Argan oil, often hailed as "liquid gold," has gained immense popularity in the beauty industry for its remarkable benefits for the skin, nails, and hair. Derived from the nuts of the argan tree native to Morocco, this honey-colored oil has been used for centuries for its nourishing and conditioning properties.
Moroccan Argan oil skincare and hair care products are becoming more and more popular. The benefits of Argan Oil in skin and hair are endless, from moisturizing the skin to fighting off signs of premature aging, and helping with hair texture and hair growth.
Let's delve into the science-backed benefits of argan oil for your face and how you can incorporate it into your beauty routine.
What is Argan Oil?
Argan oil is a natural oil that is extracted from the kernels of the argan tree. Derived from the nuts of the argan tree, argan oil has been used for centuries in many ways. Its popularity partially started in the world of cooking, often used in Moroccan-style recipes as a salad dressing.
It contains a number of unsaturated and saturated fatty acids, as well as other compounds like polyphenols, squalene, and triterpene alcohol. You can recognize argan oil by its golden color and rich consistency.
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Argan oil is rich in vitamin E, antioxidants, and essential fatty acids, which make it an excellent choice for moisturizing and protecting the skin.
Benefits of Argan Oil for the Face
Argan oil is an incredible ingredient that can benefit your skin and hair in many ways. This powerful ingredient has many skin benefits for everyone, whether you have aging skin, sensitive skin, problem skin or you just want to lock in some extra moisture.
Here’s how argan oil can be beneficial for your hair and skin:
1. Moisturizes Skin
Argan oil is perhaps most commonly used as a moisturizer. Especially if you’re prone to dry skin, this silky oil can give it some much-needed moisture, thanks to its vitamin E and fatty acids. It can be applied topically or ingested orally with daily supplements for a moisturizing effect. This is largely thanks to its abundance of vitamin E, which is a fat-soluble antioxidant that can help improve water retention in the skin.
Research shows argan oil protects the skin’s barrier and improves overall texture.
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2. Treats Acne
Hormonal acne is often the result of excess sebum that’s caused by hormones. Argan oil has anti-sebum effects, which can effectively regulate amounts of sebum on the skin. Argan oil’s antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds may lower redness and irritation of the skin caused by acne.
This can help to treat several different types of acne and promote a smoother, calmer complexion. There is some evidence that applying argan oil on a regular basis can reduce oil production and over all skin oiliness.
Apply argan oil - or face creams containing argan oil - directly to your skin at least twice a day. You should start to see results after four weeks.
3. Heals Skin Infections
One of argan oil’s traditional uses is to treat skin infections. Argan oil has both antibacterial and fungicidal properties. This gives it the capability to help treat and prevent both bacterial and fungal skin infections.
Apply argan oil to the affected area topically at least twice per day.
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4. Improves Wound Healing
Antioxidants are clearly a powerful force. The strong combination of antioxidants and vitamin E found in argan oil can be used to help wounds and cuts heal faster.
You can take argan oil supplements regularly to experience this benefit throughout your body.
5. Soothes Atopic Dermatitis
Atopic dermatitis is a common skin condition with symptoms like itchy, red skin. Research has found that applying argan oil topically to the affected area can help treat symptoms.
Vitamin E and the natural inflammatory properties found in argan oil can both lead to this soothing effect. One study was conducted treating dermatitis patients with placebo or oral vitamin E, which is in abundance in argan oil. The researchers found that participants who received the vitamin E saw a significant decrease in symptoms.
6. Has Anti-Aging Effects
Argan oil has long been used as an anti-aging treatment. Argan oil benefits for the skin includes anti-aging. Argan oil has long been used as an anti-aging ingredient.
Though it was only ever supported by anecdotal evidence, a recent study with postmenopausal participants was able to back up this claim. Researchers found that a combination of oral and cosmetic argan oil led to a significant increase in elasticity of the skin. This provided an effective anti-aging treatment.
A 2015 study published in Clinical Interventions in Aging found that after 60 days of everyday application, argan oil improved the skin’s appearance of elasticity and firmness.
You can get these benefits by applying argan oil directly to the skin, taking oral supplement regularly, or both.
5 Ways to Use Argan Oil
7. Reduces Skin’s Oiliness
Some of us have naturally oiler skin than others. Those who do often go out of their way to get rid of the oily sheen that can occur. Thanks to argan oil’s sebum-reducing capabilities, it can help decrease total sebum and reduce oiliness of the skin.
One study found that a twice-daily application of cream that contained argan oil reduced significant sebum activity and oiliness within just four weeks.
8. Prevents and Reduces Stretch Marks
Stretch marks are particularly common during pregnancy, but anyone can experience them. One 2016 study found that a water-in-oil cream containing argan oil improved skin elasticity. This helped prevent and treat stretch marks early on.
Apply argan oil directly to the affected area at least twice per day. Do this as soon as you suspect you may see or start to see stretch marks for best results.
9. Protects from Sun Damage
Moroccan women have long used argan oil to protect their skin from sun damage, a practice was supported by a 2013 study. This study found that the antioxidant activity in argan oil helped protect the skin against free radical damage caused by the sun. This prevented burns and hyperpigmentation as a result. Long term, this may even help prevent against the development of skin cancer, including melanoma.
You can take argan oil supplements orally or apply the oil topically to your skin for these benefits.
10. Treats a Number of Skin Conditions
Argan oil contains a large number of healing properties, including antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Both help reduce symptoms for a number of different inflammatory skin conditions like psoriasis and rosacea.
For best results, apply pure argan oil directly to patches of skin affected by psoriasis. Rosacea may be best treated by taking oral supplements.
How to Incorporate Argan Oil into Your Routine
There are multiple uses of Pure Argan Oil:
- FOR SKIN & FACE: Helps improve skin tone and texture to promote a glowing complexion without clogging pores. Natural moisturizing oil also has the ability to soften the look of fine lines and wrinkles.
- FOR NAILS & CUTICLES: Helps nourish nails and soften cuticles.
Here are some ways you can add argan oil to your daily diet:
- Make amlu (amlou), a Moroccan dip made with roasted, ground almonds, honey, and argan oil.
- Make salad dressing with the oil.
- Include argan oil in hummus.
- Drizzle it on top of grilled fish.
- Spread argan oil on bread.
- Mix it into rice or couscous.
It is an essential foundation for all hair types that can be used for styling and/or as a shine-boosting finishing touch.
Potential Side Effects and Precautions
Argan oil is generally considered safe for most people to use. Some individuals, however, may experience minor side effects as a result of its use.
When used topically, argan oil may irritate the skin. This can cause rashes or acne to form. This may be a more common reaction with those who have tree nut allergies. Even though argan oil comes from a stone fruit, it may aggravate those with such allergies. To avoid this, you should test argan oil on a small, easily hidden patch of skin to make sure that it won’t irritate your skin.
When ingested orally, argan oil may cause digestive upset including nausea, gas, or diarrhea. It may also cause loss of appetite or bloating, and some people may experience skin reactions like rashes or acne breakouts.
In very rare cases, people may experience more severe side effects to the argan oil oral supplement. These include confusion, difficulty sleeping, general malaise, overexcitement, depression, and agitation. If you experience any of these symptoms, stop taking argan oil immediately.
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