.


HTH

[jorjeni]

You know, Oprah did a show yesterday on Black/White dating and I loved it. The situations created by cultural differences were comical and on both sides often were created because of ignorance. Not stupidity, but simply ignorance of how another human lives.

On thing that bugged me was that she assumed we white girls knew about what black girls go through to get dressed or their beauty routines... for example, their hair. And honestly, most of us don't have a clue. I would LOVE someone to tell me.

Anyway.. I BELIEVE that the oil is used on black hair to sort of control it, make it stay in place. On white hair, however, I don't think it would work very well, unless you wear braids or dreadlocks. For us, I think you'd put it in your hair maybe the night before, then wash it out in the morning, for conditioning. I've tried using a bit on my hands and putting it on my hair and it just weighs it down. It doesn't solidify, like you're saying, but it's just too "heavy" for my fine European white hair.

I don't know... what do other people say?

Black girls... tell us about your hair! We need to know stuff!
I feel ignorant! ::giggling:::


I didn't like the show at all. My sons father is white we had NONE of the situations that were mentioned or any of the differences. I have never had a problem getting my hair wet or letting someone touch my hair LOL!!

To answer your question there really isn't that big of difference in our hair routines we wash ,blow dry and curl our hair some go and get roller sets just the same as any other race. Some wash and go. Some of us do have to put oil in our hair but not all. It is due mostly to the tight curl of the some of our hair it prevents the natural oils from making it down the hair shaft. Like with white hair that is straight when you comb or brush it you are moving the oil from your scalp down your hair shaft. When someone who is white has really curly hair their hair is dryer for the same reason some one who is black with really curly hair.
Some black woman get a relaxer(like some white women get a perm to make their hair curly) to take the curl out of their hair not all but some some can just blow dry their hair straight just like some other races that can blow dry the curl out of their hair. Other just wear their hair in it's natural state. I do but I have braids right now.

HTH

[English Tracy]

Thanks Jorjeni. I will do what you say. My daughter used straighteners on my hair today which calmed it down a bit but I'm a 'wash and go' person and don't want to spend 1/2 hour each morning with the ceramic irons. plus I'm sure the heat wouldn't do the hair much good over a period of time. (My hair did look good though and my 19 year old son said with my hair straightened and under control, I looked years younger!!)

Tracy