5 amazing ways oil will boost your beauty routine

By: The Beauty Experts at L'Oréal Paris

Ditch everything you think you know about oils. Seriously! Instead of doubling down on those oil-free creams and cleansers, you might just find that beauty oils are the answer to some of your everyday beauty problems. Lucky for you, we've rounded up five little-known ways you can use oils in your daily regimen for glowing skin and shiny locks.

1. Replenish Dull Locks
Hair oils are a fast and easy way to replenish less-than-vibrant strands, especially if you abuse your hair with daily heat and styling. Show your locks some love with a nourishing and revitalizing hair oil, which helps repair split ends while boosting shine. The best part? Use it how you want: on damp hair for moisturizing, on dry hair for styling and control or as a finishing product for softness and shine.

2. Soften Rough Cuticles
Keep your nails strong and beautiful by applying a nourishing nail oil daily. Especially in the winter, when your skin loses moisture and becomes irritated and flaky, remember that your cuticles need love, too. Short-term, it's as simple as keeping a bottle of vitamin E on your desk or in your gym bag. Long-term, drink plenty of water and lay off acetone-based nail polish removers. Don't forget: If you don't want to shell out for an extra beauty product, simply repurpose your favorite go-to facial oil.

3. Exfoliate Chapped Lips
Biting cold and chapping winds are no friend to exposed skin, and your lips are no exception. Piercing-cold air in combination with moisture-zapping indoor heaters will leave your skin feeling tight, itchy and irritated. Create your own DIY lip exfoliator using olive oil and unrefined sugar, which will remove dead, flaky cells while locking in moisture. And make sure to bump up your head-to-toe exfoliation to about three or four times a week during the harsh winter months.

4. Hydrate Cracked Skin
If your hands and feet become rough, cracked and painful during brutally cold days, you're not alone. But mixing a few drops of a moisture-rich oil in with your favorite lotion might just be the miracle product you've been waiting for. Likewise, if your face tends to tighten and wrinkle this time of year, try mixing a daily facial oil with your favorite morning or night cream to smooth fine lines.

5. Remove Everyday Makeup
"Oil cleansing" is the new buzzword in skin care, and for good reason. When you strip your skin with an oil-busting cleanser, your body kicks into overdrive to replenish the lost oils. Washing your face with a gentle cleansing oil, on the other hand, moisturizes and soothes skin while breaking down makeup and clearing away dirt and impurities. Not quite ready to ditch your favorite cleanser in favor of a bottle of EVOO? Consider oil for "spot cleaning," such as removing eye makeup and quickly wiping away waterproof mascaras and liners.

More winter beauty tips:
Winter makeup tricks to solve your dry skin woes
4 perfect winter makeup palettes
5 bad skin care habits to break this winter