Skin care benefits of extra virgin coconut oil

Extra virgin coconut oil, touted for its luxurious and incredible moisturizing properties, is a natural treatment that delivers numerous skin care benefits.

Despite the abundance of lotions and potions making extreme promises and claims, sometimes the simplest ingredients prove to be the best at providing results.

One issue with typical moisturizers is their high water content, which sounds good in theory. However, once the water evaporates, the skin underneath the product begins to dry out as well.

Coconut oil, however, is a pure oil with no water content, which enables it to deeply moisturize skin without suffocating pores (which some petroleum-based products can do).

• This intense moisturizing increases the strength of underlying tissues and even improves skin texture by exfoliating dead skin cells.
• Coconut oil also absorbs quickly and contains natural antibacterial, anti-fungal and antiviral properties, which all help to reduce incidents of acne.

Coconut oil is an excellent way to both prevent and minimize wrinkles by boosting the skin's overall collagen production.

Collagen, a vital protein that connects skin tissue, decreases over time, thus leading to wrinkled skin commonly associated with ageing.

• Coconut oil's ability to preserve the amount of collagen in skin makes it both a preventative measure and a treatment for existing lines.

Coconut oil is full of fat — but luckily it's the good kind!

The oil's healthy and ample fat content serves to strengthen cellular walls, and its antioxidants fight damaging free radicals that age skin.

• The presence of these healthy fats combined with coconut oil's ability to promote faster skin repair and collagen production makes it the perfect treatment to reduce and prevent the appearance of stretch marks.

In one peer-reviewed study, topically applied extra virgin coconut oil treated wounds quickly due to the oil's antimicrobial properties.

The fatty acids found in coconut oil also enable wounds to heal faster due to their positive effect on collagen production and cellular repair.

Studies have even shown that new blood vessels form faster around the area of skin trauma when coconut oil is applied topically to the wound, which in turn leads to less scarring.

Clinical trials have also demonstrated that extra virgin coconut oil improves skin conditions such as eczema, keratosis pilaris, psoriasis and rosacea.

Even celebrities are known to use coconut oil in their beauty and wellness routines.

Affordable and effective, coconut oil is truly one of the best skin care treatments available.