Turmeric – Exploring the Benefits of Using Turmeric Topically

January 17, 2025

Hello my friends and welcome to 2025! It has been a minute since I last wrote a blog post and I have missed it. Primarily because after every blog post, inevitably we get emails from you with comments, queries or just a general hello. And being an online business, getting “real” interaction with our beloved clients is just top notch. And totally appreciated.

How was everyone’s holidays? Mine were good. Crazy, good… happy they are over. With little kids, every Christmas seems to be harder for me to get through. All of the obligations, traditions to uphold, gifts to buy. I know it sounds Scroogey but once they are over, I am big into looking forward to the coming year. And so far, 2025 has treated me well – as I hope it has all of you.

When thinking about this post, two products popped into my head after a month of shopping endlessly for friends and family. They were two products that continued to be advertised to me and as a result, ones that I saw being given multiple times at Christmas time. The first was Beef Tallow. In fact, my very unvain husband even came home brandishing a jar of it telling me that he bought is (very expensive) for his dry facial skin. It is pretty dry where I live. And he was so proud of it that he allowed me to try it briefly but adamantly proclaimed that it was his. Consider me intrigued.

The second is topical turmeric. Now for years, as I have told you guys before, I have become a supplement junky and turmeric is ALWAYS mentioned as a must-have for internal health. But how about for topical use?

Because turmeric has been on my mind for a couple of years, I decided that this post will explore the benefits of turmeric, primarily in the topical form.

There are 6 awesome benefits that I found for the topical use of products that contain turmeric.

1. Brightening. Living in a cold, dry climate, I could definitely see the benefit of using a product that would brighten and enliven my skin’s appearance. As we delve deeper into winter, with every cold, grey day that passes, I long for something that would make my skin look, well, alive. And as it happens, turmeric’s brightening qualities help even out the complexion and fade dark spots. Sign me up!
2. Anti-inflammatory. We all know that inflammation is the body’s worst enemy. That goes for the skin as well. Think of when you get a rash or an acne breakout – that is inflammation. Topical turmeric can help sooth out those irritations and bring the skin back its healthy, un-inflamed glow.
3. Wound healing. This kind of goes hand-in-hand with #2 but it is interesting to me because my mom, who I inherited my supplemental fascination from, went to a holistic institute in Southern California for a couple of weeks. The idea was to purge the body of all toxins, drink smoothies and meditate and come back feeling refreshed and healthy. She indeed did come back that way and began touting all sorts of new fangled things to me – one of which was a turmeric salve for wounds. And when I tell you that I STILL use that salve on all my kids’ wounds as well as my own, and that it cures wounds quicker than anything that is even prescribed – I am not lying. That salve in and of itself, convinced me that turmeric is the real deal when it comes to healing. How does it do this, you ask? Well, again, it is by controlled the inflammation that comes with the wound itself. A miracle, I tell you.
4. UV Radiation Protection. This one makes Pamela smile from the inside out. For me, when I read that the National Institute of Health has said that turmeric helps with UV radiation, that is all I need to know. BUT, for you smarties out there who want to know WHY and HOW it helps protect against UV radiation, here you go. Turmeric’s phytonutrients help neutralize the free radicals (unstable atoms that can damage cells within the body) that are produced by UV light and radiation. Now, is that to say you can just smother your body in turmeric and call it a day when you go to the beach? Not so fast, shorty. You still need to use sunscreen and sun-protective clothing but I think that anything that helps protect your skin from UV light is a huge win.
5. Dark circles. What dark circles, you ask? We all know what dark circles we are talking about. The ones that seem to have taken up permanent residence under my eyes the older I get. No matter how much sleep I get, no matter how much water I drink.  Those dark circles. Well, turmeric, my new bestie, helps with circulation, which in turn, helps to fade the dark circles under your eyes.
6. Microcirculation. I had to look this one up to understand it a little more. When I read that turmeric helps with microcirculation, it means that wherever it is applied, the blood flow to that area increases – which means less inflammation, less dark circles, less blotchiness, more brightening and more oxygen. More oxygen is a really good thing. So in some ways, this is repetitive to what I have written above, but I like the idea of increasing blood flow.

There are probably many many more benefits to topical turmeric than what I listed above but as I wrote this, I read about the internal benefits as well. Without going into too much detail, they include: reducing inflammation, helping with digestive issues and fighting infections.

There are ways to take turmeric internally, but it is recommended that no more than 8 grams are ingested daily. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please consult with your doctor.

I hope you find this as fascinating as I do!  And please, continue to reach out to us with any comments, questions or even blog ideas! We love those!  We hope you all are enjoying your 2025 as much as we are!