Last-Minute Beauty Hacks for your Skin, Lips and Eyelashes

If you are in need of a beauty boost and have trouble picking out the right products for you, then these hacks could provide temporary relief while you get your deciding hat on before settling on one thing.

Get ready to search the backs of your kitchen cupboards and bathroom cabinets as you may just find a few of these beauty hack friendly ingredients to keep you going for a while. Now, although a lot of these are tried and tested hacks, there are reasons that lemons aren’t in the beauty aisle at your local supermarket! Some swear by them, some won’t go near them, but if you need a quick boost in beauty health and are up for a bit of experimenting, then these hacks may just be what you need!

We start with this one as it is a great all rounder and if you have a jar of this hiding away in your cupboard then you have struck it very lucky! There’s not a lot that coconut oil can’t do in terms of our beauty routines and that includes, skin, lips, hair and eyelashes.

Ok, so scientifically speaking there tends to be more specifically targeted products on the shelves containing coconut oil as opposed to the edible stuff you may have found in your cupboard, so just what does this wonderful oil do in its purest form?

Well, it is rich in fatty oils, the good ones, that treat the skin to Vitamin E and antioxidants to keep it clear. It has anti-bacterial properties too which make for it to be a great remover of makeup! So, if you’re in an overnight situation where makeup remover or cleansing face wipes aren’t an option, then grab a cotton pad and some coconut oil and get cleansing.

Although it can be quite greasy, people also swear by coconut oil to keep the face moisturised and hydrated, so leave it on overnight for a relaxing facial without having to spend a penny! Coconut oil is also fantastic on tattoos as it helps keep the skin protected, nourished and tattoos looking as bright as the day you got them.

If you have lips that are a little on the dry side but haven’t managed to get out to replenish your lip balm stock, then coconut oil will help overnight to keep them moisturised. Don’t be tempted to do this when stepping out on a hot sunny day though as it is a quick way to get sunburned lips. Stick to night-time to give your lips a little boost by morning.

Unruly hair? Coconut oil! It can be quite heavy though so apply it to the ends rather than the roots, but it will help curly and wavy hair stay put, not to mention hiding those split ends if you haven’t had a chance to make your latest hair appointment.

Overall, coconut oil is a godsend when it comes to emergency beauty hacks and if you keep a jar of this in your cupboard, you WILL find a use for it, and not just in your food.

Raw honey is a fantastic little product that lives in a lot of our kitchens and without realising it can be the perfect last-minute beauty hack when you are in need of facial moisturisers and don’t have any to hand. Now when we say raw honey, we mean RAW honey, not the stuff with additives and flavourings that have been through the mills before making it from hive to kitchen.

Packed with beneficial components that help balance out bacteria in skin, it makes for a great face mask when the real thing isn’t available. This good stuff helps speed up cell repair and reduces inflammation so also makes for a good coating if you suffer with acne or have a sudden red pimple appear at an inconvenient time.

Mixed with sugar and some lemon, raw honey is a beautifully smelling exfoliant that helps clear the skin and rid it of dirt and grime in the pores. So, next time you get caught short with your favourite face exfoliant, get to that kitchen and see if raw honey is there to help you. Just make sure you don’t sleep in it, while it may be great for your face, it definitely isn’t so great for your pillows!

Lemons have long been part of human diet in some form. While we don’t sit there and eat a lemon like we would an orange, it is commonly used for flavouring in foods and salads and as garnishes in cool summer drinks. Lemon is very versatile and packed full of flavour to add a little zest into your meal or beverage. So, it’s only natural it can be used in beauty too.

Lemon is very acidic but is full of vitamin C so when using it as a last-minute or emergency beauty hack, be cautious with how much you use, how long you apply it for and where you use it. For example, lemon juice has bleaching agents that many swear by to get sun-kissed highlights on their hair. Squeeze 2 lemon halves evenly and brush through and simply find a sunny spot in the garden. By the end of the day, you will see your hair has a few cute highlights and is definitely a few shades lighter.

So, in this sense, lemon is great, which means it can be good for evening out skin tones because of its bleaching agent. Loaded with antioxidants it helps clarify skin and lighten dark spots but be careful using lemon as an emergency beauty hack without knowing how it will react with your skin first.

When we say olive oil, we mean olive oil! So, for last minute hacks, don’t go reaching for vegetable oil as it is really not the same. Olive oil has been hailed a hero in the oil world for years and its it purest form, extra virgin olive oil it has a few beauty benefits.

It clings on to other oils which makes it great for removing stubborn makeup like foundation and even mascara. Use it lightly with a cotton pad to get rid of your makeup before bed when no other cleansers are available. It works well for dry skin and eyelashes, keeping them hydrated and smooth, just don’t forget to wash it off before applying your makeup the next day or you may look a bit too shiny!

Combined with sugar or brown sugar if you have it lying around, this magical oil can be made into an exfoliating scrub for your body too. As well as making for a fantastic hair mask to leave your hair moisturised overnight, and being said to have anti-ageing properties, is there anything olive oil can’t do! Sign me up!

A hidden gem in most kitchens is the humble teabag. For an emergency beauty hack, you don’t get much better than a used teabag. Stick with me, it doesn’t sound very nice, I know, but it will save you on those days where even makeup can’t hide your dark circles and puffy eyes after a sleepless night.

We’ve all been there, gone to bed on Friday night after a hard week at work, desperately trying to get to sleep so we can be up bright and early for a day out/wedding/birthday party. But sleep decides to stay away, and we lie there counting an endless line of sheep before the sun starts to rise. The panic starts to set in as we realise that our normal makeup routine isn’t going to cut it, concealer just won’t do the trick and our eyes are going to tell the tale of how much we wish we were in our beds instead of dancing the night away.

Ok, so it’s a little drastic but we all definitely know that tired feeling that shows clear as day on our face. This is where teabags come in. If you’re in a rush to get ready for the day ahead, try and take a relaxing 20 minutes to yourself, grab a few cold teabags and pop them over your eyes, paying extra attention to the fleshy area underneath and above your cheeks.

Teabags that have caffeine are great for refreshing the skin and shrinking the blood vessels which rids the area of puffiness. Green tea is already famed for its antioxidant properties so this can only do wonders for the skin too. So, it might not be an exact science, but its is definitely not going to hurt to try the teabag hack. What are you waiting for? Get that kettle boiling!

Ground coffee is known to have beneficial health qualities when it comes to beauty routines. Caffeine, as we said earlier has stimulating agents that promote blood flow in the skin and can improve cell regeneration. So, it can be applied in a few ways to really get great feeling skin. My favourite is to make a scrub using ground coffee – you can go straight from the jar or repurpose coffee from your filter for this – and olive oil.

Get mixing to form a smooth, liquid-like paste and use it as a scrub on the body, you can target rough skin or stretch marks for this or use it on the face as a mask in a thicker consistency. The olive oil helps to moisturise while the coffee grounds work deep into the pores and the caffeine gets the blood flowing. Use this lightly on the lips too as a scrub to get rid of dry and chapped skin, just don’t rub too hard as the skin is very delicate there and if they are already damaged, they only need a light exfoliation to clear them up.

The best thing about this coffee/olive oil paste? You don’t have to keep making a new one every day, so it doesn’t just have to be for emergency situations where you need a smart hack to improve your skin. You will probably want to make enough of this paste to not waste too much coffee so put it in an air-tight container and keep it in a cool cupboard ready for the next day. Once you get really savvy, you can add other ingredients as you please to make it more appealing. Try menthol for an invigorating morning scrub or chamomile tea for a late-night relaxing face mask to send you off into the land of nod!

When it comes to beauty hacks, there are thousands of people with all kinds of advice and all swear by something they have used before. When it comes to your own body and face however, you need to make sure you try and test things for yourself before delving into a world of homemade products that could irritate your skin or your eyes.

If you do decide to try things on this list, do a patch test first especially with homemade scrubs and even more importantly if you are using them as an emergency hack. If you are trying to get mascara off your eyelashes, obviously the best way is with specific eye makeup remover, but if Olive oil is what you have to hand, go easy without getting anything in your eyes. The last thing you need is to solve one problem and create another one entirely!

Beauty hacks have been around for centuries and they are definitely not going anywhere, so go and have a raid of your kitchen cupboard and see if there is anything worth salvaging to spruce up your normal skin or hair care routine. If you can get there without eating the ingredients first, then you may well be the best emergency beauty hacker yet!