Beauty

A 5th Practical Use for Coconut Oil

Beauty, Natural & Organic Stuff, , , View all 4 comments
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Coconut oil is one of my new favorite things in 2014. Besides cooking with it, coconut oil saves me money on:

  • Hand and body lotion
  • Lip balm
  • Shaving cream
  • Diaper rash cream (for my son, not for me!)

I love coconut oil so much I wrote a post in April called 4 Practical Uses for Coconut Oil, with recipes for a hair mask and lip scrub. Since then I’ve discovered a fifth practical use, which surprised me: it stops mosquito bite itching and speeds healing. When I first read it, I was skeptical (although I don’t know why, given coconut’s oil track record), but I had two large bites on my forearm that itched pretty bad. I rubbed in a little whenever I felt the itch, and I’m here to tell you it worked!

So I can add calamine lotion to my list of things to eliminate and replace with coconut oil (not only does it save money but so much better for your health with it’s all-natural properties). What about you? What are your favorite uses for coconut oil?

 

 

 

Image courtesy of rakratchada torsap/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

4 Practical Uses for Coconut Oil

Beauty, Natural & Organic Stuff Leave a comment

From the kitchen to your skin care routine, there are thousands of uses for coconut oil. It hydrates and moisturizes hair, skin and lips. Coconut oil is a fantastic natural all-over moisturizer (use it like lotion after bathing), and when combined with other ingredients, makes a great base for hair masks and lips scrubs. Here are two recipes to try.

Coconut Oil Hair Mask

Ingredients

Directions

  • Slather into hair. Make sure to massage your scalp and focus on your roots.
  • Leave the mask in your hair for a minimum of 30 minutes. Wear overnight if possible.
  • Wash with a mild shampoo and style as usual. This leaves your hair soft, shiny and smooth!

The lip scrub recipe is courtesy of Brandie Gilliam, Founder and Editor-In-Chief of Organic Beauty Talk.

Brandie Gilliams’ DIY Lip Scrub Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon Nutiva organic coconut oil
  • 1 tablespoon all natural raw or organic honey
  • 2 teaspoons organic brown sugar (or organic white sugar or coconut flakes)

Directions

Mix ingredients. Use a toothbrush or your finger to gently apply to your lips with a back and forth motion. Rinse, pat dry and then condition with a bit of coconut oil for soft smooth lips!

I also use coconut oil on my infant to treat and prevent diaper rash and in a homemade teething oil.

Coconut oil is an easy, affordable and fun way to moisturize your skin, hair and lips. Do you have any coconut oil tips to share?

Image courtesy of Keerati/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A Beauty Tip to Relieve Dry Cracked Hands

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If you’re anything like me, you live in the north somewhere where it snows and it’s cold, and your hands have taken a beating by this time in February: cracked, sandpapery, and painful.

I love Neutrogena Norwegian Formula hand cream, but unless I put it on in microscopic bits, it’s very greasy, which makes me not want to put it on, which makes the skin on my hands suffer even more.

My husband came up with an excellent tip to use this lotion. My hands are irritated but his have taken a much more brutal beating this winter. He’s a plumber and has cracks on his thumbs and finger joints that are deep and bleed.

Below is his method. I have personally tried it, and testify that it works.

1. Dampen your hands slightly with water. I know, this is probably the last thing you want to do when your skin is so dry, but it works. Do not run them under running water, just put a few drops in your palm and run your hands together so the palms and the backs are moistened, not soaked.

2. Apply the Neutorgena Norwegian Formula hand cream. Rub it all over your hands, into your fingers, in the spots you need relief the most (for me it’s the knuckles on my index fingers). The lotion should lather like soap. If you have time, let it sit on your skin for a few minutes (soooo soothing!!).

3. Take a paper towel and gently wipe the cream off your hands. The result is smoother, softer skin that’s not greasy, and you can immediately carry on.

It’s amazing! So glad my husband told me and so I wanted to share it with you.