Sea Buckthorn Oil

How it works

Two oils share this name and behave differently, which is the single most useful thing to know before buying one. Fruit or pulp oil is deep orange, unusually rich in palmitoleic acid — omega-7, the fatty acid also found in human sebum — and loaded with carotenoids. Seed oil is pale, and carries linoleic and alpha-linolenic acids instead.

The omega-7 point is the interesting one. Palmitoleic acid is a natural component of skin surface lipids, so the fruit oil is unusually recognisable to the barrier, and this is the basis of its use on dry, thinning and post-procedure skin. Both forms carry vitamin E and plant sterols, and the carotenoid load in the fruit oil is a genuine antioxidant contribution as well as the reason for its colour.

The evidence

Direct topical trials are limited. The stronger literature is oral — sea buckthorn oil supplementation has been studied in atopic dermatitis with modest results — and topical use rests largely on the composition being favourable rather than on outcome data. That is a weaker footing than the marketing suggests, though the composition argument is real: an oil rich in a fatty acid the skin already uses is a reasonable emollient choice.

Suitability

• Dry, mature and barrier-compromised skin: the main use
• Sensitive skin: generally well tolerated, seed oil especially
• Fungal acne: avoid — these are fatty-acid oils in the range Malassezia metabolises

Concentration

Used anywhere from a fraction of a per cent as an antioxidant and colourant up to a face oil that is largely this. The fruit oil is usually blended down, because at high levels the colour transfers.

Conflicts & combinations

No chemical conflicts. Two practical ones: the fruit oil will temporarily tint pale skin and permanently stain a pillowcase, which is why it is generally an evening product; and like all polyunsaturated plant oils it oxidises, so small bottles, opaque packaging and cool storage matter more here than for a saturated oil like squalane.