Have you chosen a specific coconut oil for skin care yet? I ask you that because different types of coconut oil perform differently on your skin due to their somewhat different composition and hence, behavior towards skin. Therefore, you should get the right kind of coconut oil for your skin needs first before anything else if you have not done so.
1. What kind of coconut oil is best for your skin?
Because medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs) readily penetrate, moisturize and soften your skin, you can use fractionated coconut oil (which contains purely MCFAs) for your skin care. It is good when use alone, or you can use it as a carrier oil for essential oil too.
Virgin coconut oil, on the other hand, contains not just MCFAs, but some amount of long-chain fatty acids too. In comparison, it may not permeate your skin as fast as that of fractionated coconut oil. But it still serves as a good skin care product since all its fatty acids are good at fighting bacteria, fungi, viruses, free radicals and parasites that attack your outer and inner layer of skin.
In short, fractionated coconut oil penetrates skin relatively faster, but its antimicrobial properties can't match that of virgin coconut oil. So, which one should you use?
If you're already consuming virgin coconut oil as food for health purpose, I don't see the need for you to buy fractionated coconut oil separately for skin care.
But if you can afford to get virgin coconut oil for health and fractionated coconut oil for skin, why not?
2. Organic
Pesticides, chemicals and other harmful micro-contaminants (that you cannot see with your bare eyes) can get inside your body via your skin, hence you should try to use organic coconut oil for skin care where possible.
However, it's easy to get real (certified) organic virgin coconut oil for skin care, but you can hardly find fractionated coconut oil in organic form. Even if you see certain brands claiming their fractionated coconut oil as organic, they're actually not certified (look for the "Certified Organic" label or text and you would find none).
This could probably be due to the high production cost already involved in making fractionated coconut oil and if manufacturers were to use truly certified organic coconut oil as the source to make fractionated coconut oil, the entire production cost would increase dramatically and make fractionated coconut oil too expensive to be bought.
But that does not mean fractionated coconut oil is fraught with chemicals and pesticides. As far as I know, tests have been done on coconuts that are not grown organically but which contain no traces of toxic residues in the meat, as well as in the oil. Therefore, even when you use such non-organic coconut oil as the source in the manufacturing process, fractionated coconut oil may not necessarily contain harmful chemicals or pesticides, unless the process itself uses chemicals.
My point is, it's still pretty safe to use fractionated coconut oil for skin care if you don't mind whether it is certified organic or not.
3. Test first
Although both virgin and fractionated coconut oil are hypoallergenic (low allergy-risk), I think you should rub a very small amount on the inside of your elbow area to test for any allergic reaction especially when this is the first time you use coconut oil for skin care or when you change to a new brand of coconut oil, just to be on the safe side.
Most allergic reactions should respond within 24 hours. If after waiting a day and nothing happens, that means you should be able to safely use the coconut oil for skin care.
But please keep in mind that sometimes the so-called allergic reaction on skin upon using coconut oil may just be due to the detox effect of coconut oil. How do you differentiate the detox effect from the real allergic reaction of coconut oil?
When you rub coconut oil on a small area (about 2 cm x 2 cm) of your skin for testing and if some kind of rashes appear after an hour or so, don't just quit using coconut oil but instead, keep applying to the same spot again for the next 2–3 days. The rashes should stop. And if the rashes stop, it shows that coconut oil is actually doing toxin purging for your skin.
But if the rashes persist, it might be that you're using a low quality coconut oil (that have contaminants in it) on your skin. Therefore, it's really very important to choose top quality coconut oil for skin care uses.
Another thing is if you use coconut oil on the skin of your face, some bumpy whiteheads may appear. This is another mistaken "allergic reaction" of coconut oil. Again, it's the detox effected by coconut oil. (Read Coconut Oil for Acne if you're interested to find out the detox effect of coconut oil on skin.)
4. Cleanse thoroughly
With a layer of oily dirt or makeup on your face or other parts of your skin, you can't expect the coconut oil you use to get absorbed into your skin efficiently and effectively.
So, make sure you cleanse your skin thoroughly before you apply the oil. This is a crucial step for skin care with coconut oil.
5. Make it thin
Always apply a thin layer of coconut oil over your skin and rub or massage it well to help its absorption into your skin. If you feel the need for second application, do so with another thin film as well. But never apply and rub too much at once as too much coconut oil can saturate your skin easily and make it feel uncomfortably greasy.
If you're using coconut oil as a sunscreen, you may need to apply multiple thin layers for protection against UV radiation. The hotter the sun is, the more layers of coconut oil your skin would need.
6. Enhance the use of coconut oil on your skin
Did you realize that your skin will look bad when you take junk food but it will look good when you take health food?
Even when you use a good quality coconut oil for skin care your skin may not glow to its fullest potential. Hence, you should also consume more health food especially those that carry skin-beneficial nutrients like dark green leafy vegetables and fruits that are rich in vitamin C. You are what you eat.