What would you do if I told you that there is an oil that is even better for natural beauty uses than coconut oil? Yea – you’d probably freak-a-leak since all you hear about on health blogs is the 1 million and 1 ways to use coconut oil. Well, my Balanced Babes, I’m here to break the news: Babassu oil is the new coconut oil.
You may have no flipping clue what I’m talking about, or you may already be on top of this natural skin care tips trend. If you’ve been to one of my DIY botanical classes in the past 6 months you’ve heard of it (and even made beautiful hair masks with it).
It’s an oil that you can use as a moisturizer, as a hair mask, and you can incorporate it into many many different beauty routines. So what is babassu oil, and how can it be better than coconut oil? Let’s break this motha effa down:
What is babassu oil?
Babassu oil is believe it or not, a cousin to coconut oil as it also is harvested from a palm tree. It is solid at room temperature, and melts when you rub it on your skin. It hails from Brazil, and kick-ass women with the title of “Babassu Breakers” break open the fallen babassu nuts and extract the oil by cold pressing the nut meat.
What are the beauty benefits of babassu oil?
The natural skin care tips using babassu oil can go on and on. To highlight my favorite beauty benefits, I’m sharing the top 5 benefits of babassu oil.
- This oil is a natural moisturizer that deeply hydrates our skin and hair. Babassu oil is 70 percent lipid matter which means that when it melts into our skin it is easily absorbed.
- Contains vitamin E, and antioxidants which protects our skin and nails from free radical damage. Vitamin E is also a great nail and cuticle soother.
- Can heal acne scars and inhibit acne bacteria on your face.
- This oil also contains lauric acid which has anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties.
- It’s comodogenic. Meaning, it won’t clog your pores! If your face gets easily irritated in the form of breakouts when you apply any type of oil to your face, babassu could be your saving grace (dang that’s a good rap verse – don’t steal it). Because of this, you can use it as a daily moisturizer. Now keep in mind the type of environment you live in. I’m in Chicago which means summers are hot and winters are…a nightmare. So I typically use babassu oil as my day and night moisturizer in the winter when my skin is extra extra dry.
Natural Skin Care Tips: How can you use babassu oil?
Now keep in mind that a little oil goes a long way. You don’t want to drown yourself in this fabulous ingredient!
- You can add a 1/2 tsp to your shampoo and conditioner to amplify the moisturizing effects. This works wonders if your hair is color treated like mine.
- You can add it to your moisturizers, body washes, and face creams for extra hydration.
- It can also be a cooking alternative to coconut oil. If you do use babassu oil for cooking make sure you find an organic, fair trade brand since you will be consuming it vs. slathering it on your skin.
- I also read that you can use it for your pets! It is supposed to support a healthy digestive system, shiny coat, and more.
How is it better than coconut oil?
You know how when you apply coconut oil on your skin, it seems to stay on the surface leaving you slick and acting as a sticky mat for hairs and dust and who knows what? Well babassu oil as I said earlier is more easily absorbed into our skin so we wont be looking like a walking slip-n-slide. The same theory goes for our hair, when we apply it in the form of a hair mask or even a leave in treatment, it won’t weigh down our strands as much as coconut oil. This is especially useful for gals like me who have stick straight, fine hair.
Another point I’d like to make you aware of is that coconut oil can have a strong nutty scent (if you use real, raw unrefined coconut oil), which makes it a bit tricky to mix with essential oils for your beauty concoctions. Babassu oil has a very mild scent which makes it essential oil friendly.
Balanced Babe Approved Brands:
Dr Adorable Babassu Oil
Mystic Moments 100$ pure Babassu Oil
I hope you found the natural skin care tips using babassu oil helpful and that you’re inspired to incorporate it into your next spa night. So tell me, how are you going to add babassu oil to your beauty routine?? Share in the comments below!
Resources: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20832463
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