a lifestyle blog for book lovers

My Favorite Natural Skincare Trick

I’m a convert to natural skincare. The past few years I’ve played around with the oil cleansing method and replaced my cosmetics counter cleansers with olive oil bar soap. I’ve ditched my drugstore lotion for apricot kernel oil, and replaced my phthalates-ridden shampoo in favor of natural brands.

I like knowing that I’m doing my body good by avoiding phthalates and parabens and all that, but I love finding natural solutions that are not only safer, but work better than their conventional counterparts.

This simple nail scrub is my favorite natural skincare trick. It’s quick and simple, takes just two ingredients, and delivers better results than any commercial product I’ve used.

Here’s what to do:

In a small bowl (or the palm of your hand), combine a small amount of coconut oil with an equal amount of white sugar, and squish into a paste. (Coconut oil melts at 76 degrees–if yours is melty, put it in the freezer for a minute or two to solidify.) I use Nutiva Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil that I order from Amazon. I’ve also been happy with the Spectrum Naturals brand I can get at my local Whole Foods or Kroger.

If you don’t have coconut oil on hand, you can substitute olive oil.

Using a pea-sized amount for each hand, dab a bit onto each of your nails, massaging into your nails and cuticles. After a minute or two, gently push back your cuticles. Don’t force anything!

Towel off the sugar and excess oil. (You’ll get better results if you wait a few minutes before washing your hands.)

You can keep any extra scrub around for a week or so.

The scrub gives my nails a beautiful, natural shine, and it’s a lot easier to maintain good-looking natural nails than to keep polished ones looking pretty. I like to use this method every few days to keep my nails and the surrounding skin smooth and healthy.

Now I’ve told you my favorite natural skincare tip. What’s yours?

my favorite natural skincare trick

23 comments

Leave A Comment
  1. Thanks for the tip! I’m trying that…today! I feel you can always tell how “crunchy” a person is by whether they have coconut oil on hand (and I do!). I really love using coconut oil to take of makeup. It works better than anything else I have ever tried (and it’s so much cheaper too!).

  2. Katie says:

    In a fit of spring fever, I actually just painted all my nails for the first time in months. But as soon as they start to chip off, I’m trying this. I have no patience for the painting process and this sounds genius. Ack.

    • Anne says:

      It’s the maintenance that kills it for me–and this is so easy! It works for pedicures, too–though I usually do use actual nail polish for my toes.

    • Anne says:

      Let me know how it works for you!

      And while coconut oil is a great beauty product, it works really well in the kitchen, too. Because it will take you years to use up a tub of coconut oil on your fingernails!

  3. I love coconut oil and have noticed since I started using it my nails always look shinny even when they are dirty from the garden. I would have to say that my favorite skin care tip is honey and olive oil, I use them to wash my hands after gardening.

    • Anne says:

      I didn’t know about the honey and olive oil tip. I’m always looking for something to take pine sap off of my hands–I wonder if that would work?

      • Since honey is also sticky I would think it would work to get the pine sap off of the hands. I simply rub the honey and olive oil into a lather and then rinse off. I suppose if you added a little brown sugar for exfoliating that would help get the pine sap off. I don’t have many pine trees here so I don’t run into that problem too much. Let me know how it works out.

  4. What a great tip! I have a horrible problem with my fingers looking quite awful…hangnails, skin issues, etc. I have to admit that I don’t spend enough time taking care of myself, but I think I will try this! Does it help keep nails from chipping? I have an awful problem with that.

    My tip…if your baby has cradle cap, rub their heads with olive oil and let sit for 10 minutes. Then wash their hair normally… that white flaky skin comes right off and is back to that smooth baby skin we all love! 🙂

  5. Mmmm.. coconut oil. What a gift from Mother Earth! This is the BEST “lotion” for a pregnant belly. It helped to sooth that itchy belly that I get with pregnancy as well as heal the stretch marks and keep them at bay until less than a month before delivery.

    Coconut oil is also great for using on babies as a simple “lotion” and even helps diaper rash (use liberally) although I haven’t researched if it will wash-out of cotton and microfiber cloth diapers. I haven’t had absorbency problems with our cotton cloth diapers and we have used plenty of coconut oil.

    Thanks for this great post!

  6. Scrumptious says:

    This sounds wonderful. I don’t usually do anything to my nails, but I always have coconut oil around, & I just quit sugar so I have plenty of that on hand. I’m excited to try this out!

  7. Pingback: Home Made: Guest Post-Using Coconut Oil as a Beauty Product » Sisters Saving Cents
  8. Pingback: Home Made: Guest Post-Using Coconut Oil as a Beauty Product » Sisters Saving Cents
  9. Jen Bright says:

    Each tips you shared is extremely helpful. We can now keep our nails clean by just using natural product which is the coconut oil.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

We appreciate a good conversation in the comments section. Whether we’re talking about books or life, differing opinions can enrich a discussion when they’re offered for the purpose of greater connection and deeper understanding, which we whole-heartedly support. However, my team and I will delete comments that are hurtful or intended to shame members of this community, particularly if they are left by first-time commenters. We have zero tolerance for hate speech or bigotry of any kind. Remember that there are real people on the other side of the screen. We’re grateful our community of readers is characterized by kindness, curiosity, and thoughtfulness. Thank you for helping us keep it that way.

Find your next read with:

100 Book recommendations
for every mood

Plus weekly emails with book lists, reading life tips, and links to delight avid readers.