We love sunflowers here at Glotanicals, They're big, beautiful, look great on my desk and always makes me think of summer. But there is so much more to these flowers than their beauty, which is why sunflower seed oil is the 1st ingredient in our Everyday Glo Oil. Not just a pretty face, sunflowers are a sustainable crop with some INCREDIBLE benefits for your skin.
Let's start with the skin benefits. The cold-pressed oil from sunflower seeds has a light and easily absorbed texture yet is still packed with antioxidants, healthy fats, and vitamin E. Our Sunflower oil is rich in fatty acids such as Oleic & Linoleic Acids, that have been studied to help maintain the skin barrier and decrease transepidermal water loss, meaning it locks in moisture to your skin. It's also naturally high in Vitamin A and skin-healing Vitamin E. Antioxidants like vitamin E neutralize free radicals, keeping them from destroying or damaging healthy cells. This means your skin is better protected against damage from the sun, as well as the natural degradation of age that occurs when free radicals are present in the body and is effective for combatting skincare issues like acne, inflammation, general redness and irritation of the skin. Its vitamin E content acts as an emollient that traps moisture inside skin cells. Therefore, using sunflower seed oil helps keep your skin hydrated for a longer period. Several studies have also suggested that sunflower seed oil has anti-inflammatory properties due to the combination of linoleic (Omega-6) fatty acid and Vitamin E. The University of Maryland Medical Center reports that linoleic acid helps decrease inflammation in skin (i.e., acne, dermatitis, sunburns). The center also says that Omega-6 enhances the development of new skin cells. So, if you're wondering what sunflower oil can do for your skin you can rest assured that it will lock in moisture, provide antioxidants that prevent damage to your skin cells, and calm inflammatory ailments such as redness & acne.
What about the sustainability of growing & harvesting these plants? As you know, sustainability is at the core of everything we do including how we select our ingredients. Palm oil, for instance, also has a lot of properties that are good for your skin, but due to the habitat destruction it causes in the regions it's produced, we won't use it. Sunflowers on the other hand, are grown right here in the United States and are a very environmentally friendly crop. First & foremost, they are a high yield crop which means they require less land to produce a viable amount of oil. Secondly, they are a sturdy crop that does not require irrigation or heavy use of pesticides. Finally, they are a BIG flower that is a valuable food source to our pollinator friends, the bees!
The way we see it, using sunflower seed oil as a key ingredient is a win for our skin and the environment. So, you can get your #glo on with confidence knowing that you've made a sustainable choice that's healthy for the planet too.
Resources
1. Eichenfield LF, Mccollum A, Msika P. The benefits of sunflower oleodistillate (SOD) in pediatric dermatology. Pediatr Dermatol. 2009;26(6):669-75.
2. Danby SG, Alenezi T, Sultan A, 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.
3. Elias PM, Brown BE, Ziboh VA. The permeability barrier in essential fatty acid deficiency: evidence for a direct role for linoleic acid in barrier function. J Invest Dermatol. 1980;74(4):230-3.
4. Debaeke P, Bedoussac L, Bonnet C, Bret-Mestries E, Seassau C, Gavaland A, Raffaillac D, Tribouillois H, Véricel G, Justes E. "Sunflower crop: environmentally friendly & agro-ecological". OCL Journal. (2017)
5. Buetow, R. 2020. “2019 Sunflower Crop Survey.” 42nd Annual Sunflower Research Forum. Fargo ND. Mandan ND: The National Sunflower Association.
6. Berglund, D.R. 2007. Sunflower Production. North Dakota State University, Extension Service Extension Report No.25.
7. Sanyal, A, Merrien A, Decocq G, Fine F, "Stearic sunflower oil as a sustainable and healthy alternative to palm oil", Agron. Sustain. Dev. (2017)