If you read Healthy Holistic Living often you’ve definitely heard the numerous health benefits of coconut oil. One of the benefits we never tell you about is how buying coconut oil can save you money.
Keeping your skin, your lips, and your hair healthy often requires several products that all come at a cost. Of course, coconut oil isn’t free, but one woman (LINK http://www.thepennyhoarder.com/replace-beauty-products-with-coconut-oil/) saved over $30 a month – that’s $360 a year – on beauty products by switching to a $3 jar of coconut oil.
The Beauty Of Coconut Oil
Tammy Banfield, blogger, writer, and health-enthusiast, shared her favorite uses for coconut oil and her absolute favorite use must be saving money instead of buying high-end products. Coconut oil is used in many beauty products, but packed into plastic cans and aerosol sprays with chemicals and compounds we can’t even pronounce.
Without further ado, here is Tammy’s list of 6 beauty products that can be replaced by this natural alternative. I’ve even added a few of my own at favorites at the end.
Use Coconut Oil Instead Of Buying:
1. Body Moisturizer
Tammy used to buy Oil of Olay Body Moisturizer. She made the switch to coconut oil after reading that in tropical regions where coconuts grow, locals have been using coconut oil for hundreds of years to protect their skin from the sun and from the heat.
Without any of the toxins typically added to sunblock, coconut oil’s building blocks triglycerides, medium-chain-length fatty acids that build up your skin’s moisture barrier. This protects your skin from the dryness that sun and heat bring. Awesome side effect: your skin will have a natural glow and become softer.
Procedure:
Take a small teaspoon-sized chunk of coconut oil and rub it between your hands until it melts. Massage all the oil into your skin.
TIP: Start with less than you think you’ll need. If you use too much, your skin may not be able to absorb it all.
2. Lip Gloss
Tammy used to buy Eos Lip Balm, at $3 a piece. Now, her $3 drum of coconut oil will last her way longer and do way more for her. Coconut oil is a natural source of vitamin E which promotes skin growth and smoothness, while enhancing your skin’s ability to repair itself.
Vitamin E will make you lips shiny and soft but that’s not the best part. The best part about using coconut oil as a lip balm is that it will repair cracked and chapped lips, a necessity around winter-time or in hot, dry summers.
Procedure:
Melt a little coconut oil onto your finger by rubbing the solid oil in the jar for a little while. Dab the oil all over your lips. Don’t be afraid to get the inside of your lips – because coconut oil is all natural, ingesting it won’t harm you at all. Plus, I’m told you can use it under or over lipstick.
3. Shaving Cream
Tammy used to buy a product called Skintimate Shave Gel. It makes sense to use coconut oil though for the same reasons that make it a great moisturizer. Plus this way, you only need to buy one product: natural coconut oil. The oil conditions and moisturized your skin while you shave, but the best part is its water resistance. Because oil is water resistant, coconut oil as shaving cream will stay right where it’s put giving you “the perfect shave.”
Procedure:
Bring your jar of coconut oil in the shower so the heat will melt the oil a little. Pour a small amount of the liquid oil into your palms. Smooth on any area you want to shave.
TIP: Coconut oil actually protects against nicks and cuts. Plus, it’s transparent making it easier to avoid shaving over existing wounds.
4. Exfoliating Cream or Body Scrub
Tammy used to spend her money on Garnier Exfoliating Cream to tackle what she calls “scaly heels and elephant-skin elbows.” I would never suggest that a woman has either of these ailments, but Tammy says it coconut oil does the trick.
Procedure:
Scoop out a small chunk of oil and start rubbing the solid oil into your rough-skin areas. Coconut oil is naturally grainy as a solid. As you rub it into your skin the granules exfoliate as they soften and moisturise.
5. Makeup Remover
Tammy used to spend $8 on Sephora Makeup Remover. Sometimes she bought makeup removers that were too harsh on sensitive skin, which is never a problem she’s had since her switch to coconut oil. Safe and natural, coconut oil even removes waterproof mascara. I have not tested this myself, but I believe Tammy.
Procedure:
Get a pea-sized scoop of coconut oil and melt it in your hands. Soak up the liquid oil with a cotton ball and wipe off the makeup.
6. Hair Conditioner
Tammy was all about Dove Deep Moisture Conditioner. Think of how often she had to replace this $5 product if she used it 4 times a week. Now she uses coconut oil.
Coconut oil has proteins that smooth and strengthen, repair split ends, and restore a natural shine to your hair. The best part is it’s chemical-free, so you won’t strip away color or nutrients.
Procedure:
Bring your jar of coconut oil into the shower with you to let the heat to melt the oil, and pour the liquid oil into your hand. Massage through your hair. Don’t use too much on your scalp or in your bangs. When finished, make sure to rinse thoroughly, as an excess results in oily hair when it dries.
Tammy’s Tip: Coconut Oil is great for making hair shiny and soft, but not great at detangling. Be careful when combing after conditioning with coconut oil.
As promised, my favorite “beauty product” to use coconut oil as is: toothpaste. Well, not really toothpaste, but if you swish a spoonful of coconut oil in your mouth for 20 minutes it cleans and whitens AND gives you breath as fresh as a cool summer breeze.
