Castor oil, a skin-loving moisturiser

This oil comes from the palm-like castor plant, which is native to East Africa. Being packed with nutrients, fatty acids and omega 9, castor oil is great for nourishing our bodies. It can also ease joint pain.

Hair, lashes and eyebrows: castor oil boosts hair, eyelash and eyebrow growth. It's a very runny oil, so best to use a mascara wand if applying it to your lashes at night. You can wipe off any surplus with a cleanser in the morning. Make sure you don't get any in your eyes - whilst it can soothe eyelid skin, it can irritate the eyes. Castor oil can be used to nourish our scalps and condition our hair to leave us with silky manes. Massage it into your hair and scalp, leave for half an hour and rinse off. You can also leave it on overnight for a deeply nourishing treatment. Nails: castor oil fortifies nails and moisturises thin hand skin. It strengthens our nails and helps them to quickly grow. Our bodies as a whole: castor oil is known to have healing properties. You can soothe a tummy ache by applying a compress to your stomach. Or, even better, wrap the compress or towel around a hot water bottle for added, healing warmth.

Atopic skin: thanks to its greasy texture, you can use castor oil to purify and hydrate skin. It not only works wonders on really dry skin, but also problem skin (eczema, psoriasis, cold sores, burns...). You only need to massage in a drop (using circular movements) for it to penetrate your skin. It can also reduce the appearance of liver spots on our face and hands. Not bad, eh? Skin cleanser: castor oil can be used to remove make up and cleanse skin. It deeply cleans pores, thanks to its blemish-zapping fatty acids. Scars: Castor oil can be massaged onto scars - even years after they've formed. The oil's nutrients penetrate skin and gradually fade scars by boosting cell growth.

Anti-ageing action: castor oil boosts collagen and elastin production. This helps to repair and soften our skin, whilst preventing the appearance of lines and wrinkles. In other words, it leaves us with a smooth, soft, youthful glow. Minor skin irritations: castor oil's anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties soothe flare-ups, itchiness, insect bites/stings and sunburn. This is definitely one oil to add to your beauty routine shopping list!