Castor Oil (Part 2 – beautiful skin and hair)
Castor Oil has many medicinal and curative uses, and the same properties that make it so effective in healing the body also make it an excellent choice for maintaining beautiful and healthy skin and hair.
1. Castor Oil cures acne
The Ricinoleic Acid in castor oil works to inhibit many viruses and bacteria, and as castor oil is able to penetrate skin tissue deeply, this makes it an effective treatment for acne.
To treat acne, dab a hot damp washcloth all over your face in the evening before you go to bed. The heat will gently open the pores on your face. After this, massage a little castor oil gently into the skin. Leave on overnight. Repeat this daily for 1 to 2 weeks to see results. You can also repeat this twice in the day, once at night and once in the morning.
2. Castor Oil keeps the skin looking smooth, youthful and unlined
Castor oil’s ability to penetrate more deeply than any other essential plant oil make it an excellent way to keep skin looking youthful and fresh. Castor oil works better than any store-bought anti-ageing creams.
The best way to use castor oil is to rub in a small amount over your face and around your eyes before bed. This may be hard to do at first because castor oil is extremely thick and sticky. Therefore, rub the oil in as thoroughly as possible and then pat your face gently with a tissue to get rid of the excess. This will keep wrinkles at bay. Be sure to use only cold pressed castor oil that is hexane free. Any other kind may clog your pores.
Castor oil is found in several anti-ageing creams, wrinkle creams and undereye creams.
 Reviva Labs Eye Complex Firming Cream |
Burt’s Bees Radiance Day Creme |
 Borba Advanced Aging Recovery Crème |
| Commercial anti-ageing creams that contain castor oil | ||
|---|---|---|
3. Castor Oil breaks up external and internal scar tissue, and prevents new scars from forming
Castor oil’s unrivaled deep tissue penetration help to soften and remove both external and internal scars, like those that form following surgery.
Castor oil will penetrate deep into the tissues to slowly break up scar tissue. Amazingly, castor oil is able to distinguish between healthy cells and abnormal ones. In healthy cells, castor oil will detoxify and stimulate them, while increasing circulation. In abnormal cells like scar tissue and growths, castor oil will instead work to aggressively dissolve cells thanks to the solvent property of castor oil.
To break down internal scarring, soak a piece of clean cloth with castor oil and place it over the scar area for an hour or two each day. You can also simply rub castor oil over the scar each day. More serious internal scarring will take longer to break down.
On another note, castor oil can also prevent scars from forming in the first place. Applying castor oil over cuts or scrapes will promote excellent skin healing.
Remarkably, applying castor oil after surgery, cuts or wounds will also minimize scar formation. This could be because of castor oil’s ability to increase our body’s lymphocytes (because of this, castor oil packs are especially useful for people with HIV or AIDS). Lymphocytes, or white blood cells, appear to regulate wound healing. And studies have shown that T lymphocytes may play an important role in wound healing and scar formation. Babies and young children have naturally higher levels of lymphocytes than teenagers and adults. These higher lymphocyte levels could be one of the reasons why our skin healed with much less scarring when we were younger.
Several commercial scar reduction creams also contain castor oil (eg Scar Zone, Scar Repairex). However, they also contain more chemicals than they do castor oil!
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| Both Scar Zone and Scar Repairex list castor oil as an ingredient | |
|---|---|
3. Castor Oil thickens eyelashes and eyebrows
Rub a little castor oil over the base of your eyelashes before bed. This prevents thinning and promotes rapid growth, leading to thicker and fuller lashes. In fact, many commercial products for eyelashes contain castor oil.
To thicken sparse eyebrows, rub a little castor oil over the brow line before bed.
4. Castor Oil prevents hair loss and regenerates hair
The anti-bacterial and anti-fungicidal properties of Ricinoleic Acid in castor oil protects the scalp and hair from infections which can cause hair loss. The Omega-9 fatty acids in castor oil also nourish the hair and prevent the scalp from drying.
Rubbing castor oil on your scalp and the roots of your hair will regenerate new hair growth within months. This will also thicken thinning hair.
5. Castor Oil keeps hair looking soft and shiny
Castor oil is a humectant as it draws moisture into the hair and skin. Applying castor oil on hair will keep it looking soft, shiny and strong.
6. Castor Oil softens thick calluses and removes corns
Castor oil application will soften any rough or thickened skin, including calluses and corns. To treat corns, apply castor oil over your feet and put cotton socks on before going to bed. (Incidentally, sleeping with castor oil socks on will also soothe painful heels and foot pain.)
7. Castor Oil cures skin infections like athlete’s foot and ringworm
Apply a castor oil soaked cloth on the affected area. If it is small enough, a bandaid with a few drops of castor oil can be used instead.
8. Castor Oil prevents stretch marks
Rub a small amount of castor oil over your stomach and thighs daily to prevent stretchmarks during pregnancy or periods of weight gain.
9. Castor Oil will remove moles and warts
Rub castor oil into moles or warts every night. The moles (or warts) will start to shrink over a few weeks, and continued use will eventually remove the mole without any scarring. Complete removal may take 2-3 months, but this slow healing will also ensure there is no “hole” in your skin. (The surgical removal of moles will often leave a hole where the mole was. This indentation can often be permanent.)
10. Castor Oil will remove age spots (liver spots)
Rub castor oil into your age spots every night. The age spot will lighten over time, and continued use will eventually remove the age spot completely.
Castor oil definately works for eyelashes. Use an old mascara brush and apply like mascara every night before bed. after 2 weeks you will see results. Also this girl i know has beautiful thick hair and she uses castor oil once a week and leaves it on her hair an scalp ovrnight
can i use castor oil to my child ..he is only eight years baby.. can u please help me..
Hi Divya, castor oil is gentle and safe to use on children’s skin. It will have the same calming effect as it does adults.
May I ask what you’re using it for?
Hi can i use acstor oil right after pregnancy, if yes how would it affect my baby due to breast feeding.
Hi Natty, do you intend to take it internally as a laxative or will you be applying it to your skin?
Taking it internally while breastfeeding is not recommended as it could also have a laxative effect on your baby through the breastmilk.
However, applying castor oil on your skin or hair while breastfeeding is safe. Castor oil is especially good at preventing stretchmarks during and after pregnancy. In the old days, new mothers would apply castor oil over their breasts to gently stimulate milk production. If you do this, just be careful to thoroughly clean your nipples before breastfeeding your baby, as he/she could ingest some of the oil that way.
It works great but ooh…the taste! The only time I used it was last year when I had a toothache (my first ever). No cloves in the house so the castor oil did the trick until I got to the dentist.
Hi, could the use of castor oil help skin to look radiant and youthful.
Can I regain my youthful complexion as it deteriorates each time one gives birth.
hello,
I have been applying castor oil mixing it with olive oil for the past 3 weeks….Now I have discovered that my hair are turning white…. I want to know if the olive=castor oil combination has some negative effects??
Can you tell me the brand for castor oil??
Thanks
Hi purva, hair should not turn white from any oils (or a combination of oils like castor and olive oils).
However, did you already have white hair that was dyed? Because castor oil can sometimes remove synthetic hair dye.
Hello, I just read through the site, and I just happened to think…I understand that the castor oil makes your eyebrows and hair thicker/longer. But, when we put them on our face to treat acne overnight, would that cause the face to have facial hair? I’m sorry. I’m curious about that.
Hi Sheena, I’ve been using castor oil on my face for several months and I can tell you that it does not cause hair to grow in places where they never have. However, it has appeared to make my eyebrows and eyelashes fuller and thicker.
p.s: Also if you apply castor oil on a scar where hair has stopped growing because of the skin damage (in an area where you normally have hair growth), hair growth will eventually return as the scar heals itself.
Hello, please tell me where I can buy this castor oil. When I was a little girl my mother gave this to us every two weeks as a laxative. She would always say it’s time to clean your system out. It taste nasty, but it worked. Now I am reading that it is a remedy for almost everything.
Hi Michele, you can look for castor oil at health food stores or specialty stores like Whole Foods. Most pharmacies/pharmacy sections will also carry it, although these might be in small bottles in the laxatives section. I buy mine online from iherb.com because I need a large bottle for castor oil packs.
Hope this helps!
hi samantha,
I used castrol oil for diminishing my age spots and ended up with pimples on both the cheeks. But when I applied it on my keloid on my chest ,it is working. I’ve been using it for past 4 days, the itching has reduced.My keloid is 8 yrs old and it is just below my neck,still growing,I’m terribly scared and depressed about this.I tried ACV long back,it didnt work.I’ve tried everything one can imagine about keloid treatment, but nothing worked.I keep browsing the internet hoping to get a useful tip. hope this castrol oil works.I would try to give tea tree oil a try.Plese let me know ur thoughts Samantha.U r doing a great job.Keep it up! Thanks for bringing some relief to the keloid sufferers!!
Hi sitha, I’ve replied to your comment on the keloids page. About the pimples, the castor oil might have clogged your pores. It’s better to use cold-pressed, hexane-free castor oil on the face.
I use castor oil for faster growth in my lashes – use an old brush mascara washed very well and deal with it slightly castor oil on lashes, being careful not to come into my eyes, the result is great.(Read and write using Google transleyt therefore please excuse me if there are errors.)
I wanted to know if I should use the castor oil only on my scalp or scalp to roots for thicker hair?
Hi naheed, castor oil is quite thick and much heavier than other oils, so it’s better to use it only on the scalp rather than all over. If you want to use it on your hair shaft, it might be easier to do after mixing it with another oil (eg coconut oil).