Beauty tips and tricks: Is there anything coconut oil can’t do?

I’m not usually a big fan of natural remedies or beauty products you can make at home. Perhaps I’m just too lazy. That said, I purchased a big tub of coconut oil for cooking recently, but soon latched on to its various other uses. I’ve been using coconut oil mainly as a moisturiser at night and also to remove eye make-up. It can also be used during pregnancy to help prevent stretch marks (although I wouldn’t count on it preventing them entirely).

It has been shown to be very effective at removing cradle cap: just apply it to the baby’s head, leave it for a few minutes and gently rub it off using a cloth.

I've heard people say that it is a great conditioner for hair; personally I find it too hard to wash out and it leaves my hair a little greasy. I've made a home-made foot scrub using coconut oil and Epsom salt; it proved very effective for soothing my feet after a long winter stuck in boots. If you're too lazy to fashion your own home-made scrub, Holos is a great Irish brand that uses coconut oil as the base in many of its products. My favourite is the facial scrub (€20.80 from holos.ie), which is also packed with essential oils jasmine, ylang-ylang and aloe vera.

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