Ok y’all, this is probably the only “lifestyle” post you will ever see on my blog, because outside of cooking, I’m pretty much as lost as the rest of you when it comes to doing makeup, weight control, choosing what to wear for the day, finding matching socks, and generally making any decisions. But I have been so impressed with this recent change I’ve made in my hair, skin, and nails habits that I had to share it with everyone!

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, I’m sure you’ve read somewhere that coconut oil has many different benefits for anyone and everyone. Well, after reading what felt like the millionth article on the subject, I decided to give coconut oil a try. First, I started out doing weekly hair masks with it, and WOW! First of all, I had just had my second child and was going through the dreaded hair falling out stage when he hit about 4 months old. Ahhh!!! Also, my once lovely hair was dry as a bone even though I hadn’t colored it or anything. I tried several over the counter hair masks and even broke out my blender and did a homemade hair mask with eggs, olive oil, mayo, and avocado. Not only did my hair smell like a necromancer blended up the body of a rotting carcass and put it in my hair, but it really didn’t make that big of a difference for me! But back to the coconut oil…. I started doing masks once a week and leaving it on my hair anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour before taking a shower and it made a MAJOR difference in my hair! Also, it smelled delicious and sort of like Caramel deLite Girl Scout cookies too, which was a major improvement from the dead body stench I had been sporting before.

All you need to do is get some coconut oil. I use  Nature’s Way Extra Virgin Organic Coconut Oil, 16 oz. but if you spend about $3 more you’ll get double  Nature’s Way Extra Virgin Organic Coconut Oil, 32-Ounce

Coconut oil is solid until it hits about 76 degrees, so depending on where you live and what season you’re in the oil may be very easy to remove with your hands from the jar or you might need to get a spoon to scoop it out. Get a small handful and rub your hands together and it will turn into a liquid.

Next, start at your scalp and start massaging the oil into your scalp and work your way down to the bottom strands of your hair. Continue repeating this step until all of your hair has been covered with the oil.

Then wrap your hair all up together if you don’t want your hair to drip all over you or wrap a towel around your head and let it sit for 20-60 minutes, or even overnight.

Lastly, wash it out with shampoo and condition as normal. After your hair dries you will be amazed at how silky and soft it is, not to mention if you suffer from frizz you will see a big improvement in that area too!

After I would put the coconut oil on my hair I noticed my fingernails were getting stronger and cuticles were making some improvements because of the brief amount of time I had my fingers working with the stuff. Now I try to remember to put a little bit on my fingers each night and I really like the results!

Lastly, and I know you’re going to think I’m crazy, but my husband and I have started washing our faces with coconut oil! What?! That’s crazy talk, I know! But seriously, it WORKS! My husband’s exact words when I asked him to try this with me were “Guess I will have to take a personal day off of work to stay at home with my pizza face after putting oil on it!” But it did NOT give him pizza face, haha! In fact, it has helped both of our faces with blemishes and dryness (my skin) and oil (my husband’s skin). I had read on a website somewhere that “like dissolves like” when it comes to washing your face with oil, so I decided to give it a try. Not only is this insanely cheaper than buying the three step face washing programs I’ve been led to believe are the only solutions for my skin, but it is 100% all natural and not only cleans your face, but moisturizes it and helps prevent fine lines and wrinkles. There’s no need to remove your makeup beforehand, even waterproof, because it dissolves that easily as it cleans out your pores.

All you do is get a small amount in your hands, rub together so it turns liquid, and rub into your skin for at least one minute. Then rub off with a wash cloth and warm water. That’s it!

I read that some people do not need face lotion after washing their face like this, but I always put on a sunscreen for the day BOOTS No7 Lift & Luminate Day Cream SPF15 and at night I just put a tiny amount of coconut oil on my fingers and rub it straight in to areas I’m feeling a bit dry.

Well, I hope you’ll give coconut oil a try. I’m very happy to say my one jar of coconut oil is still in use almost going on three months now, and the amount of money I’ve saved on skin products and hair masks is amazing!

Image of coconuts courtesy of Pixomar at FreeDigitalPhotos.net