Coconuts

I am a little bit of a hippie, insofar as

going natural whenever possible. Where health is concerned, prevention is preferable to treatment, in my opinion. 

This is why iv read a lot lately about the benefits of coconut oil. After some research, I went on the hunt for unrefined "virgin" coconut oil, without anything added or harmful processing. Forget about getting it at Walmart. I found it online, and in a health food store, and frankly, the cost is prohibitive to trying out all it's advertised usages. (As is the case with many "natural" alternative therapies.)

A case could be made that one would save money on traditional medical care by using alternatives. I'm sure that this is true. However, that is not true for me, because I don't seek traditional medical care. I haven't been to a dr. in 5 years. Before that, I hadn't been to one in 12 years. Then, it was only for childbirth.  It's not that I have anything against traditional care when necessary. Modern medicine certainly has its place. It's just that I seriously hate going to a doctor. So, I try to eat nutritiously, limit processed supposed food, take my vitamins, manage my weight, get some sunshine, fresh air, and exercise, and practice meditation and stress management. And then I look into things like essential oils and coconut oil.

 

This is a fairly large tub that I found at the health food store. It was $17.00. If used it for everything it could be used for, it would not last long. I just use it instead of body lotion. I seriously love it. 

Pros: It is an excellent moisturizer!! I get very dry and flakey, and this stuff nips that right in the bud! I purposely sought out "unrefined", so it has a light coconut scent. It soaks in pretty quickly, so I don't feel all greasy. 

Cons: This stuff is rock solid! Getting it out of the jar and onto the skin is an adventure. I did follow advice and whipped it up in my KitchenAid, and that solved the problem, except my A/C is misbehaving, and it gets warm enough up in here to melt it, which reduces it to it's natural state. 

That is the hole I have dug in the middle.

Another draw back is this; once one is freshly showered and coconut oiled up, any canines in residence will become obsessed with licking one's ankles. Or knees, depending on the size of the dog. 

     I mixed some coconut oil with a few drops of frankincense, both of which are supposed to be beneficial to cougar -er, I mean mature-skin.  I'm not excited about putting oil on my face. Whereas the rest of me tends toward dry, my face leans to the oily side. I used some of this concoction around my eyes once, and it melted a little and actually ran INTO my eyes, which wasn't awesome. 

So there is my coconut oil adventure.  Try it. You might like it!