Coconut Oil: The Benefits

Hey Everyone!

Hope you all are well :)

Lately I have been using Coconut Oil for everything, and yes I mean everything. Coconut Oil offers a myriad of benefits and the brilliant thing about it is its affordable, easy to get and its 100% natural.

I have listed below my 8 favourite uses of Coconut Oil, so next time your in a health food store or even your local supermarket…pick it up and give it a go!

You won't regret it :)

1. Hair Treatment: This is probably the one I use the most, its definitely my favourite anyway! I like to use the Coconut Oil as a super conditioner/hair treatment. I apply it to dry hair focusing mainly on the ends and then massage whatever is left onto my scalp. Once you have the hair coated, you can leave it in as long as you desire. For a more intense treatment you can always put a shower hat or plastic bag over your hair and leave it over night. All you have to do then is pop in the shower, shampoo and condition as normal. Your hair will feel so silky afterwards and smell gorgeous too!
2. Lip Balm: Last year in Dealz I picked up a few boxes of pill organizers so I could depot my lipsticks into them and save space in storage. The great thing about the ones I picked up was that because they are plastic you can snap sections off. I took about a teaspoon or so of coconut oil, heated it slightly, placed it into the container and left it in the fridge to harden. Not a necessary step, I just wanted the coconut oil to take the shape of the container, once that is complete you have your very own lip balm. I pop the container in my bag so I can moisturize my lips on the go!
3. Sooth Skin Irritation: I've mentioned the fact that I have very dry skin on numerous occasions, along with the fact that my skin is extremely sensitive. I suffer with eczema on a regular basis and recently I just couldn't put my hand on my cream for the life of me. Sometimes I swear some things just get up and walk in my house haha! I had read somewhere before that Coconut Oil was really good for dry skin so I decided I had nothing to lose and whacked a bit onto the areas that my skin had broken out. It worked wonders :)
4. Body Moisturiser: As I said I had heard it was meant to be brilliant for dry skin and I knew it worked well on my lips so I decided to try it out on the rest of me! I like to warm the oil up in the palm of my hands before applying to any dry patches I may have, with continued use I definitely saw a difference with the skin on my arms. My skin felt a lot softer and looked a lot more nourished.
5. Coconut Oil and Cooking: Instead of drizzling your pan in vegetable oil which is really unhealthy, try a teaspoon of coconut oil instead. Lately too I've been adding an extra little something to my smoothies! I like to pop a spoon or two in the mix to add a bit more flavor…delish!
6. DIY Body Scrub: If you have just ran out of your favourite body scrub not to worry, you can make your very own one with products lying around in your kitchen! Mix your coconut oil in with some sugar and bobs your uncle! Use circular motions to buff it into the skin, rinse off and your skin will be left feeling super soft!
7. Shaving Cream: I can't remember the last time I used a shaving cream, I think its been years. I use conditioner without fail, its cheaper and I find its so much more gentle on my skin. I decided to try out the coconut oil to see how I would get on. It worked equally as well as my conditioner if not better. The only thing is you have to apply quite a bit of it, making it more expensive to use than my €1.49 Alberto Balsalm conditioner. But it works really well and is very soothing on the skin…it helps with shaving rashes too!
8. Upset Stomach: Not a lot of foods agree with me, combine that with anxiety and my stomach is constantly doing hula hoops! My stomach rarely is settled and I suffer from heartburn like no other. While I love the smell of coconut scented items, its my absolute favourite scent, I do find it hard to eat a spoonful of coconut oil on its own. When I know my stomach is acting the maggot I try to take a spoonful to put it at ease. If you don't want to ingest the coconut oil you can always rub a little on the inside of your wrist to keep the nausea at bay, but I find eating it to be more effective.

Thats a rap!

After reading some benefits are you interested in trying Coconut Oil for yourself? Do you have any uses that you would like to share, let me know!

Until my next post :)

Eimear x

My stay in the Osprey Hotel & Spa, Naas

Hey Everyone!

Hope you all are well :)

For one reason or another I had my fair share of hotel stays last year. If I won the lotto I would probably just travel around staying in different hotels and spend the money that way haha. I love a good hotel break away, believe it or not what actually determines my stay in a hotel is………

if they have a bath or not! Its probably my favourite thing about staying overnight in a hotel, I love filling up a nice hot bath and relaxing :) Back in October I stayed in the Osprey Hotel in Naas for the Irish Blog Awards. As some of you may know I was a finalist in the 'Best Video Blog' category. 

*cough* Wearing the badge loud and proud to the right *cough* 

I'm still on a high after that and still completely overwhelmed by the support I received through texts and messages across my social media websites. I would't have gotten this far if it wasn't for my brilliant subscribers and readers, I'm extremely grateful!

 Before staying in any hotel I will always look up their website to see if they have a gallery or any guest reviews. I was pleased with the images and information on the site so I proceeded to book. I arrived early at the hotel to give myself plenty of time to relax and then to get ready for the night ahead.

I was blown away by how gorgeous the room was, even though it said on the site the room was spacious, I wasn't expecting it to be as spacious as it was so that was a lovely surprise. The room looked more gorgeous in person opposed to on the website which I was very happy about, unfortunately sometimes thats not always the case it can be the other way around! The hotel itself is very modern and nicely decorated as you can see by the below shot of the room. The colour choices make the room look so warm and inviting…I think the first thing I did was dive on the bed! Extremely cosy might I add!

As you can see there is lots of space to move around and get ready. There is a full length mirror on your left as you walk in the door and also a rectangular mirror above the desk followed by a large mirror in the bathroom. You can see a purple theme is evident in the room, I love the quirky purple wall with matching chair cushion and valance. I think it really ties the room together nicely.The heating system in the hotel is also very modern, I can't remember if there were any radiators in the room or not but we had a thermostat. I love when hotels have these fitted its so handy to be able to manage the temperature in the room yourself. 

Here comes my favourite part, the bathroom :)

When you walk into the room, the door to your left leads to the bathroom. Again the bathroom like the bedroom is super spacious. After the awards the first thing I did when I came up to the room was get a bath. The bath was so deep I filled it up as far as I could, popped in a bath bomb and dived right on in! Extremely relaxing is a serious understatement, it was gorgeous. The bathroom also had a lovely mosaic tiled shower too.

The room had double doors which led out onto a lovely balcony. As it was September and the fact I was only there for one evening, I didn't get much use out of it. I can imagine if you are staying for a few nights in the Summer it would be lovely to kick back and relax with a couple of drinks. The balcony overlooks a water fountain which again is a nice touch :)

The hotel is one that clearly values its guests, the staff were extremely professional and pleasant, which definitely made the experience that much more enjoyable. Its probably one of the most comfortable hotels I have stayed in to date! Naturally pricing varies with regard to rooms and time of year, rooms are from as little as €89. As I said I stayed in October I think the room cost approximately €109. 

Overall without a doubt I would definitely go back to stay again. The staff are helpful and friendly, the rooms are nicely decorated and clean, the hotel facilities are second to none…no complaints here!

If you want to check it out for yourself, head over to the site by clicking here.

Have you stayed in the Osprey?

Whats the nicest hotel you have stayed in, I'm always on the look out!

Eimear x