Not quite surprising, coconut oil would pass as one of the most common ingredient in any household. The use of coconut oil for virtually everything:
- Cooking
- Makeup removal
- Body scrub and moisturizer
- Skin protection from UV rays
- To increase body metabolism
And a whole lot of other things can make anyone doubt the real efficacy of this nature’s gift. Actually, we should be more thankful for the sheer abundance of coconut oil. There have even been recent claims that coconut oil can help people lose weight and help them boost brain functions, particularly in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Now, I know you are starting to suspect the real effectiveness of coconut oil at any of the things I previously mentioned. Whether we like it or not, the fact remains that coconut oil has come to stay and it is quite good at the things it claims to do. Not to bore you with the obvious, I’d like to discuss another manner coconut oil has proven to be of huge relevance. Well, has you might have taken the cue from the topic of this article; I am here to discuss the usefulness of shaving with coconut oil.
There should be little surprise as to how coconut oil comes in handy to the shaving niche. If you are someone who really isn’t into keeping that body hair, you would have probably come across coconut oil for shaving. Perhaps, you’ve ignored those posts that proposed the coconut oil idea for no good reason, or you were just being ignorant. I hope to enlighten you on the good this natural supplement can do to your shaving life and why you may want to start using it more often.
Table of Contents
How Is Coconut Oil Made? – What Makes It So Special?
By now, you must be wondering what the fuss is about coconut oil. So here’s why this special oil grade really tick. Refined coconut oil is made basically from the dried kernel (meat) of coconut. The coconut oil industry calls this dried kernel the copra. There are various approaches to how the coconut can be dried:
- Smoke drying
- Sun drying
- Kiln drying
The drying method for the copra would determine the eventual edibility of the end product. While there are no industrial standards for what holds for virgin coconut oil, there are a couple of methods for producing virgin coconut oil. The two most prominent being the:
- The dry method
- The wet method
While the coconut is first dried and then the copra is processed, for the dry method, the wet method employs the use of a wet mill to extract the fresh coconut meat without drying first. The traditional wet milling method remains the best method to get high quality coconut oil.
It would also be useful to know that coconut oil has an incredibly high melting point which makes it to harden very fast even under room conditions. To prevent frequent solidification, I suggest you keep your coconut oil in the bathroom inside an airtight container. The heat from the shower would make would provide a hot condition for the oil to stay liquid.
Quick Bonus – Identify High Quality Coconut Oil
The number of ‘companies’ producing coconut oil seems to be on the increase by the day that it can become overwhelmingly difficult to set the good products from the bad products. Here’s a proven method to distinguish high quality coconut oil from the low quality ones. You only need to look out for the colour. High quality coconut oil is colourless. To check for this:
- Refrigerate the coconut oil till it is solid.
- If you notice any trace of gray or yellow stains, then the oil is low grade.
What Makes It So Special?
In most cases, you would be tempted to believe that the benefit coconut oil has to offer is limited to dietary benefits. However, coconut oil functions in a surprising way when used as hair oil, beard oil or moisturizer, shaving oil for your legs, underarms or literarily anywhere on your skin. This makes it just the best natural beard oil you can find around. The uniqueness of coconut oil as an ingredient for shaving is that it not only helps to soften the hair in the areas you want to shave (any other shaving oil would do that), it also protects the skin of the shaved area against infections that might arise from bruises or cuts. It reduces the chances of eczema or dandruff appearing in the skin by perfectly moisturizing the skin as you shave.
Perhaps you still haven’t seen a reason to change that shaving cream; maybe a look into the amount of heavy chemicals used in making those creams and the adverse effect they can cause when they accumulate skin by absorption would make you opt for a more natural alternative.
Boasting of vitamins, antioxidants and proteins, coconut oil has all it takes to replace the shaving cream. Make a wise decision today and safe yourself future troubles. Be it for smooth leg shave or beard shaving, you would find coconut oil useful for to achieve a perfect shave. So you’ve made a decision? Here’s how to shave with coconut oil.
How To Shave With Coconut Oil
Shaving with coconut oil is pretty much an easy process. Whether as a preshave or aftershave, coconut oil works just fine. You should note that coconut oil solidifies pretty fast so you might need to rub on your palms to dissolve it before applying on the skin area you want to shave. Coconut oil for shaving helps to make the beard hair or the hair on your legs soft, aiding easy shaving. It is quite unwise to shave a dry skin so I would advise that you should never try this. Shaving a dry skin makes you vulnerable to cuts, itches and infections so it is just wiser to steer clear from doing that.
Shaving Beards With Coconut Oil
Beard grooming is a mandatory exercise for any bearded man out there. There are several advantages to shaving beards with coconut oil, one which is the fact that coconut is intolerant of the bacteria dandruff that hides under the beards. I recommend that moisturizing your beards is a must before you start shaving. This is a good way to put beard itch in check.
Now, there are a number of moisturizers out there but opting for a more natural alternative should be your focus. Follow these steps to shave with coconut oil:
- Use your clean hands or beard brush to apply on a dry beard
- After you’ve applied sufficient quantity of the beard oil, start from the tip of the beard hair and stroke up to the hair root and skin.
- Leave the now moisturised beard for a few minutes as you massage intermittently. This is to make sure that the coconut oil spreads across the facial for proper effect.
- Comb and brush the beards to the root for absorption and softening.
- Shave the beards with a razor in the direction of the beard. Rinse your shaving razor after each few strokes.
- Dry the shaved area gently with a clean towel.
- Apply a little quantity of coconut oil as an aftershave to sooth the skin of the chin.
Shaving Legs With Coconut Oil
A perfect leg shave would require you to put in a considerable effort into the activities you do before you start shaving. For a preshave, I recommend you first exfoliate your skin. In lay terms, exfoliation is just a process that helps you remove the dead skin cells from the outermost layer of your skin. This would prevent these dead skin cells in your legs from clogging in the razor while you shave.
Gratefully, coconut oil can be made into a coconut cream for exfoliation. With a little quantity of coconut oil, Aloe Vera, essential oils such as peppermint mixed together in just 3-4 drops, you can get your coconut cream ready for exfoliation. Before you exfoliate, I suggest you take a warm shower to relax the pores of your hair follicle. Doing this would get your skin prepared for the razor.
Now that your coconut oil shaving cream is ready, the next step is to apply it on the hairs of the legs. Hairs on the legs are generally softer when moisturized, so a little quantity of the cream would be sufficient. You may apply with your hands or with a brush, although applying with your hands offers the advantage of melting the cream if it has solidified already.
With your hands or the brush, apply a fairly thick layer of the shaving cream on your legs and spread evenly across the legs ensuring that your skin absorbs the oil for a few minutes. Then gently shave the hair with a sharp razor blade in the direction of your hair growth, usually it is towards the ankle. With each few stroke you make with the razor blade, rinse the razor with a little warm water to prevent cut hairs from clogging underneath or the oil from making the razor sticky.
When you’re done with shaving, rinse the shaved area with warm water and pat dry with a clean towel. Immediately after shaving, the skin of the shaved area becomes easily irritated so avoid rubbing your hands or the towel too hard on your skin to prevent red spots that might arise from irritation.
After your skin must have been dried, apply a little quantity of the coconut on the area you just shaved to relax your hair follicle and prevent itchiness.
Conclusion
While you would most likely agree with me on the very many pros of using coconut oil as your shaving oil by now, getting a high quality product might prove to be a herculean task. Getting just the right product is as important as how you use this versatile oil grade. To ease your search, here is a unique coconut oil product that has met the requirement of standard coconut oil production. Get a coconut oil today and live a healthy life in style.
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