8 Beauty Uses for Castor Oil

Recently I’ve been working to find natural products that work as well, or even better, than beauty products that contain harsh chemicals and unknown ingredients. Through the process, I’ve been my own guinea pig for the home beauty treatments and remedies I’ve been trying.

One big discovery I made was the amazing benefits of hexane-free castor oil. I’m astounded at the many beauty uses this oil offers.

When it comes to hair, nail and skin beauty, castor oil has provided me with amazing results. It even works wonders on my eyelashes and eyebrows. Since castor oil is easy for the skin to absorb, it makes a wonderful beauty treatment.

However, it’s important to choose hexane-free castor oil. Some commercially produced options are stripped of the components that offer the best benefits. You can find hexane-free castor oil at health-food stores or natural stores, such as WholeFoods.

8 Beauty Secrets Of Castor Oil

① Nails and Hands

When I apply castor oil for other uses, I always rub any excess on my nails, cuticles, and hands. My hands and cuticles seem to drink up the oil when I apply it. Since the oil gives me smooth, soft cuticles, I even notice that my manicures have longer staying power after I use castor oil.

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② Lips

Another excellent way to use castor oil is to smooth and hydrate your lips. Whenever I apply face moisturizer, I add a bit of castor oil to my lips, massaging the oil into the skin.

Castor oil quickly soaks into the lips and I quickly see a big difference in smoothness. The oil even plumps up my lips, giving them a full appearance.

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③ Full, Healthy Eyebrows

At one point I finally noticed that when I used castor oil on my face, it was being left behind on my eyebrows. Much to my surprise, my eyebrows started getting fuller and healthier. I couldn’t figure out why until I did a bit of research.

I found that the oil could actually help regrow eyebrows, so now I actually apply the oil to my eyebrows on purpose. You may not see the same results, but I have definitely seen a huge difference in my eyebrows.

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④ Face Cleanser

I use castor oil as a face cleanser as well. While I’ve investigated how traditional oil cleansing is done, I’ve come up with my own adaptation. At night I cleanse skin with a mixture of olive oil and castor oil.

Then, I wipe away the oil, which helps eliminate any makeup if I’m wearing it. After cleansing with the oil, I then add some natural facial cleanser to my Clarisonic brush and use it on my skin.

However, I don’t add water. This process has given me incredible results and it works far better than just using the oil alone.

Of course, you can always try oil cleansing yourself and you may find a specific way that works best for you. THIS POST explains the traditional way to do oil cleansing.

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⑤ DIY Castor Oil Pack

I also make my own DIY castor oil packs (you can read my post here), which seem to work wonderfully if I feel like I’m getting sick and when I’m dealing with PMS.

For women with endometriosis, bad PMS or fibroids, this may be a great natural treatment option. Studies on this treatment vary, so you may want to talk to your doctor about using a castor oil pack. I’ve had great results, but the results may vary from person to person.

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⑥ Longer, Thicker Eyelashes

When I researched the effects of castor oil on my eyebrows, I found some research that showed that castor oil works great on eyelashes too. I started using an olive oil and castor oil mixture to eliminate eye makeup and I noticed that I didn’t see as much lash breakage.

While some research advised that you apply the castor oil directly on lashes, that seemed a bit scary to me.

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go to sleep with oil on my lashes. I definitely don’t want to get the oil in my eyes. Instead, I let a bit of the oil go on the eyelashes when I do my oil cleansing routine, so I’m not applying it directly to the eyes.

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⑦ Castor Oil and Coconut Oil Hair Mask

Recently I decided to start using castor oil as a hair mask to help improve hair growth. Many people note that this oil works for growing hair. I found that the best option is to use a mixture of castor oil and coconut oil.

When making the mask, use more coconut oil and less castor oil, since the castor oil is sticky.

Before you go to bed, massage some of the oil mixtures into the scalp. Do this about an hour or so before you head to bed and avoid applying too much oil. Then, wash your hair the next day to wash out the oil.

You can use this mask as often as you want, and some people even use the mask every night.

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⑧ Hot Castor Oil Treatment

I enjoy heading to a Korean spa once a week and they have several saunas. To benefit my hair, I’ve had hot oil treatments at the spa. I found that hot castor oil makes a wonderful hot oil treatment. However, I wouldn’t put undiluted castor oil in your hair, since it is thick and sticky. It’s better to dilute it a bit with some coconut oil or olive oil.

Massage the mixture through the hair before you head into a heated room. Wrap hair in a towel or add a shower cap. Some people say that the oil can actually penetrate your hair shaft.

While I’m not exactly sure how it works, my hair looks amazing after these hot oil treatments. You’ll need to wash away the oil with shampoo and you may want to use a bit of diluted apple cider vinegar to help completely remove the castor oil from hair.

Castor oil is very concentrated and rich, so a small amount will go a long way. You don’t want to use too much of the oil when you make these beauty treatments.