I use pure marula oil to fix pretty much all of my skin and hair issues - here's everything you need to know about it
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- I'm a huge fan of natural ingredients and multitasking beauty products, and I finally found my holy-grail must-have - one that's better than coconut oil. Meet marula oil, the single natural substance you need to fix pretty much all of your hair and skin issues.
- Marula oil can be used on skin and hair to deliver a high dosage of vitamins and nutrients that have multiple benefits. The most notable is healthier-looking skin and hair courtesy of Omega-3, -6, and -9 fatty acids, which are essential for both plump skin and shiny strands.
- Pure marula oil can even be used to cook, but you'll probably love the way it makes your skin and hair look so much you won't want to waste any in the frying pan.
Remember the coconut oil craze of 2015? The healthy fat pretty much took over the beauty industry with its multitasking benefits. You can remove your makeup with it! Make a DIY hair mask out of it! Use it instead of shaving cream! Cook with it! The possibilities were literally endless … and also, unfortunately, not exactly accurate. Not to knock coconut oil - it has its upsides - but when people discovered it was comedogenic (aka, pore-clogging), it quickly fell out of favor.
Today, there's a new multi-purpose oil on the rise. One that won't clog your pores and will make your skin glow, protect you from pollution, and even prevent hair loss. Meet marula oil, the single natural substance you need to fix pretty much all of your hair and skin issues.
"Marula oil has been used for centuries on the southern tip of the African continent for treating everything from sunburn and stretch marks to lowering blood pressure and cholesterol," Daniel Hodgdon, the CEO and founder of beauty brand Vegamour, tells Business Insider. "After doing some more research, we came across several scientific studies conducted on the efficacy of marula oil on treating both hair and skin issues, and the data made this natural beauty oil really stand out."
In fact, Hodgdon was so in awe of the power of marula that he wanted to make sure Vegamour offered the purest form possible - so instead of sourcing an oil to sell, the company began the involved process of growing, sustainably wild-harvesting, and producing the oil in Namibia, Africa for itself.
You can get your hands on some for $58 on Amazon - and trust me, you won't regret it.
Marula oil benefits for skin
I was slightly skeptical when I tried marula oil for myself the first time. I'm no stranger to natural skin-care products, and I already had a handful of go-to oils in my routine … could marula really make that much of a difference? It turns out, adding marula to my morning and night skin-care regimen did more than just boost my glow; after about two weeks, I noticed my face looked decidedly firmer and plumper.
"It's packed with collagen-boosting Omega-3, -6, and -9 fatty acids," Hodgdon explains - substances that are essential for healthy, firmer-looking skin. "It also has up to 50% more antioxidants than other natural oils, like argan or jojoba." Antioxidants is a fancy word for "pollution fighting particles," and this quality makes marula oil a powerhouse in terms of skin protection. Everyday exposure to things like emissions from cars and power plants, plastics, and even cooking can wreak havoc on the skin, causing premature fine lines, wrinkles, inflammation, age spots. An oil rich in antioxidants, like marula, mitigates all of that.
Dermatologists agree. "Marula oil is an antioxidant-rich moisturizing oil for the skin and hair," Dr. Aanand Geria, a dermatologist with Geria Dermatology in New Jersey, tells Business Insider. "It contains vitamins C and E and a variety of anti-inflammatory compounds including catechins, flavonoids, and procyanidin." These substances serve to take down any sort of redness and swelling, which I personally noticed most when I slathered marula on a patch of hormonal acne along my jawline. The next morning, the area was significantly smoother and clearer, and my cystic bumps had shrunk to half the size.
"In contrast to coconut oil, marula oil is lighter, so it won't leave your skin feeling greasy or clog your pores," Dr. Geria adds. It sinks right into the skin in the dreamiest way (you can even wear it under makeup), thanks to a high oleic acid content. "This means that it is able to quickly penetrate to the upper layer of the dermis, rather than just sit on the surface of the skin," Hodgdon explains. In other words, pores positively drink it up.
As for which skin types it's best for? Really, everyone.
"Marula moisturizes and repairs dry and aging skin," the founder shares. "But it also calms skin inflammation, acne, redness, sun-damaged skin, and razor burn."
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Marula oil benefits for hair
Unlike most skin-care products, marula can be used on your hair, too - and what's better than a two-for-one beauty buy?
"Healthy hair starts with a healthy scalp," Hodgdon says. "Because it's intrafollicular, the oil is able to penetrate the hair follicles and roots (rather than sitting heavily on top of your hair like other natural oils), thereby nourishing the hair from within."
It provides the scalp with much the same benefits as the skin, like pollution protection and irritation relief. "With its heavy percentages of oleic and stearic acid, marula is actually able to help reduce the production of 5alpha-Reductase, the enzyme that converts the body's testosterone into follicle damaging DHT molecules, thereby preventing hair loss while promoting hair growth," Hodgdon shares - a fact that's backed up by scientific study.
Finally, the vitamin C in marula oil helps keep hair follicles healthy and less likely to shed, while vitamin E adds shine.
As for how to use it? Pretty much any way you like. Massage a bit of marula into your scalp before bed for an overnight mask, then rinse out in the shower; apply a bit to wet strands and let dry; or mix a few drops in with your usual styling creme. I've been adding a dropper's worth to my curls from mid-length to ends after getting out of the shower to keep my waves shiny and bouncy.
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Everything else you should know about marula
Yes, you can eat it. "In Namibia, they actually cook with the oil, so it's fine to use topically or to ingest," Hodgdon says (although that's not a use that the brand recommends on the label).
If you're going to try to cook with it - or put it on your face or hair for that matter - be sure to use a version that's pure and cold-pressed, like Vegamour's, to ensure you're reaping all the benefits. "Our partners crack each marula nut by hand rather than crushing the nuts in their shells en masse, as many large-scale producers do since crushing the nuts in their shells causes the nuts to mix with the lipase enzyme in the shell, which causes the oil to go rancid," the brand's founder explains. "This rancidity, in turn, creates an abundance of free radicals in the oil, which actually stresses the skin."
Additionally, oils that aren't cold-processed are usually boiled, and, in effect, stripped of antioxidants and contaminated with solvents and detergents.
Hodgdon's tips for selecting the perfect bottle of marula? Look for a single-ingredient oil (i.e., just "marula" on the ingredients list, with no additives), and the words pure and/or cold-pressed on the label. "If you ever go to the store and find really cheap marula oil, make sure you smell it," he advises. "If it smells faintly of yogurt, it's rancid - stay away!"
A safe bet is to grab a $58 fluid ounce of the good stuff from Vegamour with Amazon Prime two-day shipping - because the sooner you get it, the sooner your skin and hair will thank you.