SESAMUM INDICUM SEED OIL
Sesame Seed Oil, listed as Sesamum Indicum Seed Oil, is the oil obtained from the seeds of Sesamum indicum L. The name can appear on labels for oil-based blends, creams, and hair products when this plant oil is part of the formula.
SESAMUM INDICUM SEED OIL: what it is
Sesame Seed Oil, listed as Sesamum Indicum Seed Oil, is the oil obtained from the seeds of Sesamum indicum L. The name can appear on labels for oil-based blends, creams, and hair products when this plant oil is part of the formula.
Sesame is an accepted species in the Pedaliaceae family. The word “oil” is meaningful here: it identifies the oily fraction obtained from the seed, rather than an extract made from another part of the plant. That distinction helps avoid assigning properties from different sesame preparations to this ingredient.
SESAMUM INDICUM SEED OIL: what it does in cosmetics
On skin, Sesame Seed Oil works as an emollient: it contributes to a softer, less rough feel and helps a product spread. In hair products, its hair-conditioning role relates to hair feeling smoother to the touch; in some formulas, the oil also contributes to the fragrance portion.
What it can do in use depends on the product formula and cosmetic purpose. One study of traditional ointments combined sesame oil with other plant ingredients and tested the mixtures in cells; it did not test the oil alone as a treatment. Its presence in a cosmetic therefore does not support wound-healing or skin-disease claims.
Products containing this ingredient
See which products include it and the name used in each composition.
