Have you heard all of the turmeric benefits for skin care?

In this article, we’ll share our Top 8!

Pure turmeric, as well as turmeric essential oil are some of our favorite must-have additions to your natural skin care routine. Both turmeric and turmeric essential oil can be used to treat a variety of skin conditions, as well as to add a bunch of different benefits for your skin.

If you’re wondering why someone would put a spice or an oil on their skin, you should check out our post on Natural Skincare Defined. In it, we go into detail about what natural skin care is, why you should use it, some of the different benefits you can expect and how to get started.

Natural Skin Care

For a quick review, one of the main reasons we advocate natural skin care here at Utama Spice is because your skin absorbs a lot of the materials that you put on it. This can be good or bad, depending on what and how much you put on your skin. Luckily, there is some room for error here, as your skin, which is the body’s largest organ, actually has its own detoxification system as well. You might know it better as sweat.

As your skin sweats, it removes a lot of the chemicals and toxins that it has collected throughout the day and it functions as an important part of your body’s entire detoxification system, which includes the livers, kidneys and more. The bad news is that using synthetic or chemical-based compounds on your skin can sometimes clog your pores and make it more difficult for your skin to remove its full potential of toxins.

That’s why our philosophy at Utama Spice is ‘if you wouldn’t cook with it, you shouldn’t put it on your body.’

For more information about the different kinds of chemicals to watch out for in common cosmetic, beauty and skin care products, check out our posts about Quitting Chemicals and the Toxins in Your Makeup.

Natural Solutions

There are tons of different natural, unprocessed and organic ingredients out there that harness the medicinal and therapeutic powers of plants, fruits, vegetables and seeds to give us healthier solutions to our problems. And one of the ways to use these benefits is through natural skin care. But it doesn’t have to stop at the skin, there are natural solutions to a variety of issues and conditions, as well as a bunch of different kinds of benefits you can receive. From using Castor Oil for Weight Loss and Argan Oil for Hair Growth, to Lavender Essential Oil for Sleeplessness and Peppermint Aromatherapy for Energy Boosting, there are natural alternatives to so many everyday products.

The Benefits of Natural Skin Care

As we discussed in Natural Skin Care Defined, natural products are actually better for the environment, better for your skin and better for your wallet. Natural products are generally better for the environment, because they are usually made in a much more sustainable manner, with less risk for harm to the planet because the ingredients are natural and non-chemical. Meanwhile, mass-produced synthetic compound-based products can produce chemical byproducts that usually ends up in the air or water.

As we mentioned above, natural skin care can be better for your skin too. You just have to use the right ingredients. For instance, Argan Oil is a non comedogenic oil, which means that despite it being an oil, it doesn’t feel greasy when you put it on your skin and it doesn’t clog the pores. It also has plenty of healthy fatty acids, antioxidants and vitamins, making it great for the skin and even acne.

Using natural solutions can also make natural skin care quite affordable. Just as good as argan oil’s non comedogenic property combined with its fatty acids, vitamins and antioxidants make it for the skin, it is just as good for the hair and scalp. For more information on Argan Oil, check out our posts about How to Use Argan Oil for Skin, Our Top 7 Argan Oil Benefits for Hair, and Argan Oil for Hair Growth.

Turmeric Skin Benefits

So now that you know why you should consider switching to natural skin care alternatives, let’s talk about one of our favorite natural skin care ingredients: Turmeric.

Tumeric has been used for hundreds of years by different cultures as a spice, but also for its healing and skin care powers. According to healthline.com, the medicinal and therapeutic properties of turmeric comes from it’s curcumin, which is a “bioactive component” that “has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.”² The experts at Byrdie.com agree, saying that turmeric is “an anti-inflammatory powerhouse” and “is rich in curcumin, a natural active ingredient that promotes the healing and brightening of the skin.”³

Now that you know the secret ingredient in turmeric, let’s see what benefits you can expect and ways to use it.

Top 8 Benefits of and Ways to Use Turmeric for the Skin

Amazing Anti-Inflammatory Properties & Natural Glow
Helps to Treat Acne
Fight Those Bags Under Your Eyes
Protect the Skin Against Sun Damage and Signs of Aging
Reduces and Prevents Stretch Marks
Helps to Soothe Dry Skin
Can Speed Up Healing
Treat Psoriasis and Other Conditions

Turmeric has Amazing Anti-Inflammatory Properties

As we mentioned above, the high amounts of curcumin in turmeric make it a great anti-inflammatory. This can help to revive your skin and return a nice, natural glow. These anti-inflammatory properties can also help with a wide range of ailments from bug bites to aching muscles or joints.

Turmeric Helps to Treat Acne

Turmeric and turmeric essential oil are both great natural ingredients to use to fight acne. They both work as natural antiseptics that can stop the spread of bacteria. The turmeric essential oil can be applied directly, while you may want to add the pure ground turmeric to a face mask, or even combine it with apple cider vinegar. The apple cider vinegar should be mixed with some water too, but it acts as an astringent, which means it tones and helps to dry up oily skin. Combining this with turmeric’s natural anti-inflammatory properties can help to reduce scarring, prevent breakouts and nourish the skin.

Use Turmeric to Reduce Bags Under Your Eyes

We all get tired, but sometimes you just look really tired. And you don’t have to! Whether you didn’t get enough sleep last night, or you just frequently have bags under your eyes, turmeric and turmeric essential oil can help you. Turmeric’s anti-inflammatory properties combined with its ability to improve circulation and its ability to be used as a natural lightening agent to make the perfect cure for any dark circles or bags under the eyes. The anti-inflammatory properties help to reduce puffiness, the lightening agent component helps to reduce darkness and the improved circulation helps the underlying symptoms!

Turmeric can Protect the Skin Against Sun Damage and Signs of Aging

While the sun provides our skin with the vitamin D it needs, the sun can also cause damage to our skin over time. This potential sun damage, like sun spots, fine lines, blood vessel breakage near the skin, and reduced skin elasticity, combined with the bombardment by other particles called free radicals which come from our exposure to pollution and other toxins, can challenge the health and longevity of our skin. That’s why it’s so important to find natural solutions to these issues. Research has shown that products containing turmeric have the ability to “improve the appearance of fine lines and brown spots caused by sun damage” and help “prevent loss of skin elasticity due to long term UVB exposure.”

Using Turmeric on the Skin Reduces and Prevents Stretch Marks

Along with the anti-inflammatory properties, turmeric also has “the antioxidative power to penetrate and improve the function of the skin membrane cells, which will help prevent and treat stretch marks.” When you take into account the other things we’ve discussed like the protection against sun damage and the turmeric’s ability to fight wrinkles, you can start to see the powerful potential of turmeric to improve the health of your skin on several different levels simultaneously.

Turmeric Helps to Soothe Dry Skin

Turmeric and turmeric essential oil can also help to hydrate and moisturize the skin. This can help with any conditions caused by dryness, and can also help with some causes of itchiness or irritation. Turmeric also “naturally speeds up the process of removing dead skin cells to reveal healthy and soft skin, and protects the skin cells from further damage.” So it can both hydrate and exfoliate, leaving fresh, healthy skin behind.

Applying Turmeric Can Speed Up Healing

Interestingly enough, turmeric is great for treating wounds and speeding up the healing process. This is because “the curcumin found in turmeric can help wounds heal by decreasing inflammation and oxidation. It also lowers the response of your body to cutaneous wounds. This results in your wounds healing more quickly.”² Other studies have shown that turmeric can also help with scarring and has positive effects for the skin and collagen production.

Turmeric can Treat Psoriasis and Other Skin Conditions

Just like turmeric can be used to treat other skin conditions like dryness and wrinkles, it can also help with more persistent conditions like psoriasis and eczema. According to Healthline.com, “The National Psoriasis Foundation states that you can use it as a supplement or by adding it to food. Before you try it, the foundation recommends discussing proper dosage with a professional.” Turmeric can be so helpful in this situation because “the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory qualities of turmeric may help your psoriasis by controlling flares and other symptoms.”²

It’s important to note that you can gain some of turmeric’s benefits for skin just by adding it to your diet. Although depending on the desired benefit, some cases do call for topical application. That’s a good time to also consider making a combination of turmeric essential oil and a carrier oil to really give your skin a treat.

More Natural Skin Care Ingredients

If you love the sound of all the different natural skin care benefits you can get just from turmeric and you want to learn about some more of our other favorite natural skin solutions, we have a few more suggestions for you.

In our post about Lavender Essential Oil for Skin, we break down some of our favorite benefits and ways to use Lavender Essential Oil. It’s a great moisturizer, wrinkle fighter and much more!

We also have a post about Castor Oil Therapy and Castor Oil Packs, which can be used to treat a variety of abdominal-area issues.

But a great article to get a bunch of different natural skin care inspiration is our post on Natural Skin Care At Home. There, we discuss our top 4 favorite carrier oils for natural skin care: Argan Oil, Castor Oil, Coconut Oil and Tamanu Oil. We also discuss what a carrier oil is and some of our favorite essential oils you can combine to make your own natural skin care recipes.

Happy reading!

And if you have any comments, questions or suggestions, please feel free to contact us through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram!

Sources

https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/evewoman/article/2001299126/six-amazing-skin-benefits-of-turmeric
https://www.healthline.com/health/turmeric-for-skin
https://www.byrdie.com/how-to-use-turmeric-for-beautiful-skin-3013613
https://www.besthealthmag.ca/best-looks/skin/turmeric-benefits-for-skin/

Turmeric Benefits for Skin