Winter in Wisconsin is dry, dry, dry. Sure there is a lot of precipitation; in fact, this has been our snowiest December on record, but all that moisture is locked up inside each snowflake. A frozen desert, of sorts. My hair is a mess, my eyes are dry, my skin is scratchy, and I wake up parched. This is the time of year when you can walk across the carpet, touch some unsuspecting soul's ear and watch the sparks fly! We do not have any carpet, but the wood on our floor is contracting leaving cracks between the boards, much like the skin of my hands. Two days of cooking and constant hand washing for the holidays has turned the backs of my hands into sandpaper.

After swearing off synthetics, petroleum based, and plastic my medicine cabinet is a bit deserted as well. I had just finished off a big bottle of what I thought to be pure aloe vera gel from this summer (should have known it wasn't from the unnatural green color) and had yet to find a suitable alternative. Or had I? In my cabinet sits a lonely jar of coconut oil I had intended on using as hair conditioner after reading Crunchy's post about it. That was months ago and I still have yet to try it. Perhaps once my Aubrey conditioner runs out. Anyhoo... if it is good enough to eat and can soften hair, why not skin?


I have been using it daily for about a week now. My hands are healing, my legs are no longer a white, flaky, scaly mess, and I have stopped scratching myself raw. It comes in a glass jar - yea, no plastic! - you can buy at the grocery store. Coconut oil is solid at room temperature, but quickly turns to liquid from the warmth of your hand. You will need something to scoop/scrape it out with. Popsicle stick, tongue depressor, butter spreader, whatever you have on hand will be fine. Scoop some out and rub it on. I apply all over my body without any cravings for piña coladas. It really has no smell.


Coconut oil does not immediately absorb like a lotion. If that is what you are looking for you may be disappointed. I am okay with it for the winter. The bit left behind protects and provides moisture all day long. My skin is still silky soft when it is time to snuggle in for the night. Being fair skinned, I assume rubbing oil on my body in the summer would be a bad thing. Fried lobster anyone? Speaking of summer, I purchased my coconut oil back in July. It was hot upstairs and the oil liquefied. I recommend storing it someplace cool during warm temperatures. But for now I am digging it. It is all natural, plastic free, and it works!