PCHO. Review on Parachute Coconut Hair Oil

I am a long time user of Parachute Coconut Hair Oil (PCHO) (this should explain the title). The term “Parachute” reminded me of an old Chinese saying – “Mind should be like a parachute – useful when open and useless when closed”. This is the closest explanation I can think of for the brand name – the coconut oil when applied to your head will open your mind. However, before PCHO opened my mind, there were others and presented before you is my “hairy” saga.

The Journey:

The Early Years

Growing up, I was proud of my crowning glory. Maybe it was the high protein diet of egg whites. It was almost like a rain forest. But alas, hair care took a back seat and signs of deforestation sent me to meet with Dr.Tailam.

Tryst with Dr.Tailam

DT: You are low on oil. What do you use?

DT: (Not amused) What hair oil do you use? You better start using something and take care before the rain forest disappears.

I was panicking. I had mental pictures of Amrish Puri and Yul Brunner. Images of Akshaye Khanna with his receding hairline and “toupee” flashed before my eyes. I had read about Salman Khan undergoing hair transplant. I decided to follow DT’s advice.

My Trials and Tribulations

My initial experiments were with Tata Coconut Hair Oil – with a Tata product, one can never go wrong – right? – wrong. I used the various scents of lavender, rose, jasmine and I was smelling like a ”bageecha” and had fruit flies and bees hovering around me – ”gunn gunna rahe hain bhanware…”.

My next stop was all those fancy colored oils – red, green, brahmi hair oil, jabakussum and even Dabur Amla Kes Tel after seeing the models with their long and beautiful black tresses. I also tried Keo Karpins, the Dabur Vatika’s and the Clinic Pluses. I was not impressed with any of the above and the deforestation was continuing. And then, by sheer accident, I discovered PCHO and have been using it ever since.

The Destination:

PCHO is made of pure dried coconut (“kopra”) and is packed in attractive blue plastic bottles with a tamper resistant seal to prevent duplication.

Parachute was the first branded coconut oil in the Indian Market and is owned by BOIL (Bombay Oil Industries Ltd) under license from Marico Industries. They have also started the Parachute Amla and Parachute Herbal variety though I have not yet tried them.

PCHO was also available as PCHO Lite which was non-greasy and very useful in cold weathers if one wants to prevent the oil from solidifying on contact with sub-freezing temperatures. Unfortunately I am unable to find the Lite varierty any longer – maybe it has been withdrawn.

The PCHO is luckily available in the US in all Indian grocery stores and a 200ml bottle costs $2.59.

However be aware of a similar looking bottle with the same swaying coconut tree called as “CocoRaj”. It is easy to get mistaken – the quality is miles apart. Cocoraj appears to be cheap imitator of PCHO.

As a long time user, I would recommend PCHO and besides restoring health and shine to the hair it also gives you that well groomed and dashing look. It smells nice – almost a neutral smell and the plastic bottle can be slightly heated in the microwave to liquefy it after overnight freezing in the winter months.

Hair – here today, gone tomorrow. No way – if you regularly use PCHO. I am ample proof.