I used coconut oil for make-up removal, as a hair mask, and to shave my legs

Since it gained the impressive label of being a ‘superfood’, it’s been common knowledge that coconut oil plays a key role in helping to improve nutrition – but recently it has also hit the beauty world by storm. It’s quickly garnering a reputation as a game changer, and not just for the fact that it smells bloody amazing. 

It’s a cleanser AND a moisturiser

For most of us, make-up is a daily essential. And while we love spending all day showing off our on-point eyebrows and sharp-as-hell highlighter, it makes cleansing before bedtime a definite necessity. So instead of buying a thousand different products dedicated solely to face cleansing, eye cleansing or moisturising – why not use coconut oil to tackle it all?

First off, it’s amazing at getting off that annoying make-up residue that loves to hang around. Just place some on a cotton pad and sweep it over your face in circular motions: it’ll soon pick up and rid your skin of any little bits of remaining dirt. Secondly, it’s brilliant at cleansing off eye make-up – yes, even the hardcore waterproof stuff! Again, use a cotton pad and gently rub it over your eyes. It breaks up the waxy properties in the make-up and wipes it clean off.

Thirdly, it moisturises the hell out of your face. It’s honestly so good at helping you achieve that baby soft feel that we all aspire to, and it’s so bloody easy. After your face is completely clean, rub it into your skin and leave it on overnight. The next morning your face will feel silky smooth. And this tip of course applies to the rest of the body as well – massage it in all over, you’ll soon be wishing that every day was bikini weather!

Use it as a hair mask

Ever suffered with frizzy or dry hair? It’s a bloody nightmare. Every time you attempt to coax your mane into a style that doesn’t resemble a bird’s nest, it pretty much laughs right in your face. But not any more.

Coconut oil is actually amazing for your hair, and if you take a shuffle through the millions of hair products that – as a female – you are required to own, it’s probably listed as an ingredient in a fair few of them. So why not skip the middle man and use it on it’s own? It makes an incredible pre-wash hair mask – and costs a hell of a lot less then most treatments out there! Plus you can tailor it to your individual needs, and in no time at all you’ll be shaking your glossy tresses about without a care in the world.

Instructions:

1. Take a generous spoonful and warm it up between your hands until it turns from a solid to an oil

2. Slap it all over your hair. Seriously, the more the better. Slather that shit everywhere.

3. Repeat until your whole head is covered, then tie up into a bun

4. Go and watch four straight episodes of your favourite tv show on Netflix (aka leave it for a good few hours – the more dry your hair is, the longer you can leave it)

5. Shampoo it out, then condition, dry and style as usual

6. Go out and slaaaayyyyyyy girl

It’s pretty useful for shaving too…

Shaving is annoying, there’s no doubt about it. If you’re anything like me, you’ll be forever questioning why modern day women haven’t evolved to be naturally as shiny and smooth as a bowling ball, but until that (very unlikely) day comes, we just have to get on with it.

Part of the reason it’s so frustrating is because you end up spending a small fortune on the necessary tools for the job. But coconut oil is here to help. Instead of forking out for the cocktail of chemicals that markets itself as ‘shaving cream’, why not go au natural? Smearing coconut oil on your skin before you shave is not only cheaper, easier and healthier – but it throws in the extra bonus of acting as a super-moisturising aftershave balm.

What about a lip treatment?

Now, we all love the matte lipstick trend that has swept the nation recently, don’t we? But as pretty as it looks, that stuff can be a bitch for your lips. It has an annoying habit of sucking all the moisture out of them and leaving you looking like you’ve just spent a straight-up week snogging – aka chapped as hell. But once again, coconut oil knows just how to save the day.

It’s ultra-hydrating and after a couple of days of applying it straight to the lips, they go right back to being as luscious and moisturised as they were before you discovered lipstick/boys. Ahhh, those were the days. Handy tip: Grab an old lip balm container and scoop a bit of coconut oil into it, then chuck it in your handbag! It’s usually sold in massive jars, so this makes it easier to hydrate those kissers on the go.

It even helps you get whiter teeth

When it comes to coconut oil’s most magical beauty benefit, it’s hard to argue that anything beats the incredible art of ‘oil pulling’. Ever wanted to whiten your teeth, but can’t afford the hella expensive treatments that are on the market at the moment? Well run out to your local shop and buy some coconut oil immediately. No seriously, do it.

By swishing it around your mouth every day, you can effectively improve the look of your gnashers within a mere couple of weeks. “What? But how?!” I hear you cry. Chill, I’m getting there.

Believe it or not, coconut oil is chock-full of of uber-healthy properties that literally allow it to cling on to bacteria cells within your mouth and drag them away from your teeth. When you spit out the oil, you also get rid of those pesky fellas – not only are you left with dazzling pearly-whites, but you’ve improved your oral health as well!

Instructions:

1. Take a table spoon of coconut oil and pop it in your mouth

2. Ignore the bizarre feeling that strikes you at first, you’ll quickly get used to it

3. Swish it around like mouthwash…

4. …For around 20 minutes…

5. …Yeah, I know it’s long, but trust me it’s worth it.

6. Spit it out, then repeat the following day