Moringa Oil for Acne – Does It Actually Work?

Rubbing oil into your skin to fight against acne???? This goes against everything we have ever been told. Acne is often a result of overly oily skin. So why would you want to add more oil to the mix? Won’t it just make things worse?

Well.. contrary to popular believe oil isn’t necessarily bad for fighting acne. There are many oils you should stay away from but there are also good oils out there that will help you out, moringa oil being one.

Wrinkle reduction isn’t the only good use it has when it comes to your skin. Taking moringa oil for acne is a proven effective treatment that is all natural. If you are struggling to get your acne under control then you might want to take a break from the acid washes and facial cleansers and give some moringa oil a try.

There is more than one reason why moringa oil is effective as an acne treatment but before I get into all of that Iwant to give a brief background on moringa and what it is.

Moringa, A Brief History

Moringa has been regarded as a “miracle tree” for thousands of years. In fact, it was described as a medicinal herb as far back as 2,000 BC and is said to be a treatment for over 300 diseases, which I’m not sure how true this statement is.

Moringa oil itself also has an ancient history and was the Aveeno of its time. Egyptions used moringa oil to help protect their skin from the harsh desert climate. From the Egyptions this oil spread to Greece and then to Rome.

In modern times as the “green” movement pushes forward, natural health herbs like moringa are gaining in popularity. And its not all hype. More and more scientific studies continually emerge that show moringa to be effective for everything from cancer treatment to what I’ll be going over here… acne treatment.

Why It Works

Moringa has cleansing, moisturizing, and soothing properties that make it great for your skin and help reduce and even eliminate acne. I’m sure there are more reasons why moringa is such a great treatment but I’ll just go over a few of the more notable ones…

Vitamins

Much of its effectiveness can be attributed to its vitamin A and vitamin E content, which it contains a heck of a lot of. I’m not sure the amount of these vitamins in moringa oil, but I can tell you that in a 2g serving of moringa powder you can look to get about 330mcg of vitamin A, which is 18-23% of an adult’s RDA, and 1.28mg of vitamin E, which is 6% of an adult’s RDA.

These vitamins have strong antibacterial properties that help to eliminate bacteria, which can cause acne. They also encourage soft/smooth skin.

Antioxidant Properties

Moringa oil also has some powerful antioxidant properties which do a lot of things to help out with your skin, one being that they fight off skin-harming free-radicals, which are responsible for damaging and aging the body. These are thought to be another cause of acne. They are destructive and reek havoc in the body. Moringa helps stop them in their place.

Anti-inflammatory

Moringa also exhibits anti-inflammatory behavior that helps with everything from asthma to acne. After all, acne is considered to be an inflammatory disease (You can read about this here).

Acne often becomes red and swells, which is a sign of inflammation. Moringa can fight against this.

Some Proof That It Works

There is one interesting study that I came across that is titled Effect of Moringa oleifera on undesireble skin sebum secretions… which studied the effect that moringa extract infused with cream had on people when taken for 12 weeks. The study was performed during the winter when acne and other related skin conditions are often at their peek. The extract was put into a skin cream which was rubbed into the skin as lotion.

The results?

Moringa proved to reduce undesirable skin conditions such as acne to a “significant” degree.

In this study the extract was from moringa leaves, but the moringa oil also demonstrates much of the same benefit, and can actually be better for people with extremely dry skin.

How to Apply Moringa Products

For moringa creams and oils applying them is pretty simple. You can do so just as you normally would other skincare products. For the best results you are going to want to apply it only after you wash your skin. This way dirt and bacteria will be washed away.

I also found a good article from StyleCraze that goes over a moringa paste face mask that is said to be effective. For this you need a raw dried moringa leaves. It is very simple and all you do is grind a bit up and mix it with water until you get a smooth paste. Apply it to your face, leave it on for about 20 minutes and you are done. Wash it off with water and nothing else.

This paste mask is a good idea for those looking to treat acne with moringa but do not want to leave products on their face.

Should You Try Moringa for Acne Treatment?

If you are like many people out there that have tried and tried many products with no success then giving moringa a try is something you should definitely think about. Besides the acne treatment part of it moringa oil has numerous other benefits for your skin health.

Moringa oil has plenty of scientific backing as to the skin benefits it brings you and there are also plenty of personal testimonials to its effectiveness. But if you are still hesitant to using oil on your acne then I would just go with a moringa paste.

And by the way, if you don’t want to go through the hassle of grinding up moringa leaves on your own you can always buy a moringa powder supplement. These can easily be made into a paste by mixing water in.