Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil
Helianthus annuus · INCI Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil
Sunflower oil does not get written about much. It is the oil that carries the others, present in every formula we make, and it is also the oil our bladderwrack is infused into. It is also, quietly, one of the best evidenced ingredients in the whole range.
It is the least glamorous oil we use and one of the best evidenced, which is a combination we rather like.
What it is
Sunflower seed oil is high in linoleic acid, the essential omega-6 fatty acid the skin uses to build the lipids of its barrier. Essential means what it says: your skin cannot make it, so it has to come from somewhere. That is the plain reason sunflower belongs in a moisturiser, and the research behind it is unusually good for a plant oil, including independent human studies rather than the laboratory work most oils rest on.
One finding is worth knowing, because it cuts against expectation. When researchers compared sunflower oil with olive oil on adult skin, olive oil significantly increased the water lost through the skin. Sunflower did not. The oil with the better reputation was the one that disturbed the barrier. It is a good reminder that reputation and evidence are different things, which is more or less the whole idea behind these pages.
What it does in our formulas
Two things, both unusually well supported for a plant oil.
It supports the barrier
Sunflower oil is roughly half to three-quarters linoleic acid, the essential omega-6 the skin cannot make for itself and needs to build its barrier lipids. The research shows it reduces the water lost through the skin's surface, and it does so without disrupting the barrier, which is more than can be said for some better-regarded oils.
Well characterisedIt carries everything else
A light, neutral oil that spreads easily and holds the rest of the formula in even suspension. It is also the oil our bladderwrack is infused into, so a little of it arrives twice.
Well characterisedWhat the research does not show
Sunflower attracts a different problem from most of our oils. It is not over-claimed, it is under-rated, and the correction runs the other way.
Marketed as A cheap filler oil
Marketed as A treatment for eczema
So: a light, well-evidenced oil that feeds the barrier and carries the formula. It is in every product we make, and it earns its place on the science.
On the label and in the range
Sunflower appears in every one of our formulations, in the middle of the ingredient list. It arrives twice, in a sense, since it is also the oil our bladderwrack is infused into, so a little more comes in with that. Both are declared. The exact percentage is published on each product page, as it is for everything we use.
Is it suitable for me?
Sunflower oil has an excellent safety record and is among the gentlest oils in cosmetic use, well tolerated on sensitive and compromised skin. It suits a vegan routine and carries no restrictions under UK or EU cosmetic law. Being high in polyunsaturated fatty acids, it oxidises more readily than a stable oil like jojoba, which is one reason the formulas carry tocopherol.
As with anything new, if your skin reacts easily it is worth patch testing first.
The research behind this page
We review the published literature. We do not conduct the studies below.
- Danby SG, AlEnezi T, Sultan A, Lavender T, Chittock J, Brown K, Cork MJ. Effect of Olive and Sunflower Seed Oil on the Adult Skin Barrier: Implications for Neonatal Skin Care. Pediatr Dermatol 2013;30(1):42-50. →
- Lin TK, Zhong L, Santiago JL. Anti-Inflammatory and Skin Barrier Repair Effects of Topical Application of Some Plant Oils. Int J Mol Sci 2018;19(1):70. →
- Summers A, Visscher MO, Khatry SK, et al. Impact of sunflower seed oil versus mustard seed oil on skin barrier function in newborns: a community-based, cluster-randomized trial. BMC Pediatr 2019;19(1):512. →