As the heat grows to be excessive and dehydration becomes a common concern. But beyond making you feel tired and thirsty, dehydration might also cause your skin to lose its luster or break out into pimples, your lips to become chapped, or your hair to become dandruff-ridden.
Thankfully, all of these problems can be solved with an ingredient found in almost every home: coconut oil! This miracle ingredient can be used for a number of DIY concoctions that provide easy skin and hair care solutions right in the comfort of your own home.
Struggling with acne? You might be surprised to learn that a mask consisting of baking soda and coconut oil, applied twice a week, can help. Due to the high lauric acid content of coconut oil, it is capable of destroying harmful bacteria which promote skin inflammation. Baking soda, too, has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. All you need is 1 tablespoon of coconut oil and 1 teaspoon of baking soda: mix these two together to produce a smooth paste, then massage it onto the affected areas of your face. Once it hardens and forms a mask, let it sit for 5-10 minutes before cleaning your face thoroughly using cold water. Afterwards, don’t forget to moisturize!
Some people are surprised to find that their lips get chapped and dry even during the humid summer. It seems contradictory, but once again, the excessive heat can cause lips to lose moisture. This can, in turn, even lead to your lips taking on an uneven tone. Well, if you’ve got coconut oil, honey and sugar at home, you can easily make your own lip mask/exfoliant to combat lip dryness. Both coconut oil and honey have humectant and anti-bacterial properties, while sugar is a natural exfoliant. Mix all of the ingredients thoroughly in a bowl, then rub the mixture onto your lips. Leave it on for 3-4 minutes, then wash the mixture off or gently rub it off with a moist microfiber towel. Afterwards, dab your lips with a bit of coconut oil for plump, refreshed lips.
The summer’s characteristic dryness can also cause hair to lose moisture and break, leading to dandruff and even hair fall. If you struggle with this problem, you might benefit from using a mint-and-coconut oil hair mask, which not only keeps protein intact in the hair, increases its elasticity and promotes its growth, but smells amazing to boot! For this mask, you'll need 100 grams of mint leaves and 1 tablespoon of coconut oil. Wash the mint leaves thoroughly, then once they're dry, blend them with 1 tablespoon coconut oil in a blender. The resulting thick paste should then be applied onto the scalp and massaged well with fingertips. Leave that in for 30 minutes, then rinse it off with a mild shampoo. Do this once weekly to regain the softness and glow of your hair.
And finally, even though your face, skin and hair may be in top-notch condition, it's easy for your arms, legs, hands and feet to grow dull during the summer. So why not treat yourself to a little home spa every now and then? Using four teaspoons of coconut oil, two teaspoons of lemon juice, and two teaspoons of sugar, you can easily create a perfect scrub at home. Massage this scrub into your skin carefully before rinsing it off with cold water. Afterwards, don't forget to moisturize! Over time, you’ll see the difference in your skin: the naturally moisturizing capabilities of coconut oil, the exfoliating capability of sugar to remove dead skin cells, and the inflammation-fighting citric acid in lemon work together to banish dullness from the skin. And yes, this scrub smells amazing too.
Source: Agency
bd-pratidin/GR
