Oils for Your Face, Body and Hair

You know I love my makeup and skincare products, but I couldn't stop wondering if there are not any natural alternatives to help my skin and hair. After some research I found several oils which help with acne, dried hair and skin. In this post I will talk only about the ones I used till now and maybe it will be a part 2 once I try some more.

From left to right, I present you : grapeseed oil, extra vergine olive oil, argan oil (unfortunately I don't have pure argan oil anymore, so I put a bottle of Garnier Wonder Oil), coconut oil and castor oil.

Grapeseed oil

Proprieties:

• moisturizing;
• anti-inflammatory proprieties;
• lightweight; 
• antioxidant proprieties;
• contains vitamin E and linoleic acid.

Uses:

• for face: good moisturizer for oily/acne prone skin, the anti-inflammatory proprieties help treating acne, diminishes  dark circles when used on the under eye area, vitamin E helps to keep skin smooth and firm. How to apply: massage it gently into the skin.
• for hair: helps soften the hair and can help the hair growth. How to apply: as a leave in conditioner- apply a very small amount on the ends of the hair; for hair growth - apply it to the roots and massage it into the scalp, leave it few hours or over night and than wash; as a pre-wash hair mask- apply it to the roots and lenght, massaging it into the scalp, leave it on for few hours or overnight that wash your hair.
• for body: moisturizer. How to apply: massage into the skin before sleep and let it sink in for around 15 min before dressing.

Olive oil

Proprieties:

• moisturizing; 
• anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial proprieties;
• moderately comedogenic.

Uses: 

• Because it it moderately comedogenic and it doesn't absorb into the skin as fast as grapeseed oil, I used olive oil only on my hair in 2 ways: warm on my roots to stimulate hair growth and on my ends as a pre-wash treatment. How to apply: warm- warm some olive oil in the microwave for maximum 15-30 seconds (depending on the power of your microwave) and than massage it into the scalp, leave it on for few hours and wash it with a clarifying shampoo; pre- wash  treatment - take some olive oil on your fingers and apply it on the ends of your hair, leave it on for a few hours and than wash it off. 

Argan oil

(as I mentioned already, in the picture it's a bottle of Garnier Wonder Oil, but I will talk about the benefits and uses of pure argan oil)

 

 Proprieties:

• moisturizing;
• ant-inflammatory proprieties; 
• antioxidant proprieties;
• vitamin E;
• relatively light weight.

Uses:

• for face: as a night time moisturizer helps treating acne, fade scarring and helps diminish wrinkles and fine lines, keeping skin smooth and firm. How to apply: massage it into the skin before sleep, after cleansing your face. 
• for hair: as a pre-wash treatment or as a leave in conditioner to help with frizzy hair. How to apply: for both pre-wash treatment and leave in conditioner you need to apply the oil to the ends/lenght of your hair, just that it's better to use a bigger amount when you use it before washing your hair. As a pre-wash treatment your should leave it on at least 3 hours or even better overnight. 

Coconut oil

 

Proprieties:

• VERY moisturizing;
• antioxidant proprieties;
• antimicrobial proprieties;
• antibacterial proprieties;
• anti-fungal proprieties.

Uses:

• Coconut oil can be used on your face/body, but because of the acne prone nature of my skin I used it only on my hair as a pre-wash treatment for my dried ends. How to apply: coat the ends of your hair evenly in coconut oil and keep it on for at least 3 hours before washing out. Better results are achieved when kept overnight. 

Castor oil

 

Proprieties:

• I don't really know the proprieties and ingredients of this oil, but it helps with hair growth.

Uses:

• for eyebrows: helps regrowing your eyebrows. How to apply: using a cotton stick/bud apply coconut oil on your eyebrows and leave it on overnight.
• for hair: helps thickening your hair, stops the falling and helps hair growth. How to apply: massage castor oil into the roots of your hair. If it is too thick for you, you can mix it with other oils such as grapeseed oil and olive oil. 

Tips and tricks

•  when you are using oils on your hair roots/scalp cover your hair with a shower cap/plastic bag so it will help warm up and open your pores; in this way your oil treatment will help you more. 
• if you have acne prone/oily skin use a small amount of oil on your face - just enough to moisturize,  but not too much so you will look like a greased frying pan. 
• to get more benefits you can use oil blends. For example, mix castor oil, grapeseed oil and olive oil and massage the blend into your scalp. In this way you will get the benefit from all oils. 
• always use the purest form you can find of the oil you want to use. Mostly this means to look for work like extra vergine and cold pressed.

This are the oils that I use for my face, body and hair. I must say that my favorite for my face is grapeseed. I use it at least once a week overnight and since I started using it I definitely saw an improvement in my skin. I also love what it does to my dark circles.

 

Do you use any "natural remedies"? Which oils do you recommend for acne prone scarred skin? 

 

xoxo

Cristina