Carrier Oil Profile: Evening Primrose Oil

Wednesday, October 07, 2020

 

Carrier Oil Profile: Evening Primrose Oil


INCI Name: Oenothera biennis (Evening Primrose) oil

Source: Seed

Types: Refined / Unrefined

Color: Pale yellow

Aroma: Light odor

Viscosity: Thin

Absorption: Slow

Comedogenic Rating: 2

Shelf Life: 6 months (if stored in cool, dry place and away from direct sunlight)

SAP Value (for soap making): 180 - 195 (mg KOH), NaOH = 0.134 (g, oz or lb), KOH = 0.188 (g, oz or lb)

Ideal for which skin type: oily, acne-prone, dry, sensitive, sun damaged

Fatty Acid Profile (in %):

Oleic Acid

11

Linoleic Acid

70

Palmitic Acid

6

Stearic Acid

1

Gamma-Linolenic Acid (GLA)

9 - 12


The evening primrose is a tall plant with yellow flowers that only bloom at night (as the name suggests). The plant is native to America where it was used by North American Indians in treating several medical conditions, that’s why it got the moniker King’s Cure-All. Evening primrose oil is extracted from the seeds of the plant using cold-pressed extraction method. The resulting oil is pale yellow in color with very minimal odor. Even though it has a thin consistency, evening primrose oil has slow absorption rate and often leaves a slight oily residue on the skin.

Evening primrose oil has very high content of linoleic acid (approximately 70%). It also contains gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) which only few carrier oils possess. Both of these fatty acids are omega-6 fatty acid and their combo has the ability to repair damaged skin barrier, to reduce skin inflammation and to soothe extremely dry/scaling skin. Due to this, we can say that evening primrose oil is ideal for people with

  • Oily and/or acne-prone skin (research has shown that people with acne-prone skin have lower concentration of linoleic acid on their skin, so evening primrose oil is perfect for this skin type as it has large amount of linoleic acid)
  • Dry, chapped skin
  • Sensitive skin
  • Sun damaged skin
  • Inflamed skin (e.g. eczema, psoriasis, etc.)
Evening primrose oil also has a comedogenic rating of 2 (moderately low) which means that it has a low chance of clogging your pores.

Evening primrose oil is quite expensive so it is typically blended with other carrier oils at 10 – 20% of the total formulation. If you’re formulating a lotion or serum for people with extremely dry skin or with chronic skin conditions like eczema, then use it at a maximum of 20%. Take note that due to high linoleic acid and low vitamin E contents of evening primrose oil, it goes rancid quite quickly. Therefore, it’s a must to include vitamin E in your cosmetic formulation that contains evening primrose oil.

References:

Saponification Chart. Retrieved from https://www.fromnaturewithlove.com/resources/sapon.asp

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