Your Beauty Guide to Fractionated Coconut Oil

I am definitely no beauty pro, so when I started timidly using coconut oil in my daily routine, even though I was about three years behind everyone else's obsession with it, my confidence in my own beauty game skyrocketed. That is, until I heard about fractionated coconut oil and its superior myriad benefits, and my simple understanding of natural products suddenly seemed woefully incomplete. So, like every girl out there obsessed with only using the best and least harmful beauty products around, I dived headfirst into researching what exactly this miracle oil and all of its many fractions actually does. Lucky for you, I've done all the legwork here so you can just sit back, relax, and relish in the (coconut) fruits of my labor.

In the simplest of terms, fractionated coconut oil is just the permanently liquid form of coconut oil. If you want to get all scientific about it, it's coconut oil that has had the lauric acid removed and is also frequently referred to as MCT oil. Basically, this is the version of coconut oil you'll most often find used in beauty products because it stays in its liquid form even if you refrigerate it. The reason it is referred to as "fractionated" is because it is literally a fraction of the whole oil, since it is technically a byproduct of removing the coconut's lauric acid that is so often used in medical facilities and as a preservative in food.

Make sure you keep that in mind if you're in the market for virgin coconut oil because this stuff is not it! The fractionated oil, however, is great if you're looking to take it as a dietary supplement or mix it in with some of your other favorite all-natural oils to create a custom beauty blend just for you. Just like it's full-fledged oily brother, you can also use the fractionated oil in your hair, in your food, or just around the house to make everything smell like you're on a tropical island full of endless pina coladas (and who wouldn't want that?).

The best news about this version of coconut oil you've probably never heard of? Because of its liquid form, fractionated coconut oil has a super long shelf life and comes at a really great price point, so you'll get even more bang for your buck. Now, if only slathering my body and ingesting this oil on the regular would magically turn me into an island beach babe à la Rihanna, I'd finally feel like I'm truly getting all of my money's worth.

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