Make The Most Of Coconut Oil With These DIYs

January 14, 2015

Holistic-Approach-Skin-Care-for-Every-Season — Anti-Aging: The skin cleansing properties of warm water makes it an important anti-aging agent. A glass of warm water each morning can make your skin look younger by increasing its elasticity and softness and scavenging the free radicals from the body, which are the worst offenders for premature aging. You can also wash your face with warm water daily to keep your skin acne-free.

Much has been spoken about the wondrous benefits of coconut oil for hair, but did you know that this oil makes for an amazing skincare solution, too? In its natural state, it exhibits antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal properties. It is also loaded with minerals and vitamins too; the kind that can keep your skin healthy and well-nourished for long periods of time.

If you’ve not yet added coconut oil to your beauty regime, here are a few DIY recipes that use this versatile ingredient as their core component:

DIY Coconut Oil Body Butter
Scoop out one cup of coconut oil (solid) and place it in a mixing bowl. Add a few drops of your favorite essential oils—peppermint, clove, lemon, eucalyptus—and one teaspoon of vitamin E oil (optional) to the same bowl. Mix all the ingredients on high speed with a wire whisk for five to seven minutes, or until it is of light, airy consistency. Store this whipped body butter in a jar at room temperature, and use once or twice a day.

DIY Coconut Oil Scrub
Mix together, ¼ cup coconut oil, ¼ cup sweet almond oil, ½ cup granulated sugar and about five to 10 drops of an essential oil of your choice. Blend all the ingredients well, and transfer them to a tightly sealed container. You can use this scrub twice a week to exfoliate dry and dull skin.

DIY Sunscreen Bar
Combine ½ cup of coconut oil, five tbsp of beeswax and ½ cup of shea butter in a glass bowl, placed over a hot pot of water; you can use a double boiler too. Heat this mixture on low flame till the ingredients melt and blend well. Remove the solution from the heat and stir in two tbsp of zinc oxide, ½ tsp of vitamin E oil and ¾ tsp of essential oil (try lavender). Pour this mixture in a silicone mold, place it in the refrigerator, and allow it to cool for about 30 minutes. Once firm, pop out the bars and store them in air tight containers at room temperature. You can carry this handy sunscreen bar or even a small piece of it when you go to the beach or are by the pool. The bar will liquidate because of your body temperature, so you can apply it directly to the skin.

However, after pampering your skin, give your hair the coconut oil therapy too. It makes for an amazing head massage oil and a hair detangler.