Nourish your skin

I remember going  the dermatologist some years ago for a skin issue I had. After the check up she came to the conclusion that I had eczema, and sent me away with a prescription for some rather nasty smelling ointment and instructions to return in a few weeks for a follow up. I went home, got the meds and suffered, along with my roommate at the time (God bless her soul) with the awful smelling stuff. But it worked, my skin cleared up and at my follow up visit, she gave me instructions to avoid certain skin care products, made a suggestion for an alternative, gave me some life advice (go figure) and then sent me on my way.

Her alternative worked, up to a point. While it was a lot gentler, my skin did eventually rebel and sent me in search of alternatives to her alternative. 😩 This all happened around the time that I was seriously considering locing my hair, so I was already doing a lot of research. In the course of all that research I came upon many references to the benefits of shea butter and coconut oil. Now while, these products were not unfamiliar to me, I had never before intentionally sought to incorporate them into my skin care routine.

When I finally did, I almost kicked myself for not doing so sooner. These products are fairly easy to obtain in on the island with shea butter being sold in "natural" stores or by enterprising individuals who have seen the demand. Coconut oil is even more readily available and for those who are super into DIY projects, you can make your own as coconuts are fairly easy to acquire, either from the market, supermarket or some acquaintance's tree. Or if your granny from "country" is around, she will most likely be happy to whip you up a batch while regaling you with stories from back in the day.

When it comes to skin care, my skin tends not to react well to products with lots of ingredients and so simple is best. What has worked for me so far is a simple mix of shea butter and coconut oil as the main ingredients with vitamin E oil as well as some essential oils. I recently discovered a lovely scent on my last trip to Earth Elements (an all natural, organic skin, hair and body care supplies store), pink grapefruit. 😊

So, using these ingredients, I make my own body butter. That way I know exactly what the ingredients are and can customise them as I see fit.

Once I get all my ingredients together, I just get an electric mixer, a glass bowl and some good music. This time I was listening to Maroon 5. ♩♫♪♬♫♪♩

I used cold pressed virgin coconut oil, African shea butter, Vitamin E oil, jojoba oil and that awesome pink grapefruit essential oil.

As Jamaica is smack in the middle of the tropics, the coconut oil is in liquid form and the shea butter is the only solid ingredient to contend with, so no melting of ingredients is needed.

Combine all the ingredients in the glass bowl, crank up the music and get to mixing. After mixing for about ten minutes, the end result is super light, soft as a cloud, awesome smelling buttery goodness for your skin, and also your hair if you're into that kind of thing.