Fashion
How Camellia Oil For Hair & Skin Can Absolutely Transform Your Beauty Routine
If you're itching for new, natural ways to amp up your beauty routine, look no further than your favorite beverage: tea. Specifically, using camellia oil for hair, skin, and makeup can have a wonderfully nourishing effect on your entire bod.
Tea plants have been harvested for their leaves and brewed into beverages for over 3,500 years. Modern research into the chemical makeup of the camellia plant has uncovered a treasure trove of botanical actives that both give tea its flavor and protect it from the elements while it’s growing. Tannins, flavonoids, and polyphenols supercharge the leaves and flowers of the plant, and many cultures have been using the oil and extract of the evergreen sibling as a treatment for centuries.
If these elements are protecting the plantsfrom the sun, it makes sense that they would work to protect us as well. Particularly used for medicinal qualities before becoming a popular beverage, tea has been an integral part of eastern cultures before sparking wars and conquests with new demand from western society. Japan, Korea and China particularly are known for using tea based ingredients in their beauty customs, and everyone else is catching up as fast as they can! Here, a few products that contain camellia to add to your routine ASAP.
Images: Darnell Scott
Camellia For Hair
Tatcha’s Camellia Beauty Oil, $95, Tatcha Tsubaki Shining Shampoo , $17, Amazon Tsubaki Damage Care Conditioner, $13, Yami Buy
Japanese beauty blogs swear by using camellia seed oil on hair to add weightless shine. I LOVE Tatcha’s Camellia Beauty Oil for my strands. It combines tea oil AND tea extract with squalane, caprylic triglyceride(like a purified coconut oil) and oils of macadamia and rice bran. The oil soaks in instantly, leaving a weightless shine even on fine hair.
Shiseido is the queen of Japanese haircare brands, plus it’s available in so many places and not crazy expensive. I tried both the Tsubaki Shining Shampoo and Tsubaki Damage Care Conditioner. I really enjoyed the shampoo, but the conditioner was a bit too heavy for my hair texture. Shiseido is the equivalent to L’Oreal in Japan: popular and widely trusted. Stateside you can get Shiseido products at the department store, but the more common imports can be found at Ricky’s and Asian grocery stores.
Camellia For Skin
Jurlique Rose Moisture Plus Revitalizing Gel-Lotion, $47, JurliqueBalancing Foaming Cleanser, $36, JurliqueSulwhasoo Luminature Essential Finisher, $90, Neiman MarcusCleansing Oil-Gel, $28, SephoraTsubaki-Infused Exfoliating Powder, $36, Boscia
Putting camellia oil on skin has a similar result to that of hair: It sinks in instantly, so you don’t get a greasy appearance that can deter you from even using the product. Sometimes called tsubaki oil, camellia contains a really high amount of omega 9 fatty acid, as well as vitamins A, B, D and E! A and E are potent antioxidants that help repair sun damage while omega 9 moisturizes deeply, especially on dry and mature skin.
Jurlique Rose Moisture Plus Revitalizing Gel-Lotion applies the polyphenols of both tea and turmeric in a hydrophilic gel-base that absorbs instantly. Their Balancing Foaming Cleanser is so nice in the morning, with rose, daisy, violet, and chamomile flowers swimming in an aloe, witch hazel, and turmeric based foaming cleanser that removes excess sebum without stripping skin of its moisture.
Sulwhasoo Luminature Essential Finisher is likely the most skin enhancing primer you will ever try. Precious ginseng and green tea settle into skin and prime for makeup, basically laminating your skincare routine with a semi-matte finish. One bottle has lasted me eons, so it’s worth the cash!
Boscia has been no slouch in the camellia department. Their Cleansing Oil-Gel takes off makeup super quickly but leaves skin dewy and soft, not stripped. The gentle foam is enriched with sea kelp and rice bran oil, and essential oils of clove and lavender help nix skin issues while smelling amazing!! The Tsubaki-Infused Exfoliating Powder is a must-have scrubber that lets you customize the amount of exfoliation you get.
Pure camellia oil isn’t incredibly expensive either. Grab a vial of Aubrey’s White Camellia Oil ($16) when you want to supercharge your face oil or lotion with antioxidants. I like to roll a little extra into my face oil blend or use straight on my hair. If you tend to have acne prone skin, avoid using camellia without blending with a different oil, since acneic skin needs a little more omega 3 to balance it out.
Camellia For Makeup
Kyoto Red, $55, TatchaCamellia Nourishing Lip Balm, $36, TatchaSulwhasoo Perfecting Cushion, $60, Neiman Marcus
Tatcha takes camellia as gospel, inspired by the beauty traditions of actual geisha, they developed a red lipstick to end all red lipsticks. Kyoto Red is a silk and tea extract infused stick of pure red pigment that looks flattering on every skin tone. I found myself wearing it pretty much 24/7. Their Camellia Nourishing Lip Balm is also basically one of the best lip balms I have ever had the pleasure of trying. Paired together, it made my lips hydrated, soft, and plump as can be.
Sulwhasoo Perfecting Cushion deserves as many shoutouts as I can give it. It’s medium, buildable coverage gives me the most skin-like finish I have ever gotten without using a Beauty Blender. It is SPF 50 with more of that potent green tea extract they are so known for. Bounces onto skin in seconds, and the beautiful compact is great for on-the-go application.
Camellia For Body
Tatcha’s Soothing Silk Body Butter ,$48, TatchaSoothing Silk Hand Cream, 38, TatchaGardenia and Tea Body Serum, $39, One Love Organics
Slathering your whole body in camellia is as luxurious as it sounds. Omega 9 fatty acids are best suited for body skin, and Tatcha’s Soothing Silk Body Butter combines this oleic acid with a magical dose of Japanese indigo, which fades into the skin but starts out vibrant blue! Naturally colorful plants, like turmeric and beet, are generally good for healing skin, and this stuff’s no exception. The Soothing Silk Hand Cream is a long lasting moisturizer that I have kept in my bag for months now, with no visible dent in the amount of product. You really only need a small amount, and the blue indigo fades into skin as you rub it in.
When we last chatted about body serums I pointed out the goodness that is One Love Organics, and their Gardenia and Tea Body Serum is a fine misted South Pacific vacay in a bottle. Monoi Tiare oil is infused with chia and green tea extract to protect your whole body from free radicals.
