Castor oil.
Beauty and health blogger, Catherine McCurry takes a look at wonders of castor oil
CASTOR oil is considered to be the miracle cure for a whole range of ailments – from hair growth, skin care and muscle pains, it’s the Rolls Royce of medicine.
A lot of parents and grandparents will have grown up with this miracle worker and all would have used it at some point of their lives.
Over the last few months castor oil has cropped up in a number of conversations around health and has been recommended by young makeup artists, pharmacists and family members – all of whom advised using it for different types of conditions.
Castor oil is packed with proteins, minerals and has anti-fungal and antibacterial making it work well for different needs. It is derived from the seed of Ricinus communis plant and is used to treat skin problems, burns, sunburns, cuts to headaches and muscle pain.
It is recommended that before applying it to large areas of the skin, test it on a small spot to ensure that you don’t develop a bad reaction from it.
It works well if you want to grow you hair, eyebrows or eyelashes.
If you have balding areas on your scalp, or you just want thicker hair, you can massage a bit of castor oil into the affected area for around six minutes every day to help natural hair growth.
One of the trends at the moment is to have big, thick eyebrows so if you spent years plucking away until a line was left and now you want thicker eyebrows, just massage a few drops into your eyebrows for a couple of minutes every day.
If you suffer form dandruff or have a dry scalp then try rubbing a little bit of castor oil into your scalp and massage it in which should help reduce itchiness.
It is also used to reduce tiredness from around your eyes. You simply rub a small amount around your eyes before you go to bed and it will soak overnight, making you look and feeling refreshed in the morning.
As well as everyday ailments, castor oil helps act as an arthritis pain reliever by massaging the oil into aching joints.
It is also helps improve dodgy bowels.
To give your skin a more youthful glow than castor oil is great for eliminating and preventing wrinkles. It also helps pregnant women but rubbing it into the skin which improves elasticity and prevents stretch marks.
It has been used for centuries as a remedy for warts, sore muscles, reducing scaring and to prevent bruises.
I recently read that castor oil exports is likely to rise by a third this year because of demand from Europe, America and China.
I also stumbled across some unusual information about castor oil that stated it finds uses in agriculture, cosmetics, electronics and telecommunications, food, lubricants, paints, inks and adhesives, paper, perfumeries, pharmaceuticals, plastics and rubber, and textile chemicals.
Castor oil can be purchased from chemists, supermarkets and online for around £2 – £10, depending on the size of the bottle.
