Apricot Kernel Oil

A natural history

The apricot is an ancient fruit, domesticated thousands of years ago in the warm valleys of Central Asia and carried slowly westward along the trade routes of the Silk Road toward Persia, the Mediterranean, and beyond. For all its travels, it never lost the gentleness that has made it beloved, and in the high orchards of the Hunza valley it remains the heart of daily life, its kernels pressed each summer for their soft golden oil.

That oil is the quiet treasure inside the stone. Light, mild, and faintly sweet, apricot kernel oil has long been a favorite gentle skin and massage oil, kind enough for the most delicate and mature complexions. It is the kind of oil that asks for nothing and gives softness, a simple grace passed down through centuries of orchards.

What it does for your skin

Apricot kernel oil is a light, gentle emollient rich in softening oleic and linoleic acids and antioxidant vitamin E. Analysis of apricot seed oil confirms it is dominated by oleic acid with linoleic acid and vitamin E, the profile of a mild, conditioning oil.^[1] A second study confirmed the same gentle, monounsaturated rich makeup, naturally low in saturated fat.^[2] In a formula it is a soft, easily absorbed oil that helps sensitive and mature skin feel comforted and supple. Those benefits come straight from its gentle, oleic-rich makeup and natural vitamin E.

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