The All-Natural Miracle Ingredient We Can’t Get Enough Of

Ask any fashion editor, It girl, or gypset bohemian what’s in her makeup bag, and she’ll likely pull out a handful of products that list coconut as an ingredient. Loaded with antioxidants, it’s a nourishing, natural elixir that’s now as trendy as it is good for you. The ingredient is showing up in a host of modern, anything-but-granola products that take its benefits to the next level.

Makeup artist Rose-Marie Swift, a trailblazer in the natural-meets-chic beauty movement and the mastermind behind RMS Beauty’s cultish line of coconut oil–based foundations, luminizers, and blushes, first realized the ingredient’s many benefits when working as a raw foodist. Drawn to its high levels of lauric and caprylic acids, which help to control breakouts and reduce inflammation, Swift insisted on its presence in her namesake line. “This was the first oil I wanted in my products. That was the one and the only one,” she says firmly. These days, her makeup and skin-care products, made from raw organic coconut oil, are beloved by supermodels Gisele Bündchen and Miranda Kerr, and Jessica Alba as well. The line’s most innovative offerings include the “Un” Cover-Up, whose buttery formula conceals and heals, and the hydrating wipes, which melt away makeup while simultaneously softening skin.

But RMS is no longer the only name in the game: From Tony Moly’s ultra-quenching coconut sheet mask to EiR’s surfer-friendly sunscreen, coconut oil has established itself as one of beauty’s star ingredients. Cindy DiPrima, cofounder of New York’s CAP Beauty, regularly applies masks made of coconut oil to dry hair, sprinkles it into tinted face powder for a creamy sheen, and covers herself in the brand-new Balm from Nucifera. Created by Los Angeles chef Meredith Baird—whose recently released book, Coconut Kitchen, explores the power of the superfood and contains dozens of healthy recipes—the Balm tackles dry spots and works as a luxurious after-shower lotion. “It’s like buttercream frosting,” DiPrima says, “but when you rub it between your hands, it melts.”

Of course, the beauty-from-the-inside-out benefits of coconut oil are well established. DiPrima swears by her West Village boutique’s own CAP Coconut Butter. Created through an intricate process that involves stone-grinding dried coconut over the span of 24 to 48 hours, the organic elixir retains both its healthy fats and fibers. DiPrima spreads it on toast (or eats it “by the spoonful”), cooks with it (raw chocolates are her latest experiment), and uses it as a natural sweetener in beverages. “If you’re adding it to drinks with caffeine or tonic herbs, it actually helps to slow down their release,” she notes.

Above, eight ways to incorporate the healing properties of coconut into your beauty arsenal.

 

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