BENGALURU: When it comes to skin and hair care, little can any product compete with the multitasking coconut-based products. While coconut-based hair and skin oil is known to have pre-grooming conditioning effects on hair, its varied components such as Vitamin E makes it an ideal agent with skin-care benefits.
From the earliest recorded times, plant-based oils have been used in skin-care. There is a renewed interest in coconut-based skin oil for care in recent times, both for restoring the environment of the skin-surface and in skin ailments. Coconut-based skin oil is a very able moisturiser, with head-to-head studies concluding it to be at par with, and in some cases superior to, mineral oil as an emollient.
Regular application of coconut-based skin oil has found to improve skin hydration and strengthens the barrier lipids in the skin. Its small particle size allows for easy absorption in the skin, penetrating to the deeper layers easily to provide a thorough moisturising effect to the skin. By reducing water loss from the skin, coconut-based skin oil also helps moisturise the skin for longer.
Environmental pollution, over-sanitising in the Covid times and the climatic changes, all of these have a drastic downside of drying out skin surface. Coconut-based skin oil is a simple, easily attainable and cost-effective product to tackle these side effects.
Interestingly, the absorption of coconut-based skin oil into the skin and subsequent breakdown into Monolaurin and Lauric acid, which are known antimicrobial agents, has been observed to improve skin-barrier function in low birth-weight babies. The skin barrier function improvement leads to improved weight gain by better thermo-regulation. Thus, regular massaging with coconut-based skin oil will help fight infections in premature infants and help them keep safe.
Touted as an anti-bacterial agent, coconut-based skin oil reduces bacterial colonisation in people with extremely dry skin, prone to itching and rash. In cellular studies, coconut-based skin oil has also exhibited anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties.
What adds to the glorious properties of coconut-based skin oil is its remarkable safety, low irritancy, non-toxic and non-sensitising nature With the method of double-cleansing totally in trend, coconut-based skin oil has been used as the first step in removal of make-up or sunscreen before cleaning the face with a regular cleanser. It is especially gentle to eyes when removing eye-make up, hydrating the delicate area around the eye instead of stripping the natural oils like with make-up removers. Caution is advised while using coconut-based skin oil on face for acne-prone skin, since it is a comedogenic substance.
Coconut-based skin oil has properties that protect and repair your skin barrier. It is an easily available, economical, safe and effective moisturiser for the body skin.
(The writer is the founder-member at Sarin Skin Solutions)
Dr Jushya Bhatia Sarin