My Top Six Uses of Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is something the west discovered fairly recently, but we in India have been swearing by it for ages, millennia actually.
Coconut oil is deep rooted in Indian traditions and for very good reason.
Indian heritage uses many natural herbs and oils that are very useful in order to heal the body and provide nourishment and good health. I use organic cold pressed coconut oil, and that is the kind I would recommend.
Coconut oil is one such magical oil that provides so much! Read on to know my top six uses:

1. Moisturiser and lip balm - You can use this as a lip balm and as a body moisturizer. I have personally tried this and I am absolutely satisfied with the results! Your skin will very well moisturized without any of the harmful chemicals.
In a tropical climate like ours (India), it is almost always liquid, so in summers, you can use it at home before bed. When it's colder outside, it turns solid so you can carry it around in a little tub and use it during the day as well.

2. During and post shower - In the shower, use coconut oil as a shaving cream substitute. After your shower, apply coconut oil liberally all over your body. Coconut oil will hydrate dry skin, and helps to soothe skin after shaving. Coconut oil also has a natural SPF and is a great and easy way to protect your skin from harmful rays and sun damage.

3. Hair leave in conditioner - After you wash your hair, let it air dry or use a cotton t-shirt to absorb the water. After hair is fairly damp, or semi dry, apply coconut oil to the ends and part of the length of your hair. There is no need to apply to the roots. The ends need most nourishment so be most liberal here. Instead of using chemical laden conditioners, it is best to use a natural product like coconut oil. Your hair will thank you. This works best for thick/coarse hair. If you have fine or limp hair, don't use this as it will weight down your hair.

4. Vegan substitute in baking - It is a great substitute for butter, milk, eggs, shortening and so many more. Check out this link for comprehensive information. That website on the whole is a wonderful resource for learning more about your journey towards veganism.

5. Anti acne - Although people do believe that acne and pimples are caused due to oil and sebum in skin, and that oil would make it worse, they're wrong. Coconut oil has anti bacterial properties, and it will work to combat the harmful bacteria, which is the root cause of these skin issues. If you feel it is more severe, you can also mix it with a little bit of tea tree oil, as it has strong purifying and antibacterial properties. Just dab on a little, leave it overnight, and you will see a change in the morning!

6. Boost Nutrients in Smoothies – Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of coconut oil to any fruit smoothie for a boost of cholesterol fighting compounds. Side benefit? It improves the texture and taste of smoothies, while adding healthy fats to your diet. Over time, if you enjoy the taste, you can add it to vegetable smoothies as well. It'll help make it more palatable as people do take some time to get used to the taste of vegetable smoothies!

These are just a few of the awesome results that you can get from coconut oil. It is truly a versatile ingredient with uses from skincare to food to healing to being a part of your vegan/vegetarian journey! Would you like to see more articles about healthy, DIY and organic skincare? Let me know in the comments below!


Photo Credit: Well-beingsecrets

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Goody Bag from the Dabur Vatika Hair Oil Launch

As you might know, I attended an event last Saturday, for the launch of Dabur Vatika hair oil. I received a goody bag from the event.

What was inside?

A bottle of Enriched Coconut hair oil, along with their newly launched Jasmine Coconut Oil, and a gift wrapped box! Wonder what's in it?

It's a Philips ceramic hair straightener! Quite a generous gift, but I try to use heat styling products as less as possible - say, once or twice a year at max. It is quite sleek, however.

I am definitely looking forward to trying out the hair products though.

 
Thank you, Vatika!

Dabur Vatika Jasmine Hair Oil - Product Launch

I attended the Dabur Vatika Jasmine Coconut Hair Oil product launch on Saturday. It was part of a special feature, Dabur + Indiblogger, where 40 female bloggers from all over the city were invited to be part of the exciting new launch.

This was the very first launch I attended and it was a great experience. Being my first, I really have nothing to compare it with, but I'll tell you what happened there; and I'm sure you'll agree with me.

First off, a live band performance, including Vineet of Indiblogger! It was a pleasant surprise and super fun. Everyone sang along (whoever knew the words) and the others were swaying, foot-tapping, and just generally enjoying the music.

After that, there was a bout of headbanging, both on and off stage. The stage effects were very well executed and it really made a difference to the atmosphere of the place. 

That definitely took the energy level up a few notches.

After that, there was a session with Dabur representatives who told us about the history of Dabur as a company as well as the evolution of their hair products with time. They sell way more merchandise variants globally, as compared to their India offerings. I wonder why they don't sell the same in India?

Then came the actual product unveiling.

The background you see in the band pics? Yep, that actually slid apart to reveal a human size model (not life size - a bottle's life size would be the bottle size. Because that's true to life. However, this was human size). Also, the light and smoke effects were there even previously at the band performance. But this was a step ahead. When the big reveal happened, the air filled with a jasmine scent that seemed to come out of nowhere! I was glad to be a part of live experiential marketing, again a first for me. I even tweeted about it here.

After that, the Dabur reps and the bloggers discussed remedies and tips for hair care.

Post the bonding session, we had lunch. Here's some dessert:

Ferrero Rocher Ice cream!

Cheesecake

Oh and another cool thing: there was a station outside where once could get 'champi' or hair oil massage with the new Jasmine Hair Oil from Vatika. This was followed by a wash, and hairstyling. Such indulgence! And a few of my fellow bloggers waiting their turn :)

I got a goody bag too! But that's for another post.

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