Going Coconutty!

If you've flipped through any magazines lately or scrolled through your Instagram feed you will have been unable to avoid seeing the latest ‘healthy’ product craze. Coconut oil, balm, paste, cream, water… It’s all supposedly brilliant for you, whether you’re using it in your cooking or slathering yourself in it before bed. It has been described through various sources as a ‘superfood’, having the ability to reduce your hunger, burn fat and give you more energy. Other claims describe its uses as a moisturiser, sunscreen and to protect damaged hair.

The product I used recently is Coconut Water & Coconut Oil Masque. It can be bought from Superdrug for only £3.99 (£2 per 100mL) and is marketed as a conditioning, ‘hydrate and shine’ masque. It is claimed the product adds shine and repairs and strengthens hair to prevent its breakage.

First impressions of the masque were very good. It has a pleasant smell, not too sweet, more of a fresh scent. The look is clean; a pure white colour with a lovely gloss and the texture isn't too greasy as I had initially imagined. There are two directions for use on the packaging. It explains that the product can be used more like a normal conditioner and left in the hair for two minutes or left as a masque for longer – ten minutes. After using it for two minutes, not only was my hair softer but it was also a lot easier to untangle. The softness lasted the whole day so I was fairly excited to use it as masque and see if it had an even greater effect.

Unfortunately, I can’t say there was much of a difference using it for ten minutes. It still had the lovely effect of softening and de-tangling my hair but I wouldn't particularly recommend using it for longer to any advantage. I did, however, find an alternate use for the masque! I decided to use it in place of a shaving cream when shaving my legs (I’d run out of regular cream but was in desperate need to remove the layer of what can only be described as ‘fur’ on my legs!) and have to say it was lovely! My legs were a lot smoother than normal afterwards and my skin wasn't nearly as dry, which is normally a big problem for me.

Overall, I will be continuing to buy the masque for an occasional use as a conditioner and regular use as a shaving cream. For only £3.99 it is definitely worth a try!

Let me know if you've tried any other coconut products you’d recommend or whether you've also tried this one – I’d love to hear from you!

Rose