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There is hardly anyone in this day and age who has not heard of avocados. The creamy, pulpy fruit is known for its numerous advantages including power packed nutrition, healthy monounsaturated fatty acids, health benefits including improving heart health, dandruff prevention, hair growth promotion etc.
It is also commonly referred as superfood by nutritionists because of its benefits. However, there is another use of avocado which is not very common. Avocado oil for skin ! Yes, that’s right, avocado oil is good for your skin as well!
Is Avocado Oil good for your face?
Avocado oil has a lot of properties that make it great to be included in the skin care regimen.
Some of the potential benefits of using it are
1. Moisturizes skin
One of the most important properties of avocado oil being used is its moisturizing quality. The oil can penetrate a layer of skin and provide essential moisturizing to the dehydrated skin. Thus, it is excellent for use on face.
2. Soothes irritated skin
Another advantage of avocado oil is that due to its light texture, it is very soothing for irritated skin. Thus, itchiness caused by pollution or even psoriasis can be calmed by the application of avocado oil.
3. Heals chapped skin including lips and ankles
Most people face problems with chapped skin, especially chapped lips. The main cause of this is again dehydration. This can be easily overcome by applying a mild layer of avocado oil on your lips. This oil helps in rehydration and reducing the chapped skin.
4. Forms a protective layer against the harmful UV rays
Due to global warming and the depletion of the ozone layer, one of the biggest problems facing mankind today is the penetration of Ultraviolet rays into earth’s atmosphere. These UV rays affect the skin, especially the facial skin. Avocado oil with its Vitamin E richness forms a protective layer to combat these UV rays. Thus, applying avocado oil to the face gives a good protection against the harmful UV rays.
5. Replenishes the depleted nutrients of skin
As avocados are loaded with nutrients like Vitamins, Minerals like potassium, antioxidants etc.; regular usage of this oil helps in replenishing all the missing nutrients from the skin making it look fuller and healthier.
With so many benefits, it is clear that not just avocados in your food but even avocado oil can be a friend for your skin and help maintain the nutritional balance, especially for the face.
Can avocado oil clog pores?
Avocado oil is slightly heavier than certain other carrier oils and has a Comedogenic Rating of 3. Thus, it can clog pores for people with certain skin types. However, if your skin can tolerate the avocado oil, it is an excellent protection against harmful radiation and as a treatment for dryness, acne, chapping and dehydrated skin.
Experts suggest it is better to apply at night and leave overnight and then wash the face in the morning to get the best out of avocado oil.
Can Avocado oil lighten skin?
Avocado oil provides a lot of benefits for skin including moisturizing, sunscreen properties, rehydration, smoothening etc. However, on its own it does not have any proven benefits for skin lightening. It can help the skin become healthier and bring out the natural glow of healthy skin. This natural health of the skin makes it brighter and appear lighter.
With its rich content of Vitamin E, avocado oil is a natural healer for skin damaged due to any reason – pollution, chemicals, UV rays and dust.
Does Avocado Oil help with wrinkles?
Wrinkles are the fine lines that appear on the skin with ageing and other factors like pollution, not getting enough rest and an unhealthy lifestyle. All these factors put undue stress on the skin and if the essential nutrients of the skin are not replenished, the fine lines start appearing.
Avocado oil is rich in antioxidants, which help in preserving the skin as well as replenishing the missing nutrients like Vitamin E. Thus, regular application of avocado oil helps in reducing the onset and increasing of the wrinkles. This is also enhanced by the fact that avocado oil is an excellent moisturizer for the skin.
Is it good on scars?
Avocado oil is being treated almost as a magical remedy for treatment of scars. But how correct is the fact? Is it really a magic potion to remove your scars instantly? Not exactly. You cannot just wish away your scars instantly. However, with its unique characteristics and extremely beneficial nutrients for skin, the humble avocado oil is indeed good for treatment of scars over a period of time.
The scars are proof of any stress on the skin – be it due to the outbreak of acne or any other problem. The scars leave the skin troubled and depleted of its essential nutrients.
Enter avocado oil!
With its huge stores of Vitamin A, D and E, monounsaturated fatty acids like oleic acid and antioxidants, the avocado oil has all the ammunition to fight these skin stressing situations. It replenishes all the necessary nutrients with regular use, making the skin healthier and healing the scars faster.
Avocado oil is also known to increase collagen production, thereby treating the scars left behind on the skin after acne or getting hurt.
It is good to know how to apply avocado oil for getting such benefits.
1. The most common method of application is to mix equal quantities of cold pressed avocado oil and castor oil. Then applying this mixture on the impacted area. The mixture should be applied for a few minutes and then washed off with cold water.
2. Another common practice of reducing the onset of scars to start with is to apply avocado oil on any affected area as soon as possible. This may be done for any signs of a skin problem like itchiness, acne, burn etc.
With its soothing properties, the avocado oil not just helps calm the skin, but the repair process also starts almost instantly.
Is it good for under eyes ?
The under eye area has one of the most sensitive skin in the entire human body. Also, due to the absence of fatty deposits in this area, under eyes is almost always the first to be impacted by age, pollution and wrinkles. The application of avocado oil is like giving a new lease of life to this sensitive area. With its nutrient rich composition and the presence of essential Vitamins like A, D and E, the avocado oil compensates for the absence of fatty deposits.
It helps the replenishment of the important skin related nutrients and the antioxidants help in fighting age related changes.
Due to the great results observed by its application, avocado oil is increasingly becoming an important ingredient of the anti-ageing creams and other products.
How to use Avocado oil for skin?
With so many advantages, it is obvious to ask the question, how can avocado oil be applied or used for getting all its skin benefits?
There are many ways it is being used and below is a list of some of the most common methods
1. Direct application
Take a small quantity of the bottled avocado oil in your palms and gently massage it onto the skin of the face and other areas. Leave the oil overnight and then wash it off in the morning. For even better results, you can mix an equal quantity of castor oil with the avocado oil.
2. To bathwater
While taking a bath, add a few drops of the avocado oil in the water. Taking a bath with this water can help lock the hydration and reduce the depletion by the hot water.
3. As carrier oil
Avocado oil being a carrier oil can also be mixed with any of the other essential oils like lavender or peppermint that are typically used to revitalize the skin.
4. As After Bath
The mixture of avocado oil with other carrier oils can be dabbed on to the skin after the bath to act as a daily moisturizer. This locks in the moisture keeping the skin hydrated and fresh throughout the day.
5. For Skin infections
For patients of psoriasis, eczema or any other skin infection that can cause itchiness, the avocado oil can be used directly or after mixing with olive oil and gently applying to the affected area. The mild oil smoothens and moisturizes the skin thereby calming the skin and reducing the inflammation causing the itchiness.
Conclusion
With so many advantages, no wonder avocado oil is being treated as the next miracle cure for every skin related diseases. However, before using it yourself, make sure that you are not allergic to avocados. If you think you are (you get swelling, itchiness or puffiness after eating or using avocados), it is better to consult the doctor first.
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