Using Hazelnut Oil to Keep your Skin Healthy

 

Although hazelnut oil can be used to keep your skin healthy, most people associate the nut with squirrels or some festive occasion. Not many know that the oil extracted from the nut can be used to keep you looking young and beautiful throughout your life.

 

The nut has a mild flavor and aroma, and it can be pressed to produce an oil that is very high in unsaturated fatty acids and is very easily absorbed by your skin.  The definition of a good skin care oil is that it should be easily absorbed, be light textured and not leave an oily residue on your skin and contain components that possess highly antioxidant properties, and that help to maintain the hydration of your skin.

 

Hazelnut oil meets these requirements in spades. It is highly unsaturated and very rapidly absorbed into the skin. It not only contains high concentrations of B vitamins, but is also rich in antioxidants such as Vitamin E and plant phenolics.  Among others are a number of minerals, oleic acid and linoleic acid, a fatty acid that is essential in our biochemistry but has to be absorbed from plant sources because you body cannot biosynthesize it.

 

When rubbed into your skin, it has an effective tightening effect that makes your skin look healthier and better toned. The antioxidant effect of Vitamin E in particular is very effective in helping to regenerate skin cells, and overcome the effects of aging such as premature wrinkling, and the oil is, in general, highly moisturizing.

 

It is being increasingly used as a component of a carrier oil blend in aromatherapthy and other applications where carrier oils are needed. The reason for this are the health benefits that it bestows in comparison to other carrier oils, and it leaves your skin silky smooth without any feeling of oiliness. Oily skin has its place, but you are generally better off without it for normal everyday use.

 

Hazelnut oil also possesses highly astringent properties, and is frequently used on acne skin for this reason.  It tends to clean out sebaceous pores, and help prevent their clogging with sebum and dead skin cells and subsequent bacterial infection.

It is also frequently used in sun care products because it absorbs the damaging UV component of sunlight, and can also prevent the generation, or at least the damage caused by, antioxidants by sunlight and by atmospheric pollutants such as traffic and industrial emissions. It is also used in hair care products for similar reasons.

 

If you suffer from occasional breakouts of your skin then hazelnut oil is ideal for you.  Otherwise, it is used by many people as a general skin care product, not only because it is a natural product, but also for its proven properties in improving the look and feel of your skin. If you have the choice, always chose a completely natural product over a synthetic one because the latter can contain allergens or other substances that can do harm, or act harshly on your skin.