There are about 14 million alleged uses for coconut oil, some legit, some really lame. I bought some for myself and tried a few uses, here is my opinion on the real uses of coconut oil.

Coconut oil is the cool kid on the block right now. It has its moisturizing paws in every aspect of the beauty and health industry, claiming to be the solution to almost any aliment you may discovered, or self diagnosed yourself with off WebMD.

Here’s how coconut oil faired on some of my personal ailments;
(not an ad, just my opinions)

Coconut Oil for dry Hair –  I used the cold pressed coconut oil as a hair mask. It was like spreading butter on top straw with my fingers. When I washed it out, the end result was my hair feeling dry, sticky and dirty. Maybe I didn’t do it right, but this was a huge fail. My hair was so knotted.

As a Moisturizer – People like to use it as a natural moisturizer, so I tried it. Supposedly, its natural antioxidant properties make it great for stopping wrinkles and skin irritation. I like it in the summer a lot, just be careful going in the sun after application as it may cause sun attraction and result in sunburn. It wasn’t strong enough for me in the winter as a moisturizer.

A Tanning Oil – tanning supposedly isn’t in anymore, but as mentioned in the previous comment (above) it works well as a natural tanning oil.

Cooking fat: Great for cooking eggs, stir fries, and in baked goods, at least thats what the internet says. I got nervous and chickened out on this one.

As a Creamer in coffee. I did it, it was weird, but oddly ok. Steve, from Hawaiian 5-0 uses butter in his coffee for brain function so I thought, what the hell, why not coconut oil? I didn’t feel any advanced brain function though, just normal brain function.

As a facial mask. Not like a Halloween mask, although that could work. More like an overnight moisturizing mask. My skin is so dry, like leather from the depths of hell. This mask worked ok, again not as moisturizing as an overnight Aquaphor mask but it worked ok.

As body soap. I just washed with it instead of soap. It has natural antioxidant properties and it’s not like I was filthy or anything. Seemed to work fine, certainly helped with the awful skin tightness I feel in the winter after a really hot shower.

Eye makeup remover. Mehhh. Don’t stress it coconut oil, no one is perfect. I looked like the joker, I scared my kids, it certainly mushed all my makeup around my face but it didn’t actually get it off like it was supposed to.

Natural lip balm. Again, meh. My lips need something more intense.

As Shaving Cream. I felt like it clogged my razor more than a regular shaving cream would, but my legs did feel nice after.

To treat Eczema. Eczema is a condition where patches of skin become inflamed, itchy, red, cracked, and rough. On me it looks like someone put out a cigarette on my arm. Waverly also has eczema on her upper thighs, feels like patches of sandpaper on her, not usually red. For Waverly and myself, I used the coconut oil as a spot treatment, and regular moisturizer. While it did moisturize her skin I felt it wasn’t strong enough to really penetrate the eczema. Aquaphor does a much better job.

Oil Pulling for Oral health. Ok, so I read that to help with eczema you should try oil pulling. Basically, you slosh a tablespoon of coconut oil around in your mouth for 20 minutes. Yup, 20 minutes! Who has time for that? It is supposedly really great for your teeth and a bunch of other stuff, I wanted it for the treatment of eczema but I was only able to get up to 10 minutes before I couldn’t stand it any longer. It feels weird and I just didn’t like it so I didn’t see any results but some people swear by it.

As a skin treatment. I use it on my stretch marks when I remember to. I also used it when I burned my arm cooking over the holidays. My forearm touched the oven rack when I was getting cookies out. I kept applying the coconut oil to my burn and I honestly feel it helped heal it faster and reduced the scar. Might just be in my head, who knows.

All in all, coconut oil seems to suffice for some things, others were mehhh. I liked it as a soap, tanning oil and moisturizer in the summer. I couldn’t do that pulling crap and it weirded me out to cook with since I was also using it as a soap in the shower. What do you guys use it for? Anything else I should try?