Coconut Oil Hair and Face Mask

Have you ever noticed how as soon as you start making little changes with how you're eating or working out it tends to lead to bigger changes? For instance just a few weeks ago I started by cutting caffeine, adding a few supplements, and then before I knew it I was buying kombucha and slathering coconut oil all over my face and hair. The jury is still out about the kombucha but I can say the coconut oil is downright amazing.

I have skin that is pretty sensitive. Every face wash I've used at a drug store has made me either really dry, cracking, and flaky or too oily. I finally broke down and bought some decent face wash and lotion at Sephora about 6 months ago, it had great reviews and ended up costing me about $60. It didn't make me oily and my skin didn't dry out, but it also didn't do anything to improve the look or feel of my skin (and for $60 it better be doing something good!). I decided to try coconut oil on my face and hair since I kept hearing such great things about it, and I already had everything at home so it didn't involve any added expenses. 

First up my hair. I put a few heaping spoonfuls of organic coconut oil into a small bowl. Then I filled a small pot with about 1 inch of water and brought it to a light simmer.

When the water was warm I put the bowl into the pot (make sure the water isn't hight enough to go inside the small bowl). The water doesn't need to be very hot at all, coconut oil melts at a very low temperature so be careful not to overheat it.

After less then a minute it was completely melted and ready to be used. The oil should NOT be hot, double check to make sure it's not too warm before putting it on your head.

Once it was melted I started putting it on my hair, working form the ends all the way up. I ended up leaving it on for over an hour. When it was time to wash it off I shampooed my hair twice, added conditioner (though you may not need it). I quickly dried my hair and I was really surprised with how soft it made my hair, even my ends that are damaged from bleaching were so much softer and smoother. Another bonus, my crazy thick hair wasn't frizzy at all.

I used the leftover coconut oil to make a face mask. I mixed it with an equal amount of organic raw honey. You'll only need about 2 tablespoons total to cover your whole face and neck.

Keep stirring until it's mixed together nicely. Once it's all mixed together put it all over your face like you would with face wash. Then let it sit for about 5-10 minutes...

After about 5 minutes it was already melting and sliding off my face. You'll know it's time to wash it off as soon as it gets to the point where it looks like someone sneezed all over your face (which you'll see below, along with my hair looking all greasy from the coconut oil on it)

Yep. It looks really disgusting but it actually worked great. It's very moisturizing without being greasy. You can make this mixture and leave it in a container, it will last for months and months. If you need something with a bit more exfoliation you can mix in some baking soda. This is all I've used over the last week and I haven't even needed to add lotion. 

I would love to hear if anyone else has some favorite natural skin/hair care tips? 

-Brianne