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The Benefits of Coconut Oil for Hair

Coconut oil is generally thought of as something you find in the kitchen, not in the bathroom. You may be familiar with lots of great bath products that include a little coconut oil as a minor ingredient or augment their appeal with a coconut scent. But pure unrefined coconut oil has great value as a skin and hair product as well. The value in using coconut oil for hair lies in its tremendous capacity as a natural moisturizer. Women of the Indian sub-continent have known this for ages and regularly used coconut oil to achieve the silky, shiny hair that you see on the heads of Indian women of all ages. For a long time it was assumed that this hair has just a happy accident of nature: the genetics of Indian women favored beautiful, healthy hair. Or maybe even the climate was the key element. No doubt these factors played a role but Indian women also had the secret weapon of coconut oil at their disposal. They found that by regularly treating their hair with all-natural coconut oil, they could maintain a gorgeous, healthy head of hair.
Coconut oil is rich in saturated fats which are attracted to hair proteins meaning it can penetrate deep into the cortex of each hair strand to provide lasting moisture and protection from protein loss. Whether you choose to condition regularly with a coconut oil hair treatment, treat your hair occasionally with an intensive coconut oil hair mask or simply use coconut oil to style your hair, it will condition and moisturize your hair as well as any expensive salon conditioner. But those are just the cosmetic benefits. Coconut oil is also rich in lauric acid, a rare saturated fat with antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal properties. This helps keep the scalp free of the microbes and fungi that lead to dry, itchy scalp and dandruff. Coconut oil can even be used as an effective treatment against lice eggs and adult lice that attack the hair and scalp. Finally, there is even evidence that you can use coconut oil for hair growth! Coconut oil is rich in vitamin E which helps improve blood circulation to the scalp. This can revive damaged hair follicles and restore with the nutrients necessary for hair growth.
And finally, one of the best things about coconut oil is how expensive it is. Most of us have gotten used to paying expensive salon prices for what is being touted as the latest and greatest manufactured solution for damaged hair. Some of them work and some of them don't, but they will all cost you a pretty penny. Coconut oil will not break the bank. So start your search for healthier, shinier hair by buying coconut oil