Ricinus communis, or castor oil plant, is a triglyceride constituted of fatty acids, mainly from ricinoleic acid. Precisely this ricinoleic acid is the main ingredient in castor oil, the famous healing medicine vastly used worldwide. In fact, it’s been even used among the ancient Egyptians, who practiced using castor oil for treating eye and skin irritations, while in India it was used in traditional Ayurvedic medicine, for treating skin and digestive problems, as well as for its antibacterial properties. Considering it’s been popular for thousands of years, there must be something about this wonder-plant, huh?
Hair
There are numerous benefits that castor oil provides the hair with. Applying castor oil to your scalp may help with the dryness, dandruff, and itchiness. A recipe for relieving these problems is mixing 2 teaspoons of castor oil with 1 teaspoon of glycerin and an egg white and then massaging the mixture into the wet scalp. After leaving it for a couple of minutes, rinse it with warm water. You can use the castor oil not only on the scalp - if you apply it to the split ends, you will notice the reducing of breakage! Furthermore, castor oil helps the hair with growing, so you can use it in order to thicken the hair on the balder areas of the scalp. A few drops on the eyebrows on daily basis will help make them thicker too. So, in general, castor oil will make your hair look healthier, thicker and shinier. Try it on!
Skin
Guess what, other than the hair, it also provides the skin with a number of awesome benefits! Moms to-be especially love it, since rubbing it on the skin makes the skin more elastic, hence the stretch marks caused by pregnancy are notably reduced. It’s also fantastic for eliminating and preventing the annoying wrinkles. Massaging the castor oil on the calluses and corns can help with alleviating the ache and swelling. Using it against acne will assist your skin with fighting inflammation and killing the bacteria that cause the development of acne. Apply the oil to the face in the evening, before going to bed, and you might already in the morning be noticing the change.
Nails
If having nail problems, you should know that using this natural remedy will provide your nails with the beautiful, reinforced and healthy look. It will relieve the pain from cuticles and induce the nail growth. Its antibacterial and antifungal properties provide the best protection against any nail or skin impurities.
Other than the beauty benefits provided by this fantastic natural product, it’s quite important to emphasize the positive effects it has on the health in general. It helps get rid of insomnia and assist with the sleeping at night. It relieves the joint pain and alleviates the muscle pain, especially great for soothing the arthritis pain. It has a laxative property, so consuming just a teaspoon of castor oil will help you to detox the intestines.
It’s well known that castor oil may induce labor in pregnant women. However, doctors tend to advise against it, so never decide to use it on your own!
Many brands use the beneficial castor oil as an ingredient in their products, such as Avene, Vichi, La Roche-Posay, Bioderma, Dr. Hauschka, etc.
Nessie L.B.