The natural efficacy of jojoba oil

Vantage answers the question why jojoba oil is such a popular ingredient for beauty products by reviewing a new set of studies.

Jojoba oil’s popularity is driven by its versatility in the cosmetics industry. From skin care to makeup or hair care, there isn’t a single category where the natural oil cannot be found in significant proportions. Considering that jojoba oil tends to be more expensive than most mainstream oils, such as sunflower oil, olive oil or castor oil, it begs the question: why are formulators keen on using it in so many formulations?

REBALANCING SKIN MICROBIOTA

The skin is a complex and dynamic ecosystem that is inhabited by bacteria, archaea, fungi and viruses. These microbes are collectively referred to as the skin microbiome. Consumers and formulators continue to recognise the importance of the microbiome to understand overall skin health. By promoting a healthy microbiome, cosmetic products can lead to a better, protected skin.

A large variety of skin conditions, ranging from acne to eczema, have been associated with changes in the skin microbiome. Microbiologists tend to categorise our skin bacteria in two categories:

1. the commensal bacteria that live in harmony with our skin cells and biological cycles

2. the pathogenic bacteria, whose proliferation tends to negatively impact our skin health.

Commensal and pathogenic bacteria generally co-exist in a balanced manner. But multiple factors are likely to break the delicate balance found in a healthy microbiome: diet; genetic predisposition; age; hygiene and lifestyle are only some of them. Situations where pathogenic bacteria overwhelm commensal bacteria are usually associated with drier and more sensitised skin conditions.

The technical team at Vantage designed an in vitro experiment where Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aureus were selected and cultivated to respectively represent commensal and pathogenic bacteria. After an initial incubation period of 18 hours followed by a 48-hour treatment period with jojoba oil, the number of bacteria was measured via photometry (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: Results of the in vitro experiment

The measurements reveal that jojoba oil favours the growth of the commensal bacteria compared to the non-treated culture.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR SKIN?

Most people suffering from dry or unhealthy skin conditions are likely to have a microbiome characterised by an excessive pathogenic bacteria presence compared to commensalbacteria. By boosting the growth of ‘good’bacteria, jojoba oil can contribute torebalancing the skin microbiome.

Additional gene expression studies, notdetailed in this article, further confirmed thepositive effect of jojoba oil on skin radianceand skin comfort.

FROM THE MICROBIOME TO SKIN’S COMPLEXION

To confirm the efficacy of jojoba oil consumers skin, the team worked with an independent testing facility, which recruited a 60-person panel, of both men and women. For this blind study, the volunteers were split in two groups. One group was instructed to apply a 10% jojoba oil o/w formulation twice daily, while the other group was given a placebo formulation, where jojoba oil was replaced by caprylic/capric triglyceride.

Over the course of four weeks, severalinstrumental measurements were madeat 14 and 28 days to assess the quantityof sebum on the surface of the skin andskin radiance. The results are shown inFigure 2 A and B. The jojoba oil-basedregimen led to a 25% decrease of sebumcontent. Overall, skin radiance increased by24%. The results demonstrated statisticalsignificance. The jojoba oil-based formulationoutperformed the caprylic/capric triglyceridefor all measured parameters, confirming thepositive effect of the natural oil over othertraditional emollients.

Figure 2 A and B: Results of the blind study

The clinical evaluations were concluded with a satisfaction survey, where panellists could score skin improvement attributes. Not only did most of the volunteers feel a significant and broad improvement of their skin health, they also perceived it very quickly, after only two weeks of use.

CONCLUSION

For hundreds of years, jojoba oil has been a part of Native American traditional medicine. Over the past decade, the oil has found its way into some of the most effective skin care treatments. These studies shed some new light on the activity of the desert oil and confirm the existing link between the rebalancing of skin microbiome and the visible skin improvement triggered by using jojoba oil in a face care routine. •

Vantage South Africa – kim.maccallum@vantagegrp.com