KNOW THIS: Rosehip oil is a beauty miracle cure.

WHY? It delivers antioxidants that stimulate collagen production and it protects from ageing.

HOW DO I USE IT? Nightly as a moisturiser, and or as a make-up remover.

Mother nature: The real beauty miracle

I accidentally come across a miracle beauty product. Rosehip oil.

Pure, organic, cold-pressed natural rosehip oil.

I absolutely love it. It’s genuinely made my skin look as good as it was pre-thirties!

I stumbled across face oils while researching a remedy for an ex-boyfriend’s broken capillaries. One thing that kept coming up over and over was rosehip oil. The more I read about its benefits, the more I wanted to try it for myself.

To be honest I wasn’t really expecting much – all beauty products promise the world, and never live up to it. However after using rosehip oil for just two weeks I could see a noticeable difference. I had a few fine lines around my eyes and an ugly dark spot had appeared over the summer (much to my horror – I thought only old people got those!). After two weeks the dark spot had all-but disappeared, along with the fine lines. So I continued to use it and six months later my skin was looking as good as it had five years ago – if not more!

Here’s why rosehip oil rocks:

It’s anti-aging

It penetrates to the deeper layers of the skin and contains vitamin C and A antioxidants that stimulate collagen production; vitamin A combined with the oil’s essential fatty acids omega-3 and omega-6, improves the skin’s moisture levels, texture and reduces wrinkles, fine lines, and even broken capillaries.

It protects against photo-aging

The antioxidants, beta-carotene, lycopene and vitamin C combat free radicals that cause damage. Sun exposure plays a role in decreased collagen, which vitamin C can help counteract.

It reduces pigmentation

The vitamins in rosehip oil improve the skin tone and reduce the appearance of dark spots, aging spots and hyper-pigmentation.

It helps treat scars

The essential fatty acids in rose hip seed oil can help reduce scarring and promote skin regeneration. Emollients also aid skin repair. Vitamin A may also play a part in rosehip oil’s affect on scar tissue due to its ability to improve skin texture and tone.

It’s deeply moisturising

Its small molecular structure means it penetrates to the lower layers of skin easily.

It can help people with acne

Rosehip oil is rich in linoleic acid – something that people with acne produce less of – and one study showed that applying linoleic acid improved acne skin by 25%.

Most people think that putting oil on your face will make you break out in spots, but in fact plant-based oils are non-comedogenic, meaning they’re not likely to clog pores and cause breakouts. However, I recommend exfoliating once a week to get rid of dead skin cells.

Personally, I use it at night only as I find it leaves a slight oily sheen and I like to use an SPF moisturiser during the day. After cleansing, I put some on a cotton pad and wipe it all over my face. I find this removes excess make-up that my cleanser has left behind (it can be used instead of cleanser, but most people don’t like the idea of this). I then pat extra around my eyes for good measure.

The smell can take some getting used to, but it’s a small price to pay for the benefits.

Go try it. You can thank me later.

N.b. Choose a good quality, virgin, cold pressed oil. Higher-priced oils are less refined, processed and purer. Cheaper oils can have additives, byproducts of refining, bleaching processes. I use Fushi: http://www.fushi.co.uk/beauty/face-care/oils/rosehip-seed-oil-organic-100ml.html