Babassu Oil Benefits – More Useful Than You Might Imagine
You’ve probably heard all about the amazing uses for coconut oil, but I recently discovered an alternative that’s being used in many skin products and foods, as well as some other ways I was surprised to learn about. Babassu Oil is also called Cusi Oil. It is expeller pressed from seeds, which are inside the fruit (also called nuts), of the babassu palm tree (Attalea speciose). This tree grows natively primarily in northern and central Brazil.
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If you love the benefits of coconut oil, but dislike the greasy feeling or the coconut scent, you are in luck. The various babassu oil benefits are similar to coconut oil but it is lightweight and doesn’t have that lingering scent. It is an amazingly versatile oil. It can be used in cooking, as fuel or a lubricant, and for skin and hair health.
The Main Babassu Oil Benefits
There are numerous helpful constituents in babassu oil that make it ideal for a multitude of uses.
- It is rich in antioxidant Vitamin E which help protect your skin.
- The phytosterols also provide both collagen protection and anti-aging benefits.
- This versatile oil is also antibacterial due to its high level of lauric acid.
So, while you are moisturizing your skin, you can also heal damaged skin and reduce redness and inflammation, including sunburn. It offers the same amazing moisturizing benefits for your hair as well.
The Best Traits Of Babassu Oil
I personally love that it’s lightweight and doesn’t clog pores. Although I am not adverse to the scent of coconut oil, there are times when I don’t want to smell that way and that makes babassu oil my favorite all-around carrier oil. In fact, it mixes better with my essential oils so I use it quite a bit when I make homemade health and beauty products. Its light scent doesn’t overpower the essential oils which I love. It is also less messy and soaks in faster.
On top of all that, I keep some in my kitchen because it is wonderful for vegetable sautéing, greasing pans, and cooking popcorn. I like knowing the list of health benefits is every bit as comprehensive as coconut oil and that it goes with more foods than the coconut oil does.
More Ways To Use Babassu Oil In The Kitchen
Cooking
As I said, it is incredible as a cooking oil, especially when I don’t want the heavy coconut flavor. Its flavor is quite mild and I use it for anything that I typically would use butter for.
Wood Polish
In addition, I love to use it to rejuvenate my wood cutting boards and wooden utensils. For that matter, you can use it on any wood surface as it makes a wonderful furniture polish. I like to add a little lemon essential oil to it for that purpose.
Pet Care
I also add a bit to my pets’ food dish so they can gain the same health benefits. The antibacterial benefit helps their dental hygiene while the ingestion of the oil aids with joint strength, weight management, digestion, and hormone balance.
Babassu Oil As A Moisturizer
The beauty of the babassu oil benefits is it locks in moisture so you’ll feel softer from head to toe. I like to add a tablespoon or two to my bath water for an all-over benefit, but you can also use it as a massage oil, scalp conditioner, nail and cuticle soak or add a few drops to your shampoo and/or conditioner. Be sure it is in liquid state when you do this.
You can also put the oil on dry spots, to cool sunburn, or on rashes, bug bites, psoriasis, rosacea, chapped lips and skin, and anywhere anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antifungal benefits would be helpful. You can also use it on your pets for these conditions.
Unique Ideas For Benefiting from Babassu Oil
If you enjoy making products for yourself, you will likely come up with numerous ways to use babassu oil.
Deodorant
One of my favorites is making a homemade deodorant to avoid the atrocious chemicals found in store-bought products. You can use any recipe you find online that uses coconut oil and replace it with babassu oil.
Cosmetics
You could also try your hand at making homemade cosmetics. There are recipes online for lipstick and other products, and although I haven’t experimented with these yet, I see no reason why you couldn’t substitute babassu oil for whatever oil they mention, such as the castor oil used in lipstick.
Bar Soap
Another option is making homemade bar soap. Babassu oil is ideal for this because it has an ideal composition of fatty acids to create the right hardness as well as a nice full and stable lather. You can also use babassu oil instead of shea or as part of the total amount in whipped butter recipes. One note is that typically babassu oil is more costly than coconut oil which is often used in soap making as well, but the other benefits make it worth it for most users. Many find that if coconut oil soap bothers them, the babassu oil soap does not.
For Men: Beard Care
Help the guy out in your life and make him some personal care products as well, such as a beard wash, oil or balm. For example, a nice recipe for beard balm is to take roughly 7 ounces of babassu oil and mix with 1.5 ounces of jojoba oil and just under 3 ounces of beeswax. Melt on low heat, then add 2.5 ounces of shea butter and whatever fragrance you choose. You can also add some extra Vitamin E to it if you like. Put into forms to harden.
Final Thoughts About the Benefits of Babassu Oil
Shelf Life
Babassu oil is like other oils in that it can go rancid eventually so you should take care to buy only what you will use in less than one year. Some sources say two years but I stick with one year because I want the products I make to also have a shelf life of a year. Also, it’s hard to know how old it was out before it made it to you. I think it best to stick to less than a year for kitchen uses, although I’ve yet to have a bottle last more than a month or two. I also recommend going with an organic product from a trusted source.
Storage
You should store the babassu oil in a cool area that is out of direct sunlight. You can store it in the refrigerator, but it will become a solid like coconut oil does and also melts easily at room temperature.
Whatever you do with coconut oil you can likely do with babassu oil, so feel free to experiment and see what you come up with. Whether you use it straight for cooking or moisturizing, or make it into homemade products, you will be amazed at the differences you’ll notice.