Coconut oil as a lotion and Soap

[Tooter]

Originally Posted by Briar

Stay out of the Sun! Coming from someone who has had melanoma, had 2 major scars for a tiny tiny mole to remove it, It just is not worth it! Use your fake stuff. Do NOT go into the real sun, I can kill you! Off my psa soap box now.!

I am so thankful that you survived that.

My Husband and I recently bought a boat and do alot of boating during good weather. You can't exactly stay out of the sun when You are boating.

I have done alot of reading on sun screens and they are not healthy at all. In fact alot of information points to them being poisonous and actually causing Skin cancer. It's like...What the heck are you supposed to do?

I have done alot of reading on coconut oil. It does offer some sun protection and does help in healing. Of coarse you can't "over do" it.

Before? I would have been covered from head to toe with clothes or stayed inside the boat. My feet and my face would burn (and that's with sun screen).

Last year was so different. I didn't bake myself outside...But I truly enjoyed myself without fear of the sun. I also made sure I didn't over expose myself to the Sun. I didn't burn, I didn't peel...And I actually got a Tan (for me).

I also seem to suffer from the Seasonal light thing. Grey, dark days really effect me. Some time in the Sun really helps me with that. Maybe it's because the Sun makes our bodies produce vitamin D.

I guess what I am trying to say is...I think there has to be a healthy balance.
We have been taught to fear the sun and shun it. Like it has no benefits at all. I believe it does have benefits, it just must be respected.

I really appreciate your post. I truly do and I thank you so much for sharing what you have been through and your warning.

I am just trying to find a Healthy balance and believe that the coconut oil is helping me with that.

[dawnyama]

I personally agree with Tooter. From the info I have gathered, it is the sunscreen that is more harmful. I too burn and then peel and then go back to being very fairskinned. I tried coconut oil as my sunscreen last year and was very happy with my results. I don't go out in the sun to tan anymore (that was when I was a teenager) but when I am out with my kids at the pool, if they are invited to someones as we don't have one, I put on coconut oil and use it as an after suncare as well. It works for me.

Coconut oil is great for everything. I just went to the pediatrician for my son's yearly physical and he suggested using "cooking oil" for his excema. He said now some people won't use something like Crisco on their son's skin however that is about what you want to use. The ped suggested Eucerin or Vaseline, but like Tooter posted earlier we don't want to use that. So he started the coconut oil after bathing with a lotion on top of that. We shall see how it works...Oh and the reason it works on so many things is coconut oil is antimicrobial, antiviral and antibacterial. The diaper area is damp and dark. Yeast likes to hang out in environments like that. Most diaper rashes are yeast rashes. When my kids would get rashes in that area the pediatrician would recomend Lotriman--an antifungal lotion. It works better than the Desitin for diaper rashes because while the Desitin might prevent, Lotrimin would heal. HTH.

[Tooter]

Originally Posted by dawnyama

I personally agree with Tooter. From the info I have gathered, it is the sunscreen that is more harmful. I too burn and then peel and then go back to being very fairskinned. I tried coconut oil as my sunscreen last year and was very happy with my results. I don't go out in the sun to tan anymore (that was when I was a teenager) but when I am out with my kids at the pool, if they are invited to someones as we don't have one, I put on coconut oil and use it as an after suncare as well. It works for me.

Coconut oil is great for everything. I just went to the pediatrician for my son's yearly physical and he suggested using "cooking oil" for his excema. He said now some people won't use something like Crisco on their son's skin however that is about what you want to use. The ped suggested Eucerin or Vaseline, but like Tooter posted earlier we don't want to use that. So he started the coconut oil after bathing with a lotion on top of that. We shall see how it works...Oh and the reason it works on so many things is coconut oil is antimicrobial, antiviral and antibacterial. The diaper area is damp and dark. Yeast likes to hang out in environments like that. Most diaper rashes are yeast rashes. When my kids would get rashes in that area the pediatrician would recomend Lotriman--an antifungal lotion. It works better than the Desitin for diaper rashes because while the Desitin might prevent, Lotrimin would heal. HTH.

dawnyama, thank you for your post and Please keep us posted about your son. I have my fingers crossed for you both.

[aim in Fla*working]

tooter...how can it provide some protection? is it just for emoilent(sp/?) properties?

[Tooter]

Originally Posted by aim in Fla*working

tooter...how can it provide some protection? is it just for emoilent(sp/?) properties?

Let me go get some info...brb

[aim in Fla*working]

thank you!!!!! SO much!!

[wifezilla]

Soap making is an absolute blast! There is nothing more satisfying than mixing oils and lye and ending up with a completely different product - Soap!

I cheat I buy melt & pour when I find it on sale.
Make Melt and Pour Soap

The last time I made some, I added a bunch of olive oil and made my own "castille soap". The bars lasted a really long time.

[Tooter]

Vitamin D, the Sun and why we’re not getting enough of both

In that article it states this:

If you must use sunscreens, look for more “natural sunscreens” which are available at holistic health stores. Some natural sunscreens use plant oils such as sesame, coconut, peanut, olive and cottonseed oils, which are natural sunscreens and block between 20%-30% of UV rays.

----------------------


GINOCO Extra Virgin Organic Coconut Oil


In this article it states how it has a long History of being used as a sunscreen in the "Islands".

---------


I'll go find more...But have to run. Kids just came home (right in the middle of me searching).

I'll be back later.

[Tooter]

I'm trying to find links that don't violate TOS. I don't have alot of time right now, but should post more (after searching) later tonight or tomorrow.

[wifezilla]

As for the sun topic....well....I am going without sunscreen this year too. It has NEVER stopped me from burning anyway!

Here is a blog post I wrote a while back about Sun exposure, vitamin D, and my theory on what really causes skin cancer....
Wifezilla's Way: In Defense of the Sun

[lcinlv]

Hi Wifezilla,
That is a very interesting article you wrote. It sounds like you used a liquid vitamin C. Do you think vitamin C powder mixed in with coconut oil and almond oil would be effective?

[wifezilla]

It depends on the type of vitamin C powder. From what the other experimenter told me (AloeGirl from Pioneer Thinking), it had to be L-Ascorbic Acid or it wouldn't absorb in to the skin.

"Physiologic process related to absorption, solubility and transport limit the amount that can be delivered into the skin. Direct application has added advantage of targeting the antioxidants to the area of the skin needing the protection. Based on in vitro studies, vitamin C should be formulated at pH levels less than 3.5 to enter the skin. Tissue levels are saturated after three daily applications; the half-life of tissue disappearance is about 4 days.6

In the skin, ascorbic acid acts as an antioxidant by scavenging and quenching free radicals (protects the aqueous environment) and by regenerating vitamin E from its radical form. After loss of a second electron, the resulting oxidation product dehydroascorbic acid can be regenerated by dehydroascorbic acid reductase, or as frequently happens, may decay as the lactone ring irreversibly opens.5

Vitamin C may also act as a pro-oxidant in the presence of transitional metal ions, such as iron.7 L-ascorbic acid is essential for collagen biosynthesis; it serves as a cofactor for proline and lysine hydroxylases, enzymes necessary for molecular stability and intermolecular cross-linking, respectively.8

It has been reported that vitamin C regulates collagen synthesis and production9 as it stimulates type I procollagen synthesis in cultured human skin fibroblasts.10,11

L-ascorbic acid may inhibit elastin byosynthesis12 and could therefore, be useful for reducing the increased elastin accumulation that occurs in photoaged skin.13"

"There are various cosmetic products20-23 available in the United States that contain different forms of vitamin C; however, the data presented only applies to products for which there is supporting published literature. These products contain L-ascorbic acid as an active ingredient and differ only in the vehicle in which they are contained.

Vitamin C has a beneficial effect in photodamaged and aged skin. With increasing age, the number of papillae in the epidermal-dermal junction zone in human skin is reduced. It has been reported that with the use of 3% ascorbic acid there is a significant increase in the density and number of dermal papillae. This may explain the therapeutic effect for partial corrections of structural changes associated with the aging process.24,25

Humbert et al, performed a double-blind, randomized study in which they compared vitamin C 5% cream to placebo. Applying the cream daily for 6 months, they observed a statistically significant improvement of hydration, wrinkles, glare and brown spots in the vitamin C 5% group. Analysis of the skin replicas showed that, compared with placebo, there exists a highly significant increase in the density of skin microrelief as well as decrease of deep furrows with the vitamin C over a 6 month period.20

A statistically significant improvement is reported in photoaged skin with the use of 10% ascorbic acid. Biopsies in a study by Fitzpatrick and Rostan showed an increase in Grenz zone collagen and collagen type I.26

Another author reports the efficacy of L-ascorbic acid in photodamage facial skin. Traikovich demonstrated statistically significant improvement in 84.2% of the treated patients over placebo patients. 21

Vitamin C it has also been reported as an effective treatment for melasma. Espinal-Perez et al, performed a study in patients with melasma in Mexico using 5% ascorbic acid versus 4% hydroquinone. They observed that the best subjective improvement was in the hydroquinone group, however colorimetric measures showed no statistical difference. Subjects treated with ascorbic acid and hydroquinone had side effects in 6.5% and 68% respectively; the most common side effects were redness and irritation.22

Besides vitamin C uses in photorejuvenation and melasma, Ikeno et al, performed a study in patients with facial acne vulgaris. They compared topical vitamin C 5% to topical clindamycin 1% (Cleocin). The patients in the vitamin C group showed improvement 75% (28/37) compared with 54.5% (18/33) in the Clindamycin group. Means percentage reductions in inflammatory and non-inflammatory lesion counts were statistically significant in the vitamin C treatment group compared with the Clindamycin treatment group (P≤0.01 and P≤0.05, respectively).27"
CME #126: Topical Uses of Vitamin C -Skin & Aging

[lcinlv]

Thank you for all the information and the quick reply

[Locarb4me]

Originally Posted by WildflowerMama

Just a little note on making lye soap with coconut oil. I'm a soapmaker, I also make lotions and other body products. Coconut oil is amazing in body products. It has wonderful skin loving properties as well as internal health benefits.

However, coconut oil in soap is actually a cleansing oil. It's not a moisturizing oil once it has gone through the saponification process that occurs when lye is combined with oils to produce soap.

It's a wonderful addition to soap - gives tons of luscious, wonderful lather, however, in and of itself, once it has saponified, it becomes a cleansing oil and it will be drying on the skin. However, when combined with more moisturizing oils, coconut oil is a terrific addition to soap - in fact, I don't soap without it. But, I add it in smaller amounts to combat the dryness of coconut oil once it's been saponified.

However, as I said before, coconut oil is amazing straight up on the skin or combined with other oils to make conditioner or lotion, balms, massage oils etc....

I agree with you except that....did you know you can hugely superfat the coconut oil soaps and end up with something totally amazing? I'm talking 20-25% lye discount. It's kind of a new thing that some soapmakers have been trying the past year maybe. FWIW

[Locarb4me]

Originally Posted by WildflowerMama

Oops! I missed this post That's funny, I've tried the 20% superfat too You don't happen to be on a certain soap board do you?

Um yep. I'm BubbleBee!

[Locarb4me]

Originally Posted by wifezilla

I cheat I buy melt & pour when I find it on sale.
Make Melt and Pour Soap

The last time I made some, I added a bunch of olive oil and made my own "castille soap". The bars lasted a really long time.

Wifezilla, you're missing out on some amazing bath experiences if you haven't used really well made handmade soap! Melt and Pour is better than it used to be, but doesn't hold a candle to a good cold process soap made with quality ingredients.

Now that there are two of us soapmakers squattin' on this thread feel free to PM us! We can turn you on to some lovely stuff

I read a book by Bruce Fife on why virgin coconut oil is so amazingly good for us inside and out. It's the fatty acid profile that is unique in the plant world. According to him that's why the Polynesian peoples (and other tropical populations) can live out in the sun all their lives and have a very low incidence of skin cancer. Palm and coconut oils actually prevent skin damage from UV rays.

[Locarb4me]

Originally Posted by Tooter

I'm trying to find links that don't violate TOS. I don't have alot of time right now, but should post more (after searching) later tonight or tomorrow.

That's why I was so cagey about posting my link to making soap. I'm more careful now that I've gotten my knuckled popped a time or two posting links with sales stuff on them

[WildflowerMama]

Originally Posted by Locarb4me

Um yep. I'm BubbleBee!

Hey! I'm Amcal

[wifezilla]

I'm too strapped for time to do it right

I will have to cheat for a little longer...or until I retire

[Tooter]

Originally Posted by wifezilla

As for the sun topic....well....I am going without sunscreen this year too. It has NEVER stopped me from burning anyway!

Here is a blog post I wrote a while back about Sun exposure, vitamin D, and my theory on what really causes skin cancer....
Wifezilla's Way: In Defense of the Sun

Very cool read. Thank you for the link to that.

[Tooter]

Originally Posted by Locarb4me

That's why I was so cagey about posting my link to making soap. I'm more careful now that I've gotten my knuckled popped a time or two posting links with sales stuff on them

[Tooter]

Originally Posted by Locarb4me

Wifezilla, you're missing out on some amazing bath experiences if you haven't used really well made handmade soap! Melt and Pour is better than it used to be, but doesn't hold a candle to a good cold process soap made with quality ingredients.

Now that there are two of us soapmakers squattin' on this thread feel free to PM us! We can turn you on to some lovely stuff

I read a book by Bruce Fife on why virgin coconut oil is so amazingly good for us inside and out. It's the fatty acid profile that is unique in the plant world. According to him that's why the Polynesian peoples (and other tropical populations) can live out in the sun all their lives and have a very low incidence of skin cancer. Palm and coconut oils actually prevent skin damage from UV rays.

*raising my hand* Hey, I need to learn from ya too!!

I don't know very much about Palm oil and I am a virgin to making soap. I would love any info you could point me to or give me.

[*KatNip*]

me too!! I'd love to make my own soap.

Tooter- Palm oil is a saturated fat, it's excellent to cook with if you dont want the coconut flavor in your food. I use the spectrum organic "vegetable shortening" to cook, It's just palm oil, I dunno why they call it vegetable shortening. There is also a red palm oil which is liquid I believe. That's all I know about palm oil lol. I know I had to venture out to find a great cooking oil cuz DH doesn't like the flavor of coconut in everything, and I didn't wanna use the refined coconut oil.