While we might think our beauty blender is the most multi-faceted thing in our bathroom, we probably overlook the most flexible product that’s actually tucked away in our kitchen drawer: coconut oil.
Beyond adding coconut in your morning (and mid-afternoon) coffee, coconut oil has a plethora of benefits beyond being an immune system amplifying superfood. Apart from literally bathing in coconut oil, there are several easy beauty hacks you can do with coconut oil that will completely transform your beauty routine.
1. Use it to remove your makeup
If you’ve run out of makeup-removing wipes or Micellar water, coconut oil works as an exceptional alternative to store-bought makeup remover. Even if you used setting spray to make sure your makeup didn’t budge during your study/sob sesh earlier, coconut oil is able to clean off all your makeup no prob.
Just heat-up your coconut oil in the microwave for about 15 seconds to make sure it transforms into an oily state, then grab a gob and strip your face clean of that beautifully crafted cut crease. As a bonus, the coconut oil will leave a slippery oil residue on your face to coerce you into taking a shower—because sometimes we just need extra encouragement.
2. Concoct your perfect sugar scrub
Sugar scrubs are the best exfoliator. Not only are they simple to make yourself, but they’re also an affordable way to make your skin sweeter than it already is. While you could add honey to your sugar scrub, replacing honey with coconut oil in your ideal sugar scrub recipe will make your exfoliator an affordable and vegan-friendly formula. Because all the ingredients are edible, your sugar scrub can also double as a lip scrub!
3. Cover your hair with it
Aside from using coconut oil to create a customizable face mask for your perfectly-imperfect skin, you can also make a hair mask with your coconut oil.
Because washing your hair too often can cause dry and damaged hair (along with a dry scalp), coating your hair with a layer of coconut oil before you shower can help protect your hair when you lather it in shampoo and conditioner. While this acts as a pre-shower hair mask, you can use coconut oil after your shower too.
If your hair needs some extra nourishment this winter, you can also finish your hair care routine with a moisturizing coconut oil enriched hair mask. These masks typically work best on freshly cleaned hair, because your hair and scalp can absorb the nutrients and vitamins more easily.
4. Use it as an anti-inflammatory
Coconut oil is a natural anti-inflammatory, proving that coconut oil is basically magic. A study published in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) tested the impact coconut oil has on atopic dermatitis, which is a dry and irritating skin condition. The study found that 95 percent of the subjects who used coconut oil had symptomatically improved their inflammation. A different study regarding eczema, also published in the NCBI, found that 47 percent of subjects recorded less inflammation after using coconut oil in the double-blind study.
Although you might not have atopic dermatitis or eczema, coconut oil can help a variety of skin lesions and irritations. Whether you have a breakout, hives, or an eczema flare-up, just dab a healthy amount of coconut oil on any bumps or lumps.
While you don’t want to leave the oil on your skin for too long, because coconut oil is a highly comedogenic oil and can clog your pores if you have acne-prone skin, you can typically use coconut oil to spot treat any swelling on your skin. If you are prone to breakouts, you can rinse or wash off the oil after about 30 minutes.
5. Protect against the sun
According to Healthline, coconut oil actually acts as a very minimal sun protection factor (SPF). Granted, it only gives you the same level of protection against the sun’s UV rays as an SPF 7 sunblock, but you can use some coconut oil in conjunction with a more protective sunscreen. Although it’s still winter, the obvious coconut scent of coconut oil—mixed with an extra layer of UV protection—is giving us major spring break vibes.
So next time you drunk panic-order beauty products on Amazon, you might want to consider adding a gallon of coconut oil to your cart (not that I’ve ever done that). And honestly, if you need more proof that coconut oil can basically fix anything, even Chrissy Teigen uses this edible beauty product for pretty much everything.