Coconut Oil - my favourite ways to use it!

Coconut Oil is one ingredient we all probably have in our kitchen and are never really sure what to do with it. As a natural oil coconut oil is a perfect moisturisers, lightweight, absorbs really easily not to mention smells divine. I am a huge fan of coconut scent products whether it is a cream, hair mask, face-mask or sun tan lotion.

Just mentioning all of the above means that it is an item you can incorporate into your beauty routine, especially if you are on a spending ban, wanting to save money, are having a bit of a DIY moment or are simply wanting to try something new.  All you need to do is Google Coconut Oil uses and within seconds before your eyes you will have over 4.3million pages to look at and go through.

The lovely people at Viridian sent me a lovely jar of organic raw virgin coconut oil** and it smells amazing, I absolutely love it.

So rather than read all of those pages, I thought it would be a good idea and a good post if I picked my favourite 5 ways to use Coconut Oil and share them with you below.

1.) Eye Makeup remover: This is a tip I was given by a friend when she was training to be a beautician.  Coconut oil will gently remove your makeup, all you need to do is place some on a damp cotton pad and rub gently in circles around your eye area to get rid of makeup.  Once you have finished be sure to wash your face thoroughly.

2.) Hair Mask: Use coconut oil as a DIY hair mask to soften your hair and add moisture. Just scoop some out into the palms of your hands to warm it through and then apply to your hair, focusing on the ends (if like me you have greasy hair, then definitely avoid the root area altogether). Once applied, leave it on for around 30 minutes and then rinse it out in the shower before shampooing and conditioning your hair.  You can also use this method as an overnight treatment, just put a towel on your pillow to make sure it doesn't stain and then wash out in the morning.  I do this when my hair is feeling really dry, particularly at the ends when my hair is due to be cut and my hair feels so soft and smooth after using.

3.) Body Scrub:  You can make your own body scrub really easily and there are a lot of tutorials which show you how to do just that.   Below is one of my favourite home made body scrubs which the people at Eco Market sent to me to try a few months back.

Combine coconut oil with: 

• 1 small organic lemon

• 1 small organic lime

• 1 cup organic pure cane sugar
• 
1/2 cup organic coconut oil
• 
1 teaspoon organic peppermint essential oil/extract
. 

You can, if you like also add some mint leaves and lemon & lime peels. Mix the coconut oil, the peppermint oil and the juice from both the lemon and lime. Then pour in the sugar and mix it up well. If you want to add the mint leaves and citrus peels then stir them in at the end. Transfer the mixture to a clean, dry container like an old jam jar and you're ready to scrub.

This is such an effective exfoliator and definitely one to try if you fancy trying a DIY version because it is so easy to do and it smells so good.  You can also use this scrub on your feet, hands and lips!

4.) Shaving Cream:  If you run out of shaving cream/foam or whatever you might use, instead of reaching for your misters (oops yes I do) or using shower gel, grab some coconut oil and warm it between the palms of your hands, massage onto the skin and then you'll see how easily your razor glides over the skin leaving you with hair free soft smooth skin.

5.) Cuticle oil: If your nail beds look really dry, cracked and are a bit sore, get a cotton bud and your jar of coconut oil and dab some onto each fingers around and on your cuticle and massage it on.  If your cuticles need a little bit more TLC then don't massage it in, put some gloves on overnight whilst sleeping, in the morning you will notice quite a difference.

Those are just some of the ways I use coconut oil and naturally there are lots of other ways because it is just such a good moisturiser and so kind to the skin.

Have you ever used coconut oil in your beauty routine? How? 

1. Tell me in the comments!

A holiday in your shower

If it has coconut in it, I am likely to buy it.  I love the smell, the taste and the feel of coconut.  So whilst in Asda I came across a new range of Radox Shower Gels and the one which caught my eye in its bright white packaging was ‘Coconut Kiss’ a shower cream which contains exotic coconut and milk.  On the shelves where you find shower gels, there is always a plethora of colours all trying to catch your eye and because this was bright white, I was immediately drawn to it and as it was on offer for £1, I bought two.  On the front of the packaging you will find the word Coconut in an orange colour with the word Kiss underneath in white and again, the colouring catches your eye along with the sticker that shouts ‘New’ to you as you move close to inspect it.  This shower gel is a 250ml bottle in the new design which is much easier to grasp onto with wet hands whilst in the shower.

I am quite a fan of Radox Shower gels and there is always a few in the bathroom, I buy the Mister some masculine smelling shower gels and I tend to opt for the more flowery or fruited scented ones.  This one fits in neither category, once you open the black flip top lid you can immediately smell the coconut, it is like having a Bounty chocolate bar and a bit of Malibu in a tube,  not an artificial smell at all, it just smells that wonderful.

What they say - Coconut Kiss

"For girls who like to chill and un-wind why not try Coconut Kiss: Why stop dreaming when you get out of bed in the morning? This blissful shower gel containing coconut and milk has a deliciously Caribbean scent that will allow you to calmly daydream into your very own world of paradise with super soft skin.

Radox Coconut Kiss Shower Cream is inspired by nature. This delicious blend of natural ingredients, like creamy milk and exotic coconut, evokes an uplifting burst of paradise to every shower. With fabulously fruity fragrances your Coconut Kiss shower cream will leave you smelling gorgeous all day“.

Upon squeezing the tube, you release a bright white cream which is fairly thick in texture and again that coconut aroma becomes more fragrant and unlike anything else I have used from Radox in the past, I simply loved it.  The cream itself produces a lot of lather, as soon as it comes into contact with your sponge, flannel, Loofah or whatever it is you use to wash yourself, the warm water fluffs the cream up and you are suddenly covered in coconut smelling lather, lots of it.  As you stand immersed in your coconut lather and wash yourself you could be on your tropical island with your cocktail, the smell is that fresh.

After showering I was delighted that the coconut smell was so strong on my skin and again it isn’t an artificial smell, it is a fresh coconut smell, almost as if you have covered yourself in coconut cream, Malibu and eaten a Bounty, it is delicious and it stays put for hours after using.  My skin, well soft and smooth to the touch as well, absolutely no complaints from me and as soon as the bathroom door is opened and the steam is allowed to escape throughout the house, with it goes that coconut scent into every room.

This is a delightful smelling shower cream, one of the best I have ever used from the range and one that is likely to remain in my bathroom for a long time to come, well worth the £1 I spent on it as an offer and I would happily pay the full price of £2.15 for it.  You can find these products in Boots, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Savers.

Did you know...

·         ‘Super’ power showers are costing the average family £928 a year and an individual person over £18,000 in their lifetime- the same as the average deposit for a terraced house in the UK.

·         Brits could save almost £10,000 in a lifetime, and over one million litres of water (1,514,240 litres) by halving their showers

Primark Haul!!

I won't lie - I love Primark and can happily spend hours wandering around looking at everything and indeed I do tend to buy a fair bit from there.

My latest purchases come from the 'Home' section, usually I tend to stick to clothes, but my local Primark expanded and the Home section grew a little bit bigger and now it stocks towels, bedding, cushions and other items you might want or need.

I am obsessed with candles, I have them in every room of the house and my recent purchases are these:

These candles cost a mere £2 each and they come in a variety of scents.  I chose Coconut and mango because when I opened the lid on one to smell it, I loved it straight away.  As you can see, the candle, which is white in colour, is encased in a lovely tin which is almost a lilac colour under the light.

The best thing about them, other than the scent which is simply divine, is the fact that they burn for 25 hours, the same as a small Yankee Candle Jar.  An absolute bargain!  I keep both of my candles in the bathroom, these are the second ones I have bought and even if you don't use them, they still omit the lovely scent.

Naturally, that isn't all I bought! Let me introduce you to a further product from this range:

You'll have to excuse the poor photographs, but this is a Reed Diffuser in exactly the same scent as the candles shown above and again it is totally divine.  It costs £3 and is packaged inside a cardboard box with the reeds themselves wrapped up to protect them.  Once the box is opened and you have followed all of the instructions, really easily, you simply place it somewhere within your home and the first thing you will notice after an hour or two is that the scent has come alive. 

I am really surprised at how long lasting they are too, past experiences with products like these is not a good one, infact I have been quite disappointed in every Reed Diffuser I have tried and that being the case, I haven't tempted fate by trying a Yankee Candle version!  I bought this Reed diffuser in the last week of January and here it sits on my shelf today with this much left:

So as you can see there is just over half the bottle left after 5 and a half weeks and this diffuser is constantly in use, it never moves off the shelf and the scent is just as strong now as it was when I first bought it.  Naturally to keep the scent strong, you should regularly flip the Reeds, which I do on a weekly basis.

Have you ever tried these products from Primark?  Do you have a favourite scent?  Would you even purchase them?