Coconut Oil for Your Skin Care

For some time I've been wanting to start a series to provide information about the different ingredients we use in our products.  In this series I will explain what the ingredients are, how they are used, and what qualities they contribute to the soap making process and/or skin benefits.  Today is the first installment in the series, with future installments scheduled every Monday until we have covered all of them.

What is Coconut Oil?  Here is the quoted explanation that I obtained from Wikipedia:  "Coconut oil or Copra oil is an edible oil extracted from the kernel or meat of matured coconuts harvested from the coconut palm (Cocos nucifera). It has various applications in food, medicine, and industry. Because of its high saturated fat content it is slow to oxidize and, thus, resistant to rancidification, lasting up to two years without spoiling.

Many health organizations advise against the consumption of high amounts of coconut oil due to its high levels of saturated fat"

Coconut Oil is the common name we are all familiar with.  In the skin care world, proper ingredient listing is required and known as INCI Nomenclature.  Products created for skin care usage should list this ingredient as "Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil" when it is used in products other than soap.  During the soap making process, the oil is transformed into a sodium that offers the same qualities as the original ingredient, but is no longer simply Coconut Oil.  As a result, the INCI Nomenclature for Coconut Oil in soap is "Sodium Cocoate" for bars and/or hard soap and in liquid soap you will see it listed as "Potassium Cocoate".

Coconut Oil is hard at temperatures below 76 degrees Fahrenheit.  Often used as one of the components in the trifecta of soap making oils - coconut, palm, and olive.  In it's hardened state, the oil is white in appearance.  Coconut Oil aids in the hardness and fluffy lather when used in soap, is light and not greasy, and has a long shelf life.  Used in skin care, coconut oil offers emollient, moisturizing, conditioning qualities to the skin.

In addition to skin care, Coconut oil has been gaining recognition and popularity for the health benefits it reportedly has to offer. Recently I discovered a blog that offers 101 Uses for Coconut Oil.  I have yet to try all of the suggested uses but  I'm curious to know if you have used coconut oil and what your experiences have been?  Good, bad, indifferent?