Evening Primrose Oil for PMS & beauty?
Tuesday, 14 October 2008
These two Sainsbury’s Evening Primrose Oil came from my mother-in-law who strongly recommended taking them for overall health and skin benefits. Although I have long heard that Evening Primrose Oil can help to ease premenstrual symptoms such as cramps and breast pains but for some reasons, I wasn’t keen to try them. Anyway, drinking milk to ease my PMS has been working and keeping me happy so I’ve left it at that. But I have been taking one of these 1000mg evening primrose rose capsules for awhile now because I wanted to find out if they’re any good for me. And what’s my verdict?
Contains concentrated sources of Gamma Linolenic Acid
First, for those who don’t know, evening primrose oil is extracted from the seeds of the evening primrose flower and the purified oil is then available in capsules as well as liquid form for consumption. From what I understand, evening primrose oil is one of the most concentrated sources of Gamma Linoleic Acid (GLA), which is an essential fatty acid of the omega 6 family with anti-inflammatory properties and plays an important role to maintain hormone balance and healthy skin.
Provides various benefits for the skin
One of the most proven benefits of evening primrose oil appears to be its ability to treat dry, scaly, or itchy skin conditions, such as rosacea, acne and atopic dermatitis. It also reportedly, has some modest benefits for eczema. In addition, I read that evening primrose oil may also help clear skin allergies, rashes and even prevent pores from becoming clogged.
No complete easing of my PMS symtoms
Personally, I haven’t found any PMS relieve from taking evening primrose oil. To test out if it will work for me, I deliberately stopped drinking milk for a week or so before my period and just relied on the intake of 1000mg of evening primrose oil per day. Well, not very wise because I suffered from my menstrual cramps and mood swings! It wasn’t very severe but the symptoms were apparent, compared to when I was drinking milk regularly.
Helps women with low levels of GLA
Based on some of the sources of information I’ve come across, there is little scientific evidence to support that evening primrose oil have clear benefits of relieving premenstrual syndromes (source). In addition, I learnt that many women who suffer from premenstrual syndrome have low levels of GLA, which is why evening primrose oil supplements may help to alleviate symptoms of their condition. Perhaps mine is not a case of low GLA? Or maybe the liquid form will work better for me?
Topical application of evening primrose oil
I also haven’t seen much of a difference to my skin after taking the evening primrose oil despite raves from my MIL. Perhaps I’ll have better luck applying the evening primrose oil topically on my skin because I’ve come across information that shows the oil of GLA can be effective when applied to skin irritations such as dermatitis as well as to help decrease the appearance of bruises on the skin.
Well, we’ll see. If I can find a suitable DIY recipe to use them, I may try.
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Posted in Beautyfood, VivaReviews | 17 Comments »
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October 14th, 2008 at 9:59 am
hmm i have nv tried primrose too, i hardly experience the menstrual cramps, could it be that i drink milk almost everyday too? hmm..
prettybeautiful: Probably…milk definitely helps mine!
October 14th, 2008 at 10:44 am
I’ve heard those claims too but didn’t think of trying as my crams are quite bearable. One thing I know it works well for is that if you have rough patches of peeling skin, especially at the ball of your feet, squeeze the oil out from the capsule and apply directly to the skin. Helps it heal very quickly!
Penny: That’s a great tip! Maybe I can try it on my body cos I have some rough patches…
October 14th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
My personal experience with EPO: it does zilch for my PMS. However, it definitely eases my dermatitis. I have dry skin that peels on my fingertips. It only stops peeling when I’m on EPO. When I stop taking it for several days, like on a recent trip overseas, the skin starts peeling and cracking again.
Flym: So the skin benefits of EPO are indeed true…I have heard some pple using it with success for PMS too. Maybe our PMS is due to other reasons…
October 15th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
I am hooked to Evening Primrose Oil,I take it internally and apply liberally on my skin. It has definitely helped me with my PMS and topical application is also wonderful.
Leon: That’s good to know. I don’t know why it did not help for my PMS but good thing I have milk to help me. I tried applying the EPO on my skin once…very rich. Must try to find some use for them for topical application.
October 23rd, 2008 at 7:27 pm
My mum made me take EPO. Didn’t do anything for my PMS nor cramps. But then again, I don’t get bad cramps, so it’s okay. As for the skin, it didn’t make it better, but it didn’t make it worse. I still take it every now and then. If I remember to, that is :p
Tine: Hmmm…looks like it works for some and not for others. I wonder why.
November 2nd, 2008 at 1:10 am
I think it helps to women like us.I used to take epo when i was in my teen days, didnt really realise its effect and stop for many years aldy untill i start to take again,my pimple are lesser,my skin is softer than before maybe also got some help from my skin products,my cramp are not as pain as before…and shd benefits in other ways also..i will continue to take for the rest of my life…cheers
fatty: I started applying this on my skin and am surprised that it’s great for healing.
November 12th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
[...] didn’t have much luck using evening primrose oil for my PMS but surprisingly, I have better luck applying them topically on my skin. In fact, I was so pleased [...]
November 17th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
I regularly eat EPO after breakfast. It doesn’t help my skin look better but I want to maintain my GLA level.
Donna: I’m having more luck apply it directly on my skin now.
December 11th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
I’ve ever tried but shows no results when I took it orally.
June 21st, 2009 at 4:52 pm
I was searching for some information about appyling e.primrose topically from opening the capsule. Apparently it’s like a moistorizor. I have ran out of my regular organic moitirizor and was wondering if i should use the primorose oil instead until my new product arrives! =)
sesame Reply:
June 21st, 2009 at 9:32 pm
You can try. It’s quite good actually, except that the smell isn’t great.
June 22nd, 2009 at 9:53 am
Hi sesame
I tried it last night and loved how it made my sensitive skin smooth & silky. the smell wasen’t great like you said but the results were!
Thank youuu =)xox
sesame Reply:
June 22nd, 2009 at 10:01 am
Hey, I’m glad you like it. EPO is a nice oil. I like to use it. In the past, I sometimes share a capsule with my son by rubbing the remains on his arms and legs.
August 29th, 2009 at 10:55 pm
I tried EPO it worked wonderfully for my skin and mood as well (esp when taken on empty stomach). I have seen two drawbacks though :
1. it makes me feel soooo hungry. I eat so much when I am on epo
2. It causeed mouth ulcers after few days.
Has anybody noticed these side effects ?
September 24th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
I have been taking EPO since 9 years now not very regularly but believe you must go on all your life after 30-35 years of age and it will help you in many ways.
It should be taken in the evening after the dinner.This is what I was suggested.
sesame Reply:
September 25th, 2009 at 9:27 am
I’ve been trying a new brand – Kordel’s – and am taking it after dinner. Hope it’ll work well… Thanks for your advice too!
October 12th, 2009 at 11:03 am
[...] work for me, even after increasing my intake to 2000mg per day. I wrote about this in my entry Evening Primrose Oil for PMS & Beauty last October. However, because of Zhenling’s comment, I went out to get a bottle of [...]