If you’ve decided to ditch all those harsh chemicals you know aren’t doing you any favors and create a truly holistic beauty routine, the best place to start is with natural oils that work in harmony with your health to bring out your skin’s inherently radiant glow.

While many pure botanical oils can beautify and nourish the surface of your skin, magnesium oil works a little differently—going far beyond the epidermis to enhance your looks from the inside out, as well as the outside in.

Why Is Magnesium So Important?

Magnesium is an essential mineral that your body needs for all systems to operate properly. It’s involved in hundreds of vital processes and reactions in the body and is crucial for overall health.

Although it occurs naturally in many foods, including nuts, dark chocolate, and leafy greens, it can sometimes be challenging to get enough of this mighty mineral from diet alone. In fact, as many as 80% of Americans may be magnesium deficient!¹

The natural magnesium in our soil and water is also scarce due to over farming and the use of pesticides, and many water filtration systems leave little of this precious mineral in our drinking water. Plus, factors in our modern lives actively deplete magnesium levels—things like consuming too much caffeine, getting too little sleep, or experiencing regular stress. And, when you don’t have enough magnesium in your body, the chances are you’ll feel it. Low magnesium levels are associated with irritated skin, achy muscles, waning energy levels, and general soreness in the body.

You can get magnesium in supplement form or even as dried flakes for the bath, but the exciting news is that the easiest and most effective way to reset your magnesium levels is to absorb it directly through your skin in the form of an oil.² Simply massage in some magnesium oil to reap all the benefits magnesium has to offer.

Unlike most beautifying oils, transdermal magnesium oil isn’t technically an oil at all. This powerful concoction is a combination of magnesium chloride and trace minerals sourced from the world’s most magnesium-rich locations, such as the Ancient Zechstein Seabed and the Dead Sea. When this highly concentrated compound is suspended in water, it transforms into a smooth, oily liquid that can absorb through your skin into your body.

How Can Magnesium Oil Help Me?

Including a high quality magnesium oil in your daily regimen helps you look and feel terrific as you nourish and support your well-being. Here are ten ways magnesium oil can give your life a quick upgrade:

1. Sunny moods and stress relief

Stress feels miserable, and no one looks their best when they’re all stressed out—but the fight or flight stress reaction also depletes valuable magnesium in your body. Replenishing your natural magnesium levels with a soothing magnesium oil massage helps lower the stress hormone cortisol, so you can calm down, relax, and feel uplifted.³

To invite the relaxation response when things get hectic, spray some magnesium oil onto your skin or directly on your tense muscles—or better yet, enlist the gentle touch of a friend.

2. Smooth, healthy skin

No matter what stage of life you’re in, magnesium oil can work directly on your skin to help you achieve a clear, ageless complexion. Not only does it help ease stress-related flare-ups, it also breaks apart certain oils and fats that are naturally present on your face to reduce skin oiliness and occasional breakouts.⁴ Interestingly, if your skin is dry, magnesium oil is helpful as well. Applying it regularly can improve your skin’s protective barrier and hydration to keep your face looking fresh and dewy.⁵

After cleansing your face as usual, lightly spray a small amount of magnesium oil into your hands and then massage into your skin, allow to fully dry in the air, and rinse after 20 minutes, if desired.

3. Rich, glossy hair

Head-turning tresses start with healthy hair follicles, and magnesium oil is an easy, natural way to rejuvenate tired follicles for fuller, shinier, healthier hair!

Magnesium oil is great for your follicles because it’s so effective at removing excess calcium from the bloodstream.⁶ The end result is better blood flow in the scalp area, which keeps skin cells healthy and allows follicles to receive essential nutrients—while releasing harmful waste that may have been clogging up the area. Using magnesium oil regularly may also help tame frizziness, occasional flakes, and even itchiness.

To enhance your crowning glory, wet hair and massage a bit of magnesium oil into your scalp when you shower. Let it sit for a few minutes, and then wash and condition as usual. For a deep, intense treatment, leave magnesium oil on the scalp overnight (wear a shower cap or turban to keep your bedding clean) and then wash it out in the morning.

4. Restful sleep

Since magnesium naturally helps to relax your mood and muscles, it’s the perfect oil to reach for when you’re having trouble connecting with the Sandman. As magnesium activates the GABA receptors in your brain, the mind and body become better able to slow down and let go into deeply satisfying and oh-so-healthy sleep.⁷

In addition to minding your gut health and surrounding yourself in all things cozy, for honestly restful, restorative beauty sleep, try applying magnesium oil on your back, legs, and stomach in the evening, right before bedtime. Magnesium oil is equally effective no matter where on the body you use it, but you may find it particularly relaxing to rub it into the feet for a DIY reflexology massage.

5. More efficient workouts and smoother recovery

If you want to be at the top of your physical game, magnesium is one of those must-have nutrients. And unfortunately, as healthy as working out is, the very act of exercising tends to redistribute the body’s magnesium levels in a way that negatively impacts athletic performance.⁸

The good news is that giving your body some extra magnesium can compensate for this issue—and propel you forward by making your body’s glucose “fuel” more available to your blood, muscles, and brain.⁹ For your best workouts ever, massage a bit of magnesium oil into your skin before exercise. If you’re sore after your sweat session, reapply to relieve aching muscles and joints for a more comfortable recovery.

6. Healthy blood sugar and blood pressure

Optimal blood sugar and blood pressure levels are essential for overall wellness, and it turns out magnesium impacts both these areas. Low magnesium levels in the body can wreak havoc with the interaction between insulin and sugar in the blood, as well as being among the many factors that negatively influence blood pressure.^10,11,12

To safely encourage stable, healthy blood sugar and blood pressure levels naturally, rub a few sprays of magnesium oil into the skin every day.

7. Relief for occasional aches and discomfort

No matter how well you take care of yourself, you never know when the universe might send you a curveball. When this happens, the soothing properties of magnesium oil come to the rescue fast.^13,14,15 Instead of reaching for pain relievers that can be tough on your stomach, try massaging some magnesium oil into your skin when occasional headaches, sore muscles, monthly discomforts, and other minor aches and pains threaten to dampen your day.

8. Strong bones and beautiful teeth

Magnesium improves the body’s ability to absorb calcium, so it should come as no surprise that it’s also one of the most important nutrients for keeping bones and teeth healthy.¹⁶ Applying magnesium oil to your skin is an excellent way to help boost your body’s levels of this valuable nutrient.

9. Smell fresh without unhealthy chemicals

Using commercial antiperspirants likely exposes you to aluminum, parabens, triclosan, and other dangerous chemical ingredients that could harm your health. But if you don’t want to risk smelling, well, less than pleasant by the end of the day, what other choice do you really have?

Thankfully, there’s a safe alternative to all those unhealthy antiperspirant sticks and sprays. It turns out that magnesium oil effectively minimizes body odors! To smell fresh all day, spray magnesium oil under your arms—and on feet as well if odor in this area is an issue. If you prefer a scented deodorant, simply add a drop or two of your favorite essential oil—perhaps lavender or jasmine. As with any deodorant, it’s best to avoid applying magnesium oil to freshly shaven skin.

10. Support all your body’s organs

Since magnesium helps the body function all the way down to the cellular level, when you massage in magnesium oil, you’re actually supporting virtually all the body’s major organs, including the lungs, kidneys, and thyroid.^17,18 Magnesium intake even affects the gut microbiome, impacting the levels of healthy microbial strains in the digestive tract—which ultimately affects every aspect of your health and well-being, even moods and behavior!^20,21,22

Lasting beauty is both an inside and outside job, and the unique properties of magnesium oil make it one of the best choices for bringing out your most irresistible self. When looking for a transdermal magnesium oil spray, be sure to take note of the source (Ancient Zechstein Seabed is best!) and look for an ultra-pure, unrefined, and high-quality solution with no added ingredients, ideally stored in glass.

It’s not uncommon to experience some tingling as you first begin to supplement with a magnesium oil spray. This often indicates that the magnesium oil is indeed absorbing into the body properly and will subside as your body acclimates to the dosage—so start small and work your way up to more sprays each day.

As magnesium oil becomes a part of your daily routine, you’ll be amazed at how something so gentle, natural, and affordable can give every cell of your body an exuberant, gorgeous glow.

References:

1. Ismail, A. A., & Ismail, N. A. (2016). Magnesium: A Mineral Essential for Health Yet Generally Underestimated or Even Ignored. Journal of Nutrition & Food Sciences, 6(4). doi:10.4172/2155-9600.1000523

2. Kass, L., Rosanoff, A., Tanner, A., Sullivan, K., McAuley, W., & Plesset, M. (2017). Effect of transdermal magnesium cream on serum and urinary magnesium levels in humans: A pilot study. PLOS ONE, 12(4), e0174817. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0174817

3. Boyle, N.B., Lawton, C., & Dye, L. (2017). The Effects of Magnesium Supplementation on Subjective Anxiety and Stress—A Systematic Review. Nutrients,9(5), 429. doi:10.3390/nu9050429

4. Stewart, M. E., & Downing, D. T. (1981). Separation of wax esters from steryl esters by chromatography on magnesium hydroxide. Lipids, 16(5), 355-359. doi:10.1007/bf02534962

5. Proksch, E., Nissen, H., Bremgartner, M., & Urquhart, C. (2005). Bathing in a magnesium-rich Dead Sea salt solution improves skin barrier function, enhances skin hydration, and reduces inflammation in atopic dry skin. International Journal of Dermatology, 44(2), 151-157. doi:10.1111/j.1365-4632.2005.02079.x

6. Kircelli, F., Peter, M. E., Sevinc Ok, E., Celenk, F. G., Yilmaz, M., Steppan, S., … Passlick-Deetjen, J. (2011). Magnesium reduces calcification in bovine vascular smooth muscle cells in a dose-dependent manner. Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation, 27(2), 514-521. doi:10.1093/ndt/gfr321

7. Poleszak E. (2008) Benzodiazepine/GABA(A) receptors are involved in magnesium-induced anxiolytic-like behavior in mice. Pharmacology Rep., 60(4):483-9.

8. Nielsen FH, Lukaski HC. (2006) Update on the relationship between magnesium and exercise. Magnesium Research, 19(3):180-9.

9. Chen, H., Cheng, F., Pan, H., Hsu, J., & Wang, M. (2014). Magnesium Enhances Exercise Performance via Increasing Glucose Availability in the Blood, Muscle, and Brain during Exercise. PLoS ONE, 9(1), e85486. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0085486

10. Lopez-Ridaura, R., Willett, W. C., Rimm, E. B., Liu, S., Stampfer, M. J., Manson, J. E., & Hu, F. B. (2003). Magnesium Intake and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes in Men and Women. Diabetes Care, 27(1), 134-140. doi:10.2337/diacare.27.1.134

11. Kass, L., Weekes, J., & Carpenter, L. (2012). Effect of magnesium supplementation on blood pressure: a meta-analysis. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 66(4), 411-418. doi:10.1038/ejcn.2012.4

12. Altura, B., Altura, B., Gebrewold, A., Ising, H., & Gunther, T. (1984). Magnesium deficiency and hypertension: correlation between magnesium-deficient diets and microcirculatory changes in situ. Science, 223(4642), 1315-1317. doi:10.1126/science.6701524

13. Pfaffenrath, V., Wessely, P., Meyer, C., Isler, H., Evers, S., Grotemeyer, K., … Fischer, M. (1996). Magnesium in the Prophylaxis of Migraine—a Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study. Cephalalgia, 16(6), 436-440. doi:10.1046/j.1468-2982.1996.1606436.x

14. Quaranta, S., Buscaglia, M. A., Meroni, M. G., Colombo, E., & Cella, S. (2007). Pilot Study of the Efficacy and Safety of a Modified-Release Magnesium 250mg Tablet (Sincromag) for the Treatment of Premenstrual Syndrome. Clinical Drug Investigation, 27(1), 51-58. doi:10.2165/00044011-200727010-00004

15. Do, S. (2013). Magnesium: a versatile drug for anesthesiologists. Korean Journal of Anesthesiology, 65(1), 4. doi:10.4097/kjae.2013.65.1.4

16. Castiglioni, S., Cazzaniga, A., Albisetti, W., & Maier, J. (2013). Magnesium and Osteoporosis: Current State of Knowledge and Future Research Directions. Nutrients, 5(8), 3022-3033. doi:10.3390/nu5083022

17. Asthma. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/condition/asthma

18. Johansson, G., Backman, U., Danielson, B. G., Fellström, B., Ljunghall, S., & Wikström, B. (1982). Effects of magnesium hydroxide in renal stone disease. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 1(2), 179-185. doi:10.1080/07315724.1982.10718985

19. Moncayo, R., & Moncayo, H. (2015). Proof of concept of the WOMED model of benign thyroid disease: Restitution of thyroid morphology after correction of physical and psychological stressors and magnesium supplementation. BBA Clinical, 3, 113-122. doi:10.1016/j.bbacli.2014.12.005

20. Pachikian, B. D., Neyrinck, A. M., Deldicque, L., Backer, F. C., Catry, E., Dewulf, E. M., . . . Delzenne, N. M. (2010). Changes in Intestinal Bifidobacteria Levels Are Associated with the Inflammatory Response in Magnesium-Deficient Mice. Journal of Nutrition,140(3), 509-514. doi:10.3945/jn.109.117374

21. Jørgensen, B. P., Winther, G., Kihl, P., Nielsen, D. S., Wegener, G., Hansen, A. K., & Sørensen, D. B. (2015). Dietary magnesium deficiency affects gut microbiota and anxiety-like behaviour in C57BL/6N mice. Acta Neuropsychiatrica,27(05), 307-311. doi:10.1017/neu.2015.10

22. Jørgensen, B. P., Winther, G., Kihl, P., Nielsen, D. S., Wegener, G., Hansen, A. K., & Sørensen, D. B. (2015). Dietary magnesium deficiency alters gut microbiota and leads to depressive-like behaviour. Acta Neuropsychiatrica,27(03), 168-176.

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Roberta Pescow is a writer and the proud mom of two amazing and unique young men. As someone who’s been passionate about holistic wellness most of her life, she understands that the skin is the body’s largest organ—and its first line of defense. That’s why she knows how important it is to use only the purest, natural skincare ingredients. Roberta loves sharing all she’s learned over the years to help others reveal their healthiest, most beautiful skin ever.