There are a slew of anti-aging oils on the market. If you aren’t careful, you can spend hundreds of dollars on oils — or even hundreds of dollars on just one fancy bottle of oil for your skin. But the most important thing when considering an oil for dry skin and wrinkles is to look at individual ingredients in that oil to ensure it is effective for aging skin. Instead of playing guessing games with blended oils, Dr. Anil Rajani has a suggestion that will save you money and time: choose castor oil.
You may already be familiar with castor oil as an effective treatment for dry, damaged hair that may even help hair growth. But did you know it’s also trending in skincare? Rajani explains how to use it to “triple its effectiveness” and why he considers it “nature’s Botox.”
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How Is Castor Oil Beneficial on the Skin?
Castor oil is a vegetable oil derived from the castor seed. The benefits of using it on the skin don’t just include preventing wrinkles (which helped it get its “nature’s Botox” name), but it is also an anti-bacterial oil that fights acne, which isn’t something everyone knows because it is a thicker oil and it’s natural to assume thick oils clog pores. Castor oil has anti-inflammatory properties that make it great for reducing puffiness, and it’s a wonderful moisturizer that is “astonishingly effective as an emollient,” according to Rajani.
How to Use Castor Oil
The next burning question is: what is the best way to use castor oil on your face to double or triple its effectiveness? First, he says, make sure your castor oil is 100 percent pure organic, cold pressed, extra virgin, and chemical or hexane free. That ensure it will work. Second, because this is a very thick oil, you may want to blend it will a carrier oil like coconut, almond, or olive oil. Apply it to your face after you’ve cleansed your skin and before you go to bed. You can leave it on overnight or wipe it off with a warm cloth after five minutes.
Another tip: keep it out of the sunlight so the oil won’t degrade.
Does Castor Oil Help Grow Brows and Lashes?
A lot of people use castor oil to help brows and lashes grow and become stronger. Rajani says there is no evidence that castor oil can actually help growth, but there is anecdotal evidence that it might help. If you’re interested in trying castor oil around the eye area, it’s important to make sure your oil is 100 percent pure, not blended with other oils, and doesn’t contain fragrance, which can increase the risk of irritation.
Castor Oil and Face Fat Loss
There’s more talk than ever these days about conserving the fat pads for healthier and more youthful looking skin. Some brow and lash products that contain castor oil also contain prostaglandin, which is an ingredient that has been associated with fat loss, though Rajani says there is no data about this and he has not seen anyone in his office who suffered from fat loss as a result of this ingredient. If you are noticing hallowing, Rajani suggests switching to a lash serum with growth factors like exosomes, which send a signal to skin to help it rejuvenate itself.
