It is said that the women of the Japanese island Ooshima have always a fresh and young skin and wonderful hair. Their secret of beauty? The camellia oil, obtained though cold pressing of the seeds of the plant camellia japonica, called also common camellia, of the Theaceae family. Camellia is very appreciated for its ornamental role thanks to its flowers that bloom between January and March, characterized by an intense color from red to purple and rose. Camellia oil is an amazing product for skin and hair, known and used for millennia as an effective beauty treatment. Let’s see in detail.
Properties
Camellia oil, known also as tsubaki, contains an amount of oleic acid similar to olive oil (Kim et al, Prev Nutr Food Sci, Sep 2014), has soothing, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties that make it suitable to treat sensitive skin, oily skin or acne prone and irritated skin. Moreover, it acts also against skin aging and results able to protect the skin barrier (Lavaud et al, Conference 28th IFSCC, Paris, 2014). This oil stimulates the production of collagen and acts as a powerful moisturizing agent for the epidermis, thus resulting an anti wrinkle product verified by scientific results (Jung et al, J Ethnopharmacol, May 2007).
Applications- As we have seen, you can use the camellia oil on different type of skin, both young and mature skin. You can apply it as a serum in the evening, you just have to massage a couple of drops on damp skin and let it be absorbed, then apply your daily cream. Camellia oil helps also the body by preventing the stretch marks to appear, it is able to soften calluses or to soothe cracked skin. You can apply the oil after the bath or a shower when the body is still damp, in this way the oil will be easily absorbed. But camellia oil helps also in case of dandruff, dry skin and itching of the scalp, you can apply it in the form of mask on wet hair, massage also the scalp and leave on for 15 minutes, then rinse with your shampoo. In alternative, in case of brittle and dull hair and split ends, you can apply 2-3 drops of camellia oil on dry hair. Pour a few drops of the product on your hand then rub the palms together, then apply the oil starting from the top of the head until the ends.
