Coconut Oil can be very efficient as Tanning Oil. Since centuries, people in Europe, America and Australia have been craving for what has always been so obvious and so natural in Tropical and warm countries, like South America and South Asia.
Yes! You guessed it right! The first of them is a strong Sun & a warm climate and the second, is a bronze coloured sun-tanned skin. White people are crazy over tanning skin (which is not at all a deserving thing up here in India, where people are already born-tanned. It is different that some people with a fairer complexion try mimicking the Westerns hard, whether they need it or not). So, when a tanned skin is in such a huge demand, a perfect tanning oil will obviously be in great demand too; an oil that will not only give them a tanned but healthy, shining skin but also protection from a scorching sun, infections, wrinkles etc. and will make the skin shining, smooth skin. This is where Coconut Tanning Oil enters the scene.
Coconut Tanning Oil is not necessarily pure coconut oil (although nobody will stop you if you use pure coconut oil for this purpose). It may be a blend of many components such as coconut oil (virgin coconut oil is preferred), herbal extracts, essential oils, vitamins (generally Vitamin-B & E), Lipsimal Tyrosines, butter, hemp seed oil, grape seed oil, sesame oil, copper based colours etc. Let us see what an ideal tanning should do to the skin and where coconut oil fits the scene.
- Nourish Skin: Besides giving a tanned look, tanning oil should nourish the skin too. Coconut oil present in takes care of this aspect due to presence of medium chain fatty acids like Capric Acid, Caprylic Acid, Lauric Acid etc. and Vitamin-E in it.
- Protect Skin: During tanning, the skin remains exposed to strong Sun and there are very much chances of it being harmed by the Ultra Violet radiations from the Sun. Here too, the stable saturated fats of coconut oil present in the Coconut Tanning Oil cuts down this damage to a great extent by forming a protective layer on the skin.
- Fight Infections: Once more, since the skin remains exposed for hours while tanning, it is an open invitation for microbes and fungal spores and is very much susceptible to infections. Thanks to the anti microbial and anti fungal properties of the fatty acids like Capric Acid, Caprylic Acid, Caproic Acid, Myristic Acid and Lauric Acid present in Coconut Oil that they guard your skin against infections.
- Retain Moisture: Obviously, when the skin is subjected to scorching sun, the moisture will be lost from it. It is then it starts cracking and wrinkling. The stable saturated fats reduce this loss of moisture from skin considerably by forming a layer on the skin.
- Soothe and Condition Skin: The Coconut Tanning Oil soothes skin in case of possible inflammations resulting from strong sun or dust or allergenic particles or other environmental factors. It also keeps skin smooth and gives it a shining look. These are all due to presence of coconut oil in it.
- Good Absorption: You know that Coconut Oil is very easily absorbed into the skin and so does the Coconut Tanning Oil. This makes the tanning ingredients present in it activate the melanin below the skin quicker and thus get that much deserved tanned look in shorter time.
- Others: Coconut Oil present in it aids formation of Vitamin-D due to reaction of sunlight on the fat layer below the skin, as this oil is readily absorbed. This is light, non-sticky and long lasting, i.e. it does not go rancid for a long. What’s more, Coconut Tanning Oil has a long shelf life. Much longer than other tanning oils.
So, when you are to pick your tanning oil from many, choose the Coconut Tanning Oil, i.e. the tanning oil that contains predominantly coconut oil. Coconut Tanning Oil is one of the best tanning oils you have. To mimic original tanning, you can use this oil without even going into the sun if you care to avoid exposure to the strong Ultra Violet Radiations from the Sun and yet want a tanned look.
This article is contributed by Aparup Mukherjee.
Sources of Information:
- Reports of Coconut Development Board of India,
- Reports of KERAFED.
- Text books of various courses of agriculture.
- Various other reports on internet
