18 Coconut Oil Beauty Hacks that You Have to Try

Hello beauties,

I hope you are fabulous and enjoying the weekend. Today I thought I'd share with you a beauty ingredient which could just change your life.

Whilst coconut oil has been used for thousands of years in South America, Africa and Asia, this miracle oil has only become a Western beauty staple within the past decade. Reigning over the skincare and health realm, it is becoming increasingly prevalent as the stellar ingredient of all our favourite moisturisers, shampoos and conditioners. However pure coconut oil, which you'll find in pretty much any supermarket or health store, is arguably the most cost-effective way to reap the myriad of benefits both inside and out. Not only does it smell delicious with its rich, exotic aroma, coconut oil has obtained its status as a powerhouse of antioxidants and nourishing Vitamin E.

Suited to a spectrum of skin and hair types, it has been proven to clear skin of breakouts, tame the frizz, strengthen nails and even whiten that gorgeous smile. So without further ado, let's jump straight into it: my top 18 coconut oil beauty hacks.

1. Natural Deodorant

Simply apply coconut oil to the areas you sweat most eg under arms. Alternatively, you can make your own DIY deodorant stick.

What You Will Need:

• 4 tbsp coconut oil
• 4 tbsp baking soda
• 2 tbsp shea butter

To Make:

• Melt the coconut oil and shea butter in a glass bowl over a pan of simmering water.
• Once melted, mix with the baking soda in a medium sized bowl.
• Allow to cool completely.
• Put into an old deodorant container.
• Store in the fridge when not in use.

2. Eye Makeup Remover

Sometimes, when you come in from a night out, the last thing you want to be doing is faffing around in the dark, trying to take off your make-up. If that is you, then coconut oil is the way to go. It's amazing at removing stubborn, water-proof make-up as well as cleansing and moisturising your skin at the same time. 

All you have to do is:

• Take a little coconut oil using clean fingers.

• Massage together to liquidize.

• Rub the melted oil all over the face, focusing in on areas such as the eyes and lashes.

• Wet a muslin or cotton pad with warm water, and wipe all over the face. And you’re done, all ready for bed.

Wearing mascara every day can really take its toll on your lashes, causing them to dry out and eventually fall out. Coconut oil moisturises the hair around the lashes preventing them from falling out, whilst also stimulating growth.

By routinely applying a little coconut oil in this way, you can say goodbye to panda eyes and hello to thick, shiny lashes.

3. Send Those Bags Packing

Good news, you don't have to fork out for a 40 quid eye cream to erase those dark circles. Applying coconut oil every night to the under eyes will help rejuvenate the skin, banishing those circles and brightening dull complexion. Meanwhile, its anti-inflammatory properties will help to reduce redness and puffiness of the eyes.

4. Hydrating Deep Conditioner

For lustrous locks, try this intensely hydrating deep conditioner. Mix 2 tbsp of melted coconut oil with 2 tbsp of pure aloe vera gel. When it's ready, apply the conditioner to your hair, combing through the ends. Put a towel round your shoulders and let the conditioner soak in for about thirty minutes, then rinse thoroughly with warm water.

Another great trick to have a go with is this diy, Kardashian-approved conditioning spray. Fill a spray bottle with some warm water. Add a tbsp of sea salt, half a tbsp of melted coconut oil and a few drops of conditioner. Shake the bottle well, before spritzing your hair, focusing on the ends. Then blow-dry your hair.

As well as improving texture and shine, incorporating coconut oil in your haircare routine will promote growth and the overall health of your hair.

5. Cuticle Cream

Coconut oil helps soften and moisturise the cuticles whilst strengthening the nails.

6. Exfoliator

Make this super easy coconut oil scrub for a dewy, glowing complexion. In a bowl, mix 2 tbsp of coconut oil with 3 tbsp sugar, mashing with a fork to combine. Apply to a clean face, moving in circular motions. Rinse with warm water and pat dry with a towel.

7. Moisturizer

Coconut oil is most widely used as a natural moisturiser. Bearing in mind a little goes a long way, take a small amount of coconut oil in your hand and dot over the face. With your fingertips, gently massage into the skin, moving in circular motions to stimulate circulation.

If you have oily skin, you might be thinking, really? Adding more oil to your skin sounds like a recipe for disaster. However contrary to what you would think, adding oil to your face does not clog the pores. While it varies from person to person, experts have found that oil cleansing or oil moisturising slows down the production of sebum, helping to prevent breakouts.

8. Coconut Face Mask

If your skin's in need of some TLC, resurrect your radiance with this sumptuous home-made face pack.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 avocado, mashed
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp oatmeal

Instructions:

• Melt the coconut oil in the microwave for 15 seconds.
• Pour the honey into the bowl and stir until the two ingredients are combined.
• Add the mashed avocado and oatmeal to the bowl.
• Mix until it forms a thick paste.
• Smooth the face mask all over a clean face. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes, then rinse with warm water. Gently pat dry.

As well as coconut oil, honey and avocado are packed full of nourishing vitamins and powerful antioxidants, helping to soften the skin. Moreover, the anti-inflammatory properties of oatmeal help reduce redness and soothe inflammation.

9. Sun Block

According to experts, we should be applying sun block or some sort of SPF product to our face every single day. This is because our skin is exposed to a surplus of damaging UV rays and free radicals which can put us at risk of skin conditions such as cancer and speed up the process of premature ageing. Whereas most sun blocks can be very heavy and greasy on the skin, coconut oil absorbs without leaving an oily residue. Just applying a little to your face before you go outside, will help protect your skin from the sun whilst slowing down premature ageing. With a SPF of 8, it's not by any means a sufficient sun block for a day at the beach. That being said, particularly at this time of year when the weather is turning cloudier, coconut oil will be perfect.

10. Natural Lip Balm

Now that the months are getting colder, it's common to find that your lips get chapped and dry. As if by magic, a dab of coconut oil heals cracked lips, giving you a gorgeous pout.

11. Eyebrows on Fleek

If your brows are a little patchy, then coconut oil is your saving grace. By stimulating growth, coconut oil helps brows to grow evenly. Before you go to bed, cleanse your face. Massage the coconut oil into your eyebrows until they feel soft and moisturised. Within a week or so, you will start to see miraculous results.

12. Natural Shaving Cream

Before shaving, slather on some coconut oil for incredibly smooth legs.

13. Highlighter

After applying your make-up, take a teeny bit of coconut oil and warm it up on the back of your hand. Gently pat the oil into your cheeks and the bridge of your nose, taking care not to rub it. This will give a radiant glow.

14. Flyaway Tamer

To put the flyaway days behind you, massage a little oil onto your scalp and throughout the strands.

15. Makeup brush cleaner

Are your brushes and sponges looking somewhat worse for wear? I know mine are. Cleaning your make-up brushes regularly is essential to prevent the spread of breakouts. All you have to do is microwave a few tbsp of coconut oil for about 30 seconds and dip your brushes into it.  Rub the brushes on a paper towel to remove excess makeup, and then rinse thoroughly under warm water. If it couldn't get any better, coconut oil has anti-microbial properties. Therefore it will help keep your brushes squeaky clean and bacteria-free. If you try this miracle method, your brushes and sponges will look so glossy and as good as new.

16. Pearly Smiles All Round

Coconut oil helps to remove plaque and reduce bacteria in the mouth, in turn whitening your teeth.

• Here's how to do it.
• Start by placing a teaspoon of coconut oil in your mouth.
• Allow to warm until it liquefies.
• Swish the oil around your mouth for 5-10 minutes ensuring it covers all the areas of your teeth and gums.
• Do not swallow.
• Spit out the oil in the toilet or the bin (don't spit down the sink because it may block the drain). Rinse out your mouth with warm water and brush as usual with toothpaste. Repeat a few times a week for best results.

17. Scar treatment

Coconut oil is a rich source of vitamin E which is renowned for healing and fading scars, giving you a clearer complexion.

18. Coconut Oil in the Bath

I don't know about you but I absolutely love a good soak in the bath, especially before bed. Why not spice up your bath with these beautiful diy bath melts. They're super easy to make and they will leave your skin silky smooth.

What You Will Need:

• 1 Cup Coconut Oil
• 15 Drops Essential Oils eg Lavender
• moulds, muffin trays or ice cube trays

To Make:

• For a couple of minutes, heat the coconut oil over a low heat until it is completely melted.
• Remove from heat and add essential oils.
• Mix well and pour the melted coconut oil mixture into your moulds.
• Allow to cool. Then place in the fridge to set.
• Once set, pop the melts out of the moulds and keep them in a container.
• Store the container in a cool place. Alternatively, you can store in the fridge.
• To use, run a hot bath and drop one of the bath melts into it. Once melted, lie back in the bubbles and relax.

Coconut Oil Bath Salts

This bath salt blend is incredible for relieving muscle pain and stress.

Ingredients:

1 big scoop of coconut oil

2 cups of Epsom salt

A few drops of essential oil (tea tree or lavender work best)

To Make:

• Melt coconut oil.

• Mix all ingredients together and store in a jar.

• Add a few spoonfuls to a warm bath.

So there you have it: my top 18 uses of coconut oil for radiant skin, hair, nails and more. Enjoy xx

Has Instagram Made Healthy-eating Unhealthy?

Hello beauties,

Before I get into this post, I want to ask you a question: how many of you use Instagram?

Although I rarely use Instagram, I can see why people love it so much. Without doubt, there is something rather satisfying in scrolling through celebrities' filtered lives. But while it may seem like a source of escapism, is it merely blurring reality?

In recent years, Instagram has undergone a major metamorphosis. What began in 2010 as a basic photo-sharing app has since exploded into a utopia of flattering filters, altered selfies and stunning backdrops. For me, that is exactly where the issue lies. Everything is picture perfect on Instagram.

We're led to believe that these flawless images exhibit people's genuine, everyday lives. Yet more often than not, they simply represent the handful of highlights and the desirable snapshots. In order to fit in, it's like we have to build two dichotomous worlds for ourselves: the Insta fairy-tale entwined with our mundane realities. Overtime, that pressure to emulate the 'perfect' lifestyle has become intoxicating.

As we scroll and like our way through an avalanche of perfection, it's our job to join the dots between what is real and what is quite clearly disingenuous. We look at people's photos and without even realising, we start comparing ourselves, doubting ourselves, hating our own reflections.

Previously, I looked at how social media in general is having a negative impact on our body confidence. However today I really want to focus on one particular faction of the Insta population. And that is the health and fitness community, an army that is taking the world by storm.

These days, you don't have to attend an exercise class or buy a recipe book to glean health advice. With the myriads of nutritious recipes, health tips and workout plans posted on Instagram, getting fit and healthy has never been so easy. Or at least that's what we thought. Turns out a lot of what the Insta health world promote isn't actually that healthy. In fact, some of it is downright dangerous and could be doing your body more harm than good. (I know, what a sham, eh?)

Since social media, I feel our relationship with food has deteriorated substantially. The quest for a healthy body used to mean adopting a balanced diet in conjunction with an active lifestyle. But now according to many bloggers and celebs, it would appear that 'getting healthy' is another term for getting skinny.

Thanks to the never-ending serge of capricious health trends, we've become obsessed with where food is coming from, which foods are good for us and which foods are, so we're told, 'bad' for us. As a consequence, the social media diet has been deconstructed by online health enthusiasts and gradually stripped down to the bare minimum. Staple foods such as bread and pasta have long since been out crowded and demoted by a new generation of nourishments called the superfoods.

In my household, I have to say we do love our superfoods such as flaxseeds, avocados, kale and quinoa, purely because they're rich in antioxidants and vitamins. That being said I've always treated them as additional ingredients or accompaniments as opposed to meal replacements. For example, I sprinkle seeds on chocolate mousse; eat avocado smashed on toast; stir a handful of kale through some pasta or cook it alongside chicken pie. On the contrary, a lot of 'clean-eating' Instagrammers are making the assumption that these superfoods will provide them with all the nutrients they require, leading them to cut out entire food groups which for some reason they're convinced are bad for them.

Let's just take a moment shall we to mourn the passing of the humble carbohydrates, a crew that was one of the first to be booted out the Insta pantry, shortly followed by sugar, dairy, fat, meat, oils, grains and so the list goes on. Sorry, what was that? What's for dinner? Well, you can either have a nice succulent piece of steak on a bed of spinach and triple cooked chips. Or, you can have kale surprise with the surprise being that it's just a massive bowl of, yep you guessed it, kale (or as my Dad likes to call it, the Devil's food). Hmm, as much as I love kale, I think I'd rather have the steak, wouldn't you?

I understand that what people want to do on Instagram is their own choice. Nonetheless, I feel it's got to the point where bloggers and celebs aren't just informing us; it's like they're trying to impose their lifestyles on us which is not ok. Because we idealise everything they do and say, we feel obliged to listen and copy them. The scary thing is though, most of them have no qualifications in nutrition, no fitness credentials and no scientific evidence to underpin their endorsements. Instead, they exploit their influence and an element of guilt-tripping their fans into conforming. Regularly, they will upload virtuous posts in which they preach their mantras and doctrines. I remember reading one post where this girl went on about how 'we shouldn't be eating products from a cow because that's just gross and why would anyone want to put that stuff in their body'. There was me, sat there like is this girl stupid? I can think up hundreds of disgusting, bush-tucker-trial worthy foods yet funnily enough, milk is not one of them. So I thought 'screw that, who said anything about cows? I'm gonna have some chocolate cake with a generous scoop of ice-cream and nobody is going to make me feel guilty for treating myself.

Of course, we can laugh about the ridiculousness of it all but at the end of the day, Instagram advice, however dubious, is putting us at risk. While these free-from diets such as Veganism and paleo may seem super healthy, they are in fact extremely low in calories and void of essential nutrients. This can result in numerous deficiencies as well as a whole host of nasty symptoms. To begin with, your head feels like it's full of cotton wool and it aches incessantly. No matter how many hours you sleep, you wake feeling drowsy and tired. The world around you doesn't feel so steady anymore, making you feel dizzy and seasick. Your mood is like a pendulum swinging from one emotion to the next, leaving you laughing, then snapping, then crying your eyes out all in a matter of minutes.

Further down the line, malnutrition can also have serious long term impacts. For example you'll find your hair starts to fall out, your periods eventually stop, and your immunity diminishes meaning your body cannot fight every day infections like it used to.

It's not just the lack of variety in these condensed diets which is a worry. It's the lack of food fullstop. Amongst the health conscious preachers on Instagram, there prevails a scary subculture called Pro-Anorexia which is growing increasingly prevalent. These communities claim to provide non-judgemental support for those suffering with eating disorders. However, in reality, all they're doing is distorting people's perceptions of body image. By insinuating that Anorexia is a trendy lifestyle choice rather than a deadly illness, these bloggers egg their followers on to lose weight and become dangerously thin. By dishing out tips and tricks, they openly endorse damaging practices such as fasting and over exercising which is putting thousands of people at risk of both injury and death. Lastly, by crafting harmful hashtags such as #bonespiration, they encourage their followers to 'inspire' one another and post pictures of themselves, zooming in on emaciated bodies, tiny waists and protruding hip bones.

The influence that these bloggers have is just detrimental. For readers who are insecure about their weight, it's communities like these where eating disorders manifest themselves. And for readers who are already Anorexic, these bloggers can lead them down an even darker path.

When healthy intentions spiral into an obsession, this should be the indication that something is not quite right and that it's time to seek help. Despite this, due to insidious posts camouflaged in the name of health and wellness, alarm bells are slowly being muffled and lucid signs are becoming harder to spot. Moreover, prolific numbers of people are choosing to flaunt their so-called salubrious lifestyles on a daily basis, meaning photos of impeccable plates and radical body transformations are appearing as commonplace as the duckface. Overall, this has inadvertently led to the normalisation and to some extent the glamorisation of disordered eating. I'm not saying that every person on a diet is suffering from an eating disorder. All I'm saying is that the constraints of certain diets and the punitive nature of their messages are helping to constitute unhealthy eating habits. Meanwhile, the picture perfect world of Instagram is disguising the dangers, leading people to refrain from seeking help.

The reason why I'm telling you all this is because I've been there. I know what it feels like to be in that situation. Growing up, the online health industry had a transcendental impact on the way I viewed food and the way I viewed myself. At the time, what they were saying seemed so inspirational and positive. In hindsight, I can see now that these bloggers weren't inspiring me to be healthy. They were just inspiring me to feel insecure about my body.

It makes me so angry that Instagram and other sites are allowing people to use their platforms to promote dangerous messages about health. In my opinion, there needs to be stricter guidelines or regulations  about what people can and can't post. Either that or posts need to be clearly marked so we can identify whether they have been written by a qualified nutritionist or simply a healthy wannabee.

My advice to you would be if you're interested in health, only follow nutritionists as you can always rely that their recommendations will be safe and medically certified. A great example to check out is Katharine Tate, The Food Teacher at  www.thefoodteacher.co.uk

Most importantly though, look after yourself. And if you’re worried about your eating habits, then please, please talk to your family and seek help because things will get better as soon as you speak out. xx