I am coocoo for the coco puffs found in coconut oil. My momma used this magnificent oil in her youth and her hair was thick like a disco queen. From a young age, our mother used to use the same natural oil on our hair. She would massage our scalp with it and use it on the ends. Thick hair galore! I encountered the magic of coconut when in Africa. I sat inside a salon in Africa getting my hair done and the lady next to me had extra thick natural hair. Apparently she was looking at my hair wondering “Wow you have thick hair” and little did she know I was wondering the same about her! Long story short, I asked her what oil she used and she said “coconut”! I was in a field of gold! There are so many magical things you can do with it…
1. Deep Condition your Hair
If you want more shine and softness, this is your go to oil. This is my little trick to loosen those curls when you’ve got those knots building up and you want that soft texture back. A great way to deep conditioner your hair once a week is to steam it.
To get: pail, boiled water, oil, towel
Wet your hair a little bit before putting on the oil. Water helps your hair absorb more moisture. Put your head over the pail of hot water (not too close so that the steam burns you). Stay there for 15-20 minutes. The steam will work it’s way up your face and up your hair. This is such a great way to sweat out toxins and exfoliate dead skin cells from your skin. You reap the benefits of natural oils cleansing the skin and softening your natural hair. After the steaming, you can just rinse off in the shower. No need to shampoo or condition. You can even leave the oil in your hair (remember to sleep with a silk head wrap) and wash off in the morning. Hello softness!
2. Get Rid of Flakes
If you want to get rid of flakes, or dandruff, start the habit of massaging coconut oil into your scalp. It contains anti-fungal properties that heal your scalp. As we’ve talked about before, most women experience hair loss because it all starts in the scalp. If the soil isn’t good, the crop won’t grow. You need to protect your scalp from breaking if you want long, healthy, hair.
3. For Daily Scalp Massage
Scalp massages with coconut oil will stimulate your scalp and increase circulation. If you can get into the habit of doing this daily, your hair will thank you. All you need is a few drops of oil. concentrate this oil on the tips of your fingers. Now you can start in circular motions moving evenly around your scalp. You don’t want to lay on the oil too thick in one go. Several layers are way more absorbed than once huge dump of oil.
4. Oil Pulling
I have heard of this Ayurveda practice since I have started reading more natural ways to heal our bodies. I am armed and ready to start my morning routine. All I need to create is a a habit. What is oil pulling? What you do is take a spoonful of pure virgin coconut oil (cold pressed) to swish around your mouth. You don’t want to use the refined stuff! You’ll be swishing stuff that has sugar around your mouth for 20 minutes! Yikes! That means cavities.
Remember not to swallow it. You are taking toxins out of your blood so you don’t want anything else going back in.
Remember to spit into a garbage can so that you don’t clog your drains! Yuck! More details on this method later.
5. Skin Smoother
I mix this in with some sea salt and there I have my body exfoliation for the day. After the shower, I can apply coconut oil again to my skin.
Q: What’s your favorite natural oil?
