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Years ago, when I was a student without money to spend on skincare products, I tried various oils on my face. I had been using retin-A for acne and my skin was very dry. I tried olive oil, coconut oil and various others, but I didn’t find real relief until I came upon Safflower oil. It seemed to absorb quickly and took care of my irritated skin in just a few days.
Since then, I have moved on to other products (way too many?) but recently I had a conversation with Ivan Galanin – scientist and founder of skincare-company Adipeau – who uses safflower oil as a main component in his new formulation to restore lost fat to the face.
Keep reading and I’ll tell you why I think safflower oil is one of the best-kept secrets in skincare, and how Adipeau might just be using it to great effect. Can it help us regain some of the facial volume that goes the way of the flip phone over time?
I will cover:
- The Properties of Safflower Oil
- Its Benefits for Skin
- New Science
- How to Use It
- Product Recommendations
The Properties of Safflower Oil
Safflower oil is obtained by pressing the seeds of the plant Carthamus tinctorius. The oil has a golden color and a smooth, un-sticky texture. The colorful flowers are ideal for use in creating red and yellow dyes for clothing and food. I’m supposing that the practical usefulness of the plant doomed it to being ignored in skincare for years.
But now the food and beauty industries are starting to realize the benefits of the oil for the body and the skin, and we are seeing it appear in more products than in prior years. Like other oils, its essential fatty acids create plump, hydrated skin, but with the addition of an active ingredient I’ll discuss later, it may be that this oil can also stimulate the growth of fat cells that have been lost due to aging or damage.
Before I go on, I want to note that you should pay attention to the quality of the oil that you buy, especially if you are buying a bottle for use in food, The only quality you should be ingesting, is the cold-pressed kind. There are brands of safflower oil sold in grocery stores for cooking that have been heated at high temperatures and “sanitized,” and you want to avoid those at all costs. Those are inflammatory bad news.
Benefits Of Safflower Oil For Skin And How It Differs From Other Oils
Safflower oil is not the trendiest of all skin-care oils: those would be marula, rosehip seed, moringa, maracuja and others. But safflower is not only ultra-hydrating, it’s also great at tackling acne and hyperpigmentation. The rich linoleic acid content, along with oleic acid, are important components of cell membranes, so they not only hydrate but may aid in rebuilding tissue after damage. Linoleic acid is also non-comedogenic so that’s good news for acne sufferers. Let’s take a further look…
Protects And Heals With Its Antioxidant And Anti-Fungal Properties
The antioxidants in safflower oil come from both the vitamin E and phenolic compounds. To be exact, polyphenols, flavonoids, carotenoids, vitamin E, and chlorophylls account for the powerful and unique combination that protects skin cells from UV damage. In addition, it has strong anti-fungal activity which can heal acne, eczema, psoriasis, and rosacea and protect wounds from infection. This is nature at its best.
From this study published in Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity:
Comparing the antifungal activity of safflower oil with that of two antifungal drugs, we could note that it has antifungal effects on all the tested fungal strains.
And a 2008 study in Science Direct found that natural anti-inflammatories such as acacetin found in safflower oil can prevent skin photoaging (aka collagen breakdown and sunspots brought on by the sun that can potentially lead to skin cancer).
New Science: Plumps Skin By Stimulating New Fat Cells? Perhaps…
The number of fat cells we have remains static throughout most of our lives, however, per this article in Discover Magazine:
Like all cells, adipocytes do die. But they’re simply replaced with new ones, at a rate of about 10 percent a year, in a cycle that repeats throughout most of life. Eventually, Jensen says, most people lose the ability to generate new fat cells as they grow older.
Apparently, per scientist and founder of the skincare line Adipeau, Ivan Galanin, we can in fact accelerate the rate at which we replace fat cells, thus replenishing them faster when they’re lost due to damage and age. In addition, as quoted above, most people lose the ability to generate new fat cells as they grow older, so finding a way to re-boot that process could be a way to turn back the clock for some people.
Ivan Galanin studied adding Black Ginger to the lipid in safflower oil and has had positive results in restoring fat cells at a more rapid rate. He believes that when this combination he developed for his product is applied in a specific way, it makes its way to the dermal level via our hair follicles.
Black ginger has been used in Thailand for over 1000 years as a home remedy for gout, indigestion, lack of libido and other ailments. Now, as with other “folk remedies,” we’re finding in studies that black ginger contains active properties that account for its effectiveness. Studies have even shown that it increases physical endurance. Could it help, along with safflower oil, to regenerate fat cells?
This would be good news for people who, due to age or damage, have lost fat on their faces and find themselves looking gaunt or old beyond their years.
Galanin, in conversation with Clare Johnston on her Youtube Channel, The Honest Channel, says:
…so what black ginger does is it causes the fat cells to release any excess lipids, so it keeps them toned so they are regenerating and they’re cooperating with the fibroblasts to make collagen and elastin. So it’s the first time that anyone had tried on the one hand, to stimulate regeneration, but instead of filling the fat cells to excess, to keep them toned.
Although there’s no conclusive proof yet that safflower oil on its own can rebuild fat, Mr. Galanin seeks to prove that it does encourage the growth of new fat cells when combined with the active ingredient black ginger.
In an as-yet-unpublished study listed in Clinicaltrials.gov –
Galanin’s team seeks to show that people with fat degradation on their faces have a marked improvement in the fullness of their skin when they use Adipeau facial cream. There is no improvement in the skin of those whose fat is intact, so in general younger people will not see as much change. That makes sense to me. He says more studies are coming. He’s also working on a version of the cream that will work on the undereye area, where loss of the fat pad can cause those lovely dark circles.
On the website, Adipeau.com, you can find before and after photos of women who have gotten good results, self-reported. Also on the website is an impressive paper that talks about facial fat, how it relates to aging, and how they propose to address the issue with their formula.
How To Use Safflower Oil
I enjoy using cold-pressed safflower oil right from the bottle, all over my body as a moisturizer, particularly in the winter. I also apply it occasionally on my face, over topicals in the evening, to seal in the ingredients and keep my skin hydrated. I find it soaks in better than the popular coconut oil, and it is non-irritating.
You can also buy a good-quality safflower oil at health-food stores for use in salads or soups. The fatty-acid profile makes it a healthy alternative to other oils like corn or soy oils, which I avoid.
Adipeau And A Few Other Good Safflower Oil Products For You To Try
I have no affiliation with Adipeau other than when I interviewed Ivan Galanin for this article. He generously offered a 10% discount if you would like to try the cream, by using the code Maria10 at checkout. (This would technically mean I’m now affiliated because I will receive a small commission if you do decide to purchase it.) I cannot personally vouch for the cream as I haven’t yet used it on a regular basis, but I can say I’m optimistic about it and I do recommend giving it a try if fat loss is an issue for you.
If you’d like to give safflower oil a try for its humectant and antioxidant properties, the following products are a few of my favorites…
Plant Guru 100% Cold-Pressed Safflower Oil – This absorbs nicely and can be easily blended with other oils or actives like vitamin c.
Naissance Organic Cold-Pressed Safflower Oil – This is another good oil, with a light scent and texture.
True Botanicals Clear Pure Radiance Oil – If you have the means to indulge, this oil blend is something else. Safflower oil is accompanied by an array of other powerhouse ingredients, including borage, cranberry, and watermelon seed oils, plus Astaxanthin – which is a top-notch anti-oxidant that doesn’t get talked about enough. (I’m not crazy about lavender oil but it’s at the very end of the ingredients list.)
Whichever route you choose to go, in my opinion using topical ingredients sure beats fillers or lasers. Rather than change your beautiful face, I say help it to keep looking like itself for as long as we are fortunate to be alive.
Let me know in the comments section below, if you have a favorite concoction with safflower oil!
And for more on facial oils, see my article Maracuja, Moringa, or Marula Oils: which one is best for your Skin?
