Ingredient Library
Sunflower Oil
Helianthus annuus
Sunflower oil is a light, vitamin E-rich oil high in linoleic acid that softens and supports the barrier. Gentle and non-greasy, it suits most skin types.
A natural history
The sunflower is one of the rare crops first domesticated in what is now the United States, tamed by Indigenous peoples of North America thousands of years ago. Alongside food, they put the whole plant to cosmetic and healing use, pressing the seeds into an oil to dress skin and hair and working the plant into ointments and salves for the body. The seed carries a quiet richness, for it is one of nature's better sources of vitamin E, the antioxidant that helps shield skin.
When the seeds reached Europe after 1500, sunflower oil spread first as a gentle everyday oil and later as one of the most trusted in skin care. Its great virtue is mildness. The oil is so calming and protective that hospitals have massaged it onto the fragile skin of premature newborns to help strengthen their barrier, about as ringing an endorsement of gentleness as an oil can earn.
What it does for your skin
Sunflower oil is high in linoleic acid, the fatty acid that helps build the skin's moisture barrier. In a forearm study, sunflower seed oil preserved the skin's barrier and improved hydration over four weeks, where olive oil on the same volunteers weakened it.[1] In a landmark trial, massaging sunflower seed oil onto vulnerable newborns supported their skin barrier so well it was linked to fewer infections, a striking measure of how protective the oil can be.[2] In a formula it is a light, barrier friendly oil for dry and sensitive skin.
References
[1] Danby SG, et al. Effect of olive and sunflower seed oil on the adult skin barrier: implications for neonatal skin care. Pediatr Dermatol. 2013;30(1):42-50. doi:10.1111/j.1525-1470.2012.01865.x
[2] Darmstadt GL, et al. Effect of topical treatment with skin barrier-enhancing emollients on nosocomial infections in preterm infants in Bangladesh: a randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2005;365(9464):1039-1045. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(05)71140-5
Found in these formulas
Questions, answered
It is rich in linoleic acid, which helps support the skin's moisture barrier, and in studies it preserved barrier integrity better than some other oils.
No. The high-linoleic type is light and barrier-friendly, which is why it suits dry and sensitive skin.