Avocado is often promoted as a food that provides high levels of nutrition. Its use in the health and beauty industry has become more popular over the years, including its use as a carrier oil. But is avocado a good massage oil after all?
With a rich texture and being mostly odor-free, avocado oil is excellent for massage. It is rich in nutrients that can provide a host of benefits to the skin. Being relatively hypoallergenic, it is a type of massage oil that is considered safe to use even on sensitive skin.
Like many others, I love the thought of indulging in a relaxing massage after a busy week. I see it as the perfect way to unwind and gain some well-deserved respite away from the stress of everyday life. Having discovered the benefits that a good massage technique can achieve, such as relaxation, sensuality, and pain relief, I also became more interested in the choice of oils to use.
The use of essential oils to provide relaxation and peace through the use of scent and other properties is widely understood, but it is easy to overlook that our choice of carrier oil can be important as well. We will often be told how the aroma and other essential oils’ properties can enhance a massage’s benefits. Still, it is rare to be offered guidance regarding carrier oils unless it is regarding allergens.
While jojoba and almond oil are popular carrier oils due to the relatively low price and availability, it is worth considering other alternatives that can provide specific benefits. As someone who enjoys visiting professional masseuses and also practicing at home with friends and family, I come into contact with massage oils regularly. Finding out more about alternative carrier oils seemed like a fantastic way to find out more about the benefits massage can bring to your health and well-being.
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Benefits of Avocado Oil for Massage
With its reputation of being a food with brilliant health-giving properties, I thought I would discover more about the use of avocado oil for massage. Although it can be slightly more expensive than other popular oils, the massive range of benefits avocado oil can provide to your skin make it worth the investment.
1. Moisturizes and nourishes
The most significant appeal of using avocado oil for massage has to be its excellent moisturizing and nourishing effects, which is great news for any skin type. With its abundance of omega-3 fatty acids and a range of vitamins and minerals, avocado oil is perfect for providing added moisture.
Potassium, lecithin, and vitamin E are among the nutrients present in avocado oil that will improve even the driest skin and promote skin health.
2. Reduces Signs of Aging
Aging happens to us all. As we get older, our bodies produce less of the natural oils needed to maintain youthful and firm skin. The absence of these natural oils decreases the skin’s ability to withstand the stresses of daily life. It leads to the occurrence of wrinkles and uneven skin tones.
Avocado oil is rich in vitamins A, B1, and B2, which help promote skin cells’ regeneration. This improves the skin’s elasticity, which helps to slow down the aging process and keeps you looking younger for longer. The richer texture of avocado oil effectively reintroduces essential oils back into the skin by providing thicker coverage over its surface.
3. Helps Sun Damaged Skin
Avocado oil helps provide healing and relief to sunburnt or sun-damaged skin, making it an ideal choice for a massage after a day outside. The powerful combination of Vitamins D and E, beta-carotene, lecithin, and protein provides everything required to help soothe and repair damage caused by the sun.
Although it has not been proven, some studies suggest that avocado can provide some protection to the skin from harmful UV rays.
4. Promotes healing
As a brilliant source of oleic acids, essential fatty acids, and vitamin A the use of Avocado oil has been found to aid the healing process as it helps new connective tissue grow more effectively by promoting collagen synthesis.
This can be particularly helpful when trying to reduce scarring or other damage caused to the skin. This healing process will help to reduce redness and improve skin tone, the skin’s ability to bind with minimized scarring and increased elasticity.
5. Helps manage skin conditions
Avocado oil is rich in nutrients that are key to maintaining healthy skin. It has been found to be effective at providing relief to a range of skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis, and acne.
The wide range of antioxidants present provides excellent moisturizing effects. It contains anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, making it an ideal massage oil choice for anyone with sensitive or problem skin.
6. Great Absorption
Avocado oil contains Fatty acids and vitamins A, E, and D, which are absorbed really quickly by the epidermis, the outermost layer of the skin. This process helps to form new skin more rapidly and helps provide protection to the more delicate layers underneath, leaving your skin feeling rejuvenated.
Any Downsides of Avocado Oil for Massage?
The main downside of using avocado oil as a massage oil is that it can be a little thicker than other oils, making it a little more challenging to use. Some people get around this by adding a thinner carrier oil such as jojoba oil to reduce the density. In contrast, others accept this and even see it as a benefit as it really covers the skin and helps give it a real boost of moisture.
Avocado oil is an ideal choice for massage if you are looking for something to give your skin some extra care. It’s also an excellent alternative for anyone who has skin conditions, sensitive skin or suffers from allergies or intolerances. However, if you are looking for an oil that is easy to use, you may be slightly put off by its thicker texture, which makes it a little less useable than more popular alternatives.
You may also find it slightly more challenging to add fragrance, as it is harder to blend for this reason.
The price can also be a little higher than other oils, so this is something you may want to consider.
Personally, I think it is an excellent way to provide an instant boost to my skincare routine and provide my skin with a bit of extra pampering, but I do believe adding another, thinner carrier oil does make it far more useable, especially if like me you include massage oil in your bath time routine.
A Final Thought
I’ve found that using a mixture of my favorite essential oils, my usual carrier oil, and avocado is a great way to get a massage that is both relaxing and good for the skin. If you are looking to enhance the benefits you get from a massage, it is definitely worth trying out avocado oil.
