A Recipe for Beauty: Virgin Coconut Oil

We've got central heat, space heaters, bathroom heat lamps, and hot showers and baths going 24/7 around here. My hair is frazzled, my lips are parched, and my nails are breaking.

There's been a lot of buzz about the newly discovered health benefits of coconut oil, but did you know it's good for the outside of your body too?  Coconut oil is a white solid at room temperature, but melts almost immediately if you rub it between your hands.  It has an unusually small molecular structure for an oil, meaning it can be absorbed more easily into skin and hair, without leaving a heavy residue. 

The last time I got my hair cut I noticed that all the stylists in the salon had big jars of coconut oil at their stations and they were smoothing it onto their clients' hair before coloring and shampooing.  I finally got around to trying it at home and I'm loving the results.  You can't do this with other oils because they are so heavy they don't wash out easily.  Believe me, I've tried.  You wind up with conditioned, but heavy, greasy hair.  Probably not the look you're going for.  The coconut oil shampoos out easily and I can definitely feel the extra softness in my hair.  The coconut scent doesn't linger, either, so this is a unisex tip.  Scoop out a small amount and rub between your hands...your body warmth will instantly melt the oil.  Then run it through your hair.  Leave on as long as you can before you shampoo.  If you occasionally leave it on overnight you'll get a deep conditioning treatment. 

Since coconut oil is solid at room temperature it lends itself to making a homemade lip balm, too.  I melted a little bit of the oil along with a small chunk of lipstick, for color, in a small glass bowl in the microwave.  It only takes a few seconds for the coconut oil to liquify.  I mixed the two together and then I poured the liquid into a small pot and let it harden.  The resulting lip balm is hydrating but not sticky or glossy.  And I love that I can get a custom color by using my own lipstick.  The more lipstick you use, the more color you'll get from your balm.

The real tip here is that you can save a lot of money.  You can also use it in your bath, as an eye makeup remover, and rub it into your cuticles and fingernails before bed.  Most moisturizing products that you can buy are, at their base, some kind of oil, along with lots of other fluff and filler, mostly chemical.  By using straight coconut oil you're getting the benefits without the price. 

So there you have it, a great grooming aid that is practically free and really works. 
What are your kitchen beauty tips?