i wanted to try using EVCO on my 16 month olds body/face for KP.. but... i was wondering, how do i use it? just massage in twice a day? put in after bath? what about for his face?

can i use NORMAL coconut oil or does it have to be extra virgin?

I use normal. I haven't tried EV so I can't give a good comparison but the normal seems fine enough for me.

What I do is after I have a bath or shower I rub it into my skin. If your skin is wet then it acts as a barrier (because oil and water don't mix) and 'locks in' the moisture. I've also noticed that sometimes when I've put it on my arms and rub it in then some stuff seems to come out of my pores which I believe may have been keratin plugs. But this doesn't happen very often anymore (maybe I got out all the easily extracted ones?).

So basically I use it as a sort of moisturiser. I haven't used it on my face as I don't like the feeling of it very much. I think it would be safe though as it is possible to wash the face with oil (there is a thing called the 'oil cleansing method' that I have tried a couple of times before with other types of oil but not coconut) although obviously I don't know how a baby would react to it and whether it is safe for them to ingest it.

hmm i tried using the normal coconut oil on my son for a few days and for some reason his rash seemed like it was getting worse!.. is that normal?

M,

I don't know if it is normal or not, but if you continue to use coconut oil, use as little as possible. It doesn't take very much to moisturize. It is best applied to damp skin. After a bath is a good time to put it on. It spreads more easily on damp skin and the dampness aids the absorption.

kebod

Coconut oil is highly comedogenic (has one of the highest probabilities for clogging pores). This means it MAY NOT cause clog pores, but based on its make-up its highly likely it will... so proceed with caution.

You should always use extra virgin cold pressed coconut oil (unless your use would call for fractionated version).

I use coconut oil as a great moisturizer for my body and for a deep conditioning hair treatment since coconut oil is one of the few oils that is actually absorbed by the body and not just coats. However I have noticed that it does cause bad break-outs whenever used on my face.