CASTOR OIL! Why and how it totally rocks my world.

I can't remember if I have already written about castor oil. But fuck it, I'll write about it again. It's that good!!

I first discovered castor oil when (for complicated-and-too-boring-to-recount-reasons) I ended up turning septic after an OD of hepatatoxic medicine in my 20's. I turned yellow-ish. It was AWESOME. And let me tell you something about liver toxicity - it makes you into a total moron. I couldn't dial a phone right for months. Somehow I managed to get some information on castor oil compresses from my distracted health food bookstore reading. And I started using the sh*t out of that stuff right away.

It's often suggested as a useful tool during a liver cleanse, used as a compress on undyed flannel wool with heat. But there is so, so much more.

-ANTI-CYSTIC. It can be used externally on cystic acne and on external cysts. Just put it on, add some heat if you like, it should start to shrink it right away. Do it for a few days or a week depending on the size of the cyst.
-FACIAL MASK. Mixed with a drop of rosemary or lavender, or powdered french clay, it makes a great facial treatment.
-FACIAL SCRUB. Castor oil with a 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt or sugar will perk dull skin right up.
-OIL WASH: Put about a teaspoon and a half on your fingertips and massage it in. Your skin will love you. Just wipe it off with a kleenex or paper towel and use an alcohol-free toner to follow. Great for aging skin.
-PROMOTES EYELASH GROWTH AND HEALTH. Apply it to your lashes with a dry mascara brush before bedtime.
-JOINT LUBRICATION. Massage it into creaky, cracking joints. This doesn't help all the time, but sometimes it works amazingly, and hey, cheaper than an MRI.
-FIX YOUR BUTT! Mixed with neem oil, it can help heal an anal fissure. Yup, I went there.
-HANGOVER MELLOWER. Last but not least, a castor oil compress after a hard night out can alleviate the worst hangover symptoms in about a half hour. Use it on a wool flannel compress underneath some saran wrap (to protect your clothing), add a heating pad and take a lie down for about 20 minutes. After you get up, drink lots of water and you should feel a lot better soon.

Only caveats are: don't drink it; don't put it in an open wound; it's super sticky and it stains, so be careful about with your finery around it. OH, and if you are on some kind of Chinese herb regimen, I would lay off the compresses - it can really goose a cleansing process into a cleansing crisis. You're welcome.