Argan oil for the face

Given the growing interest in natural products to improve the skin condition, we want to tell you what is argan oil, what is its use and how to use argan oil for the face in cosmetics.

Properties of argan oil

The source of argan oil is the bones (kernels) of argan tree prickly fruit (Argania spinosa L.), which grows under the scorching African sun in the desert areas of the southwestern regions of Morocco. For this region, argania is a representative of endemic flora, although this tree is also grown in Israel, on the plains in the region of the Negev desert.

Properties of argan oil were well known to women of the nomadic Berber tribes; they they lubricated the skin, protecting it from the hot winds of Western Sahara.

Bones that have a very hard peel are harvested almost a year after the fruit is formed, when they dry up; or they take off the ripened fruit, the flesh is fed to the goats, and then the oil is extracted from the extracted pits manually. For use in cooking, the corn is roasted, for cosmetic purposes, the oil is squeezed out of the raw ground kernels. So this oil is more expensive than olive oil.

The use of argan oil in its vitamin E (neutralizing free radicals) and unsaturated fatty acids, which nourish, moisturize and protect the skin from oxidants. Unsaturated omega-9 oleic acid contains 43-45% (20-80% of oleic acid supports and sunflower oil, up to 70% - olive, and in oil from wheat sprouts it is 55%). Polyunsaturated omega-6 fatty acids include linoleic acid, which is up to 10% by argan oil; this acid is found in all vegetable oils, including flaxseed (15%), olive (10%), corn (60%) and sunflower (65%). Its content in raw egg yolk is about 16%. Linoleic acid is a surface active, and its benefit to the skin when applied topically is to maintain moisture.

Studies have identified in the composition of argan oil 30-35% alpha-linolenic acid, which is famous for its anti-inflammatory activity. This essential (irreplaceable) omega-3 fatty acid is also found in flax seeds (55%), portolac, rapeseed and sea buckthorn berries (32%). To this class of omega-acids belongs stearidonic acid (in argan oil it is 6%). Although there are more affordable natural sources of this fatty acid - corn and hemp oil.

In addition, saturated fatty acids are present in this oil: approximately 12% of palmitic (human fattyglycerides contain about 25-30% of this fatty acid) and 3% of myristic acid (also present in palm and coconut oil and milk fat). Myristic acid has sufficiently high hydrophobicity, and is well absorbed by the skin, promoting nutrition and hydration.

Useful properties of argan oil are enhanced by the phenolic compounds contained in it in the form of coffee acid, oleuropein, tyrosol, catechin and resorcin.

Application of argan oil for face

As experts in the field of cosmetology note, the use of argan oil for the face differs little from the use of the same olive oil, since it has a similar composition. In cosmetics, argan oil is promoted as a moisturizing oil, effective against acne and increased dryness of the skin, accompanied by detachment of keratinized particles (desquamation), as well as to strengthen the structure of subcutaneous tissue, regenerate the hydrolipid layer of the dermis and increase its elasticity - necessary in the fight against wrinkles.

Face masks based on argan oil are made from a combination of this oil with other oils.

Mask with argan oil from wrinkles: argan oil - 10 ml, rosehip oil - 10 ml, ether citrine oil - 4 drops, essential oil of rose - 10 drops.

Mask with argan oil for inflamed and irritated skin: argan oil - 10 ml, calendula oil - 15 ml, chamomile essential oil - 5 drops, essential oil of lavender - 8 drops.

In face masks based on argan oil (10-15 ml) with oily skin should be added: hazelnut oil (15 ml), 8 drops of myrtle oil and 5 drops of essential oil of eucalyptus and lavender.

Helps to reduce the scars after acne rash mask, which, in addition to the oatmeal and raw egg yolk, should be 8-10 ml of argan oil and dog rose, as well as 10 drops of essential oil of rosemary and immortelle.

Face cream based on argan oil

Many cosmetics manufacturers claim the use of argan oil in their products, since this ingredient is considered one of the trends of so-called natural cosmetics.

For example, regenerating antioxidant day face cream based on Weleda argan oil Pomegranate (Australia) - with the addition of pomegranate and macadamia oil - is recommended for dry and normal skin.

British firm Arganorganics produces a series of Regeneration Anti Wrinkle Cream garlic oil, which helps moisturize and rejuvenate the skin.

Day and night face cream based on argan oil Olejek Arganowy (Bielenda, Poland) Argan oil is a line of cosmetics for the care of mature and dry facial skin and is intended for women over 50 when the skin loses its elasticity and elasticity, dries up and coarsens. It is to restore turgor and reduce wrinkles, it is recommended to use creams, which contain natural Argan Oil.

About three dozen relatives of the argan - from the same botanical family Sapotaceae, as well as the family Sideroxylon mascatense - grow around the world, mainly in tropical regions. So, in South America - Pouteria sapota and Pouteria viridis, the fruits of which are eaten for dessert, and the nuclei of the bones are fried like seeds. In the Amazon region, juicy purple fruits are produced by the massaranduba tree (Manilkara huberi). In many tropical countries, red-violet and green star apples (growing on 20-meter Chrysophyllum cainito trees), in which the nuclei have the form of a star, are a popular fruit, close to the Moroccan argania. The local population brews the bark of this tree from a cough, the infusions of leaves are drunk with diabetes and articular rheumatism, but oil from the seeds does not produce. First, there is little (no more than 7%), and secondly, the seeds have poisonous cyanogenic glycosides.

So it remains either to use the advertised argan oil for the face, or with no less success to use the other oils that were mentioned in this publication.