5 Uses For Coconut Oil
Coconut oil is something every beauty bargain hunter needs in her arsenal. It has so many cosmetic uses aside from the fact you can obviously cook with it, here are five of my favourites..
Cleanser
This one may be obvious, it's something that's been talked about a lot and that's part of the reason I've put this post off.. I assume everyone knows the benefits of coconut oil but for those who don't, this may be interesting for you! You can use it directly out of the jar to remove makeup and cleanse your skin in place of a pricey balm. You can add in essential oils/other ingredients to make a fancier cleanser if you wish (would you like a post on this?) but in the interest of ease and using it in its raw form you don't have to for it to work well.
Moisturiser
This is something to take with a pinch of salt - not literally, that would be gross. As someone with oily skin i don't use particularly rich face creams every day however when my skin is feeling dry or chapped (Winter, I'm looking at you!) an oily or heavier lotion is called up on and this can take its place. It would work as a moisture mask if you only wanted to leave in on for an hour or so and it's also great as a body/massage oil.
Deep Conditioner
I have a holy grail hair saver from Charles Worthington that honestly does nothing that coconut oil can't do. It comes in a similar form too, a hard, oily wax that melt when heated and used in the same way I see identical results. I scoop out a few table spoons into a bowl and micorwave them until they're almost liquid, applied to my hair and left overnight it's a miracle treatment for dry, over-processed blondes like me! It also doesn't affect my colour in the way other oils can. They can bring out the brass which is not ideal but this doesn't cause that problem.
Hair Oil
on that same tack I would recommend using a tiny amount in place of an oil or serum as a finishing product. I once had something from The Body Shop that was a coconut hair shine (or something like that) which was a compact, hard oil in a tin that you would rub to get on to your fingers and apply. You can use the natural stuff in exactly the same way, straight from the jar but don't go mad.. you just need a LITTLE!
Face/Body Scrub
Lastly another common tip, add sugar/salt to your melted oil then store at room temperature and it will retain a consistency you can scoop out and use on your face or body to exfoliate. My favourite scrubs are packed with granules and leave an oily residue to repair the skin and this DIY fix will do just that and you can make it as scrubby/gently as you like by adjusting the amount of sugar/salt you add!
They are just a few ways to use this oil but there are countless others! If you have your own please let us know in the comments, I know people have said it works really well for skin ailments such as eczema, it helps to grow eyelashes.. I'm sure there are uses I'm yet to hear about so I'd be interested to hear how YOU use it if you do. I will try and bring you some more DIY/natural home remedies over the month to hopefully keep us on the spending straight and narrow but again if you have your own to share (coconutty or not) feel free!
Miss BB