Hair, there and everywhere. Review on Parachute Coconut Hair Oil

Coconut and its by-products have always been essential part of my life as my mom heralds from the coconut rich coastal lines of Karnataka and made us all habituated too, most importantly to the oil. Strictly forbidden for cooking purpose, I use it in variety of other ways, especially the hair oil purpose. And Parachute has been my favourite brand from times by gone. It has not only helped in maintaining my mane, but has been instrumental in taking some important decisions of life and learning some valuable lessons. How? Read on.

When I was a little girl [ahem! not so long ago], I'd been blessed with locks of thick brown curls[which earned me nicknames of Sai baba, Maggie noodles etc.], that were almost unmanageable. And my mother had found the perfect solution in Parachute coconut oil to keep them in place. She would cajole me into applying some while promising the magical long tresses of Goldilocks who had perfect hair because of oiling regularly [Yes, all fairy tales I know have such strange extra twists in the story] And it worked, as I would gullibly undergo the torture of such oiling sessions dreaming about the perfect long braid, measuring inch by inch every day. Alas, it never came true and my hair has remained the same length although the mass has considerably reduced with time [sob, sob, sniff!]

This is when I learnt my first lesson of science [a hard way though] that the length of your hair need not be directly proportional to the amount of oil you use or the no. of oiling sessions you undergo. And the mass is to length ratio is always inverse.

Another gruesome memory of childhood is of those first days of Deepavali festival. It seems the tradition calls that on the first day of Diwali even the kids need to wakeup well before sunrise [who makes such horrible traditions btw..??]and as if that were not enough, take a compulsory oil bath! [I see that its not the case in N.India.. Lucky you Northies!!] And believe me, it was not at all a pleasant experience when you get coconut oil massages in wee hours of early morning feeling all drowsy and heads drooping, followed by hot steaming water baths! Yelp!! Am I glad I'm all grown up now and take all my baths at my will and the way I want..phew!!

Lesson 2: No amount of oil burning your eyes and hot water splashes can cure you from your sleeping sickness. And Growing up takes its own sweet time..:(

With teenage and college, hairstyles came and went, the only thing constant was my Parachute Nariyal tel, whose frequency of application had although drastically reduced from my earlier days. Besides hair oil, I'd some multipurpose uses of it while growing up. Being the splitter-mechanic [splits open anything but no matter what can't put it back together] that I was, I used to open up anything and everything, [sometimes secretly because of threats and punishments from elders] may it be alarm clock, washing machine, wristwatches.. er..the list is long.. [well.. the scientist in the making you see, couldn't help it] in the pretext of greasing and pour some oil in all the wrong places and end up jeopardizing the life cycle of the product [and subsequently my bones too from all the thrashing I used to get much later].

So I realised that Electronics was not my cup of tea and also that my chances of broken bones were less in the cases where I managed to either entirely disappear the product or glue it back together and blame it on my innocent brother as a pay back for some of his antics [I know what you are thinking.. but those cheap sadistic thrills ... aha!! :-D]

Another time, I used some Parachute oil as an insulator between the metal piece and copper wire coil wound around it, and plugged it on to the socket to produce an 'electro-magnet.' [Einstein's granddaughter.. huh?!:)] Needless to say that this literally hair-raising experiment blew away the fuse as well as the temper of my parents!!

And after few more such eccentric experiments, I chose to safely experiment with plants in future and here I am making a career out of it now.

There came a time when like all other not-so-little girls, I started exploring mom/aunts' make-up kits. Never heard of any make-up remover back then, but Parachute helped perfectly to erase off all the paint and wash your face just before someone caught you red-handed. This trick however didn't last long as the owners of the kits did deduce the cause for vanishing acts of their vanishing creams by putting two plus two together. And... well, lets leave at that. [atleast they didn't send me to a remand home or a boarding school no..]

This side effect of make-up triggered a life time high allergic reaction that even till date I run miles away from cosmetics.

So much for lessons in life, lets talk about the brand now. It's a product of Marico Industries in Mumbai. Don't know why they've named it Parachute [it doesn't really make you go sky-jumping] Even the logo they've used is that of a coconut tree while they should've used a parachute instead. The packaging comes in 100, 200 and 500ml usual blue bottle types as well as wide mouthed easy-jars with flip-tops. The latter is helpful in winters when the oil turns semisolid at room temperature. You can just open the cover and scoop out the oil. The price is ok on the pocket with 200ml jar coming at Rs.25/- It also says premium quality edible coconut oil on the bottle, however I would advice any other refined oil for the purpose since coconut oil is very rich in cholesterol content and not very good for health reasons [See, I told you I've studied some science after all..] But of course, there are some delicacies that taste good only when fried in coconut oil e.g. the banana chips of Kerala and South Canara.. yum, yum!!.. Ok, ok got carried away.. but back to Parachute now. It's lighter in viscosity than many other brands and also clearer in liquid form with no artificial odouring. It has a good shelf life period and doesn't go rancid soon.

Here are some RJ trivia: 1. Light fry some curry leaves in coconut oil and keep it in the jar/bottle of storage. This gives longer shelf life to any coconut oil. 2. Heat some coconut oil in a bowl and add some powdered camphor into it. Apply and massage on to the scalp to get rid of ticks and lice. 3. Mix equal amounts of coconut oil and olive oil, warm the mixture and apply to hair roots for smoother hair and to get rid of dandruff. 4. Simply rub in some coconut oil over your scalp and hair and wash it off after 1-2 hours for healthy hair. 5. You could even use it to style your hair as often as you want, but do remember to frequently keep washing your hair, since the fungal elements in the air may cause infections and dandruff problems.

[The effects may vary in individuals and sometimes you may be saved the costs of buying combs and oils may be..(at least am on my way there..)]

Anyways, whether it gives you a lesson in life or not, I still recommend the product as good quality stuff. Do try sometimes.

That's all for now. Keep oiling, parachuting.. I mean reading and commenting.. :)

RJ