Home Made: Guest Post-Using Coconut Oil as a Beauty Product

My Mom started telling me about coconut oil and Healthy cooking a couple years ago and I absolutely fell in love with cooking with  it! My friend over at Catholic Newlywed sent me this wonderful guest post to share with you! I am in love once again with Coconut Oil! Read below to see her wonderful blog post about using coconut oil as a beauty product…….

Coconut oil is not only amazing the kitchen, it is also my most essential beauty product.  Coconut oil is versatile, one jar can replace 4 or 5 other beauty products you have at home.  It’s also cheaper (and smells better – mmmm….coconuts!) than any other beauty product you could possibly find.  Six months ago, I bought a 20 ounce container for about $12 and still have about half left.  And I would argue that it probably works much better (and is much better for you) than the majority of specifically marketed beauty products out there.  It is 100% natural, for those of you who are concerned about putting chemicals on your skin and hair. 

To get the maximum benefits, I suggest you buy organic, unrefined virgin coconut oil (the coconut oil you generally find in the supermarket is refined, so you may have to go to a more natural foods store or buy online  – don’t worry, that doesn’t increase the price by much, my $12 jar was organic, unrefined virgin coconut oil).  If you plan to cook with coconut oil as well (and I highly suggest it), you should buy a separate jar for beauty use.  I have reached into the coconut oil jar to scoop some up to use for skincare often, and you obviously don’t want to be doing that with oil you will be cooking with.

If you are unfamiliar with coconut oil, it’s important to know that coconut oil is usually solid at room temperature, but will melt with your body heat when you rub it between your fingers.  This makes it incredibly easy to use and work with, but may throw you for a loop when you first encounter it.

 

Here are just a few of the ways that I use coconut oil in my beauty routine:

Hair – Coconut oil is a wonderful conditioner, softening and renewing moisture to even the driest hair.  Work a couple teaspoons of oil through your (dry) hair at the beginning of a shower, rinse with hot water, and then shampoo like normal.  This can be done a few times a week.  For deeper conditioning, work the coconut oil into your hair, cover with a shower cap, and leave in for about an hour.  Then rinse and wash your hair as usual.

Makeup remover – I’ve found coconut oil to be the absolute best makeup remover I’ve ever encountered.  It’s perfect for taking off eye makeup and even better, it doesn’t sting your eyes!  Just massage into your skin with your finger tips, rinse, and wash your face as usual.

Face wash – I recently started using the oil cleansing method.  It goes against everything I learned about skincare; I thought that oil had to be avoided at all costs and would buy oil free makeup and cleansers, but you know what? My face has been the least oily it has ever been since I started washing my face with oil.  Apparently the oil in your skin binds with the oil you wash it with, so when you wipe it off, the coconut oil takes your natural oils with it. 

If you look up the oil cleansing method, there are many different oils suggested and I’ve used several of them.  For me, coconut oil works as well as any of them and since I already have it on hand, it’s the most convenient.  I massage the coconut oil into my face with my fingertips, but instead of steaming it with a hot wash cloth like is suggested with the oil cleansing method, I pour hot water (from a tea kettle) in a bowl and steam my face over it with a towel over my head.  After a few minutes, I wipe off the steam and coconut oil with a wet washcloth. 

Moisturizer – Coconut oil can be used like lotion.  Just rub a little on your most stubborn dry skin (or even dry lips).

Body scrubs – Mix coconut oil with sugar (white or brown) or salt to make your own exfoliating body scrub.  You can mix up a small jar of it and use it over an extended period of time.  Usually two parts sugar/salt to one part coconut oil works best.  I recently came across it used as a nail scrub to shine nails and soften cuticles.

Deodorant – When I was pregnant with my daughter, I was nervous about using deodorants with chemicals.  Now that I’m breastfeeding, I am equally as nervous since there is breast tissue under the arms.  I found this recipe for homemade deodorant using coconut oil, baking soda, and cornstarch and haven’t looked back.  (Do be mindful that it is a deodorant and not an antiperspirant – you will sweat, but you won’t smell).

Massage oil – I’ve recently took infant massage classes with my daughter.  When I ran out of the provided massage oil (safflower oil), I started using coconut oil.  It works really well, moisturizes her skin in the process, and she smells just delightful!  I assume this would work just as well if you convinced your significant other to give you a nice shoulder massage.

 

What other uses have you found for coconut oil?  What is your beauty secret?

 

Mandi is a young Catholic wife and mother who blogs about marriage, learning to keeping house, new motherhood, saving money, and more at Catholic Newlywed.  She also hosts two series on her blog, Baby on a Budget and On Marrying Young.