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Here's another all-natural ingredient you can add to your essential oil collection: seaberry, which sounds as pretty as it makes you look. Also known as Buckthorn Oil, seaberry is gaining popularity among the beauty obsessed, who can find it everywhere from hair serums to hand creams these days. So, what exactly is it and why are women obsessing over it?
For starters, its name tells a truthful tale: seaberry comes from sea buckthorn berries, which are found in the mountains and coastal areas of Europe and Asia. It's a potent omega-7 oil, which has been used in history to treat everything from cracked, dry skin and eczema to coughs and digestive problems. It was even used in Russia to help with radiation burns. Unfortunately, Omega-7 fatty acids are kind of like the middle child no one pays attention to in a family that consists of both the very popular omega-6 and the beauty queen, omega-3.
As a result, more research has to be done to decide exactly what health and beauty benefits seaberry boasts, but that isn't keeping companies from singing Buckthorn Oil's praises as an anti-aging antioxidant that helps hydrate and protect your skin from fine lines and wrinkles.
Curious? Here are 6 hot products made with seaberry to kickstart your new obsession:
[Photo: Peace Love Shea]
Fresh Seaberry Moisturizing Face Oil
This is a blend of pure oils that include seaberry, cranberry seed, camellia seed, grapeseed, and sweet almond that can be used after cleansing and before your moisturizer. Interestingly, Fresh's co-founder, Lez Glazman, claims that as a child in Siberia he was treated by a doctor with buckthorn oil for a bad burn--which explains why Fresh has jumped on board the seaberry express.
Fresh Seaberry Moisturizing Face Oil ($50)
Obliphica Professional Seaberry Serum
The purpose of this seaberry serum is to treat and repair dry strands that are begging for hydration. It can be used on both wet and dry hair and is available in a formula perfect for thin to medium hair, as well as one for medium to course hair.
Obliphica Professional Seaberry Serum ($38)
Fresh Seaberry Exfoliating Soap
Consider this product a cult classic in the making. This triple-milled soap removes dry skin cells with the help of natural exfoliants cranberry, bamboo, and bitter orange but, thanks to seaberry, does so while also delivering optimum hydration. In other words: it takes away the bad and gives back the goods.
Fresh Seaberry Exfoliating Soap ($16.50)
Obliphica Professional Seaberry Hair Mask
Does your hair need an intense boost of moisture? This mask, which can be used daily or weekly, breathes life into extremely dry and brittle hair--thanks to the little orange "superfruit" the company considers the "next big thing" in hair care.
Obliphica Professional Seaberry Hair Mask ($38)
Fresh Seaberry Nourishing Hand Cream
If you live in a cold climate, your hands suffer most during the winter months. This cream is said to provide 24-hour hydration and, in an independent consumer testing panel that surveyed 33 women and men, 97 percent said it moisturized their skin, while 94 percent said it protected their hands against dryness and made them softer.
Fresh Seaberry Nourishing Hand Cream ($22.50)
Fresh Seaberry Skin Nutrition Booster
Not sure which Omega you want to make your own? You don't have to decide with this blend of concentrated oils and extracts, which contains seaberry, as well as omegas 3, 6, and 9--andcamellia seed oil, rocou extract, and tomato extract. Use it alone or add one to two drops to your favorite face or eye cream for incredible hydration and protection.
Fresh Seaberry Skin Nutrition Booster ($45)
