What is it?
A yellow liquid pressed or extracted from the seeds of jojoba, Simmondsia chinensis, a desert shrub. Although it is called an oil, chemically it is a liquid wax made almost entirely of wax esters. It is used as an emollient to soften and smooth skin and hair in moisturizers, body products, hair conditioners and other personal care products.
Key information
- Jojoba oil is about 97 percent wax esters, which makes it a liquid wax rather than a typical plant oil.
- The CIR Expert Panel concluded in 2008 that jojoba oil is safe as used, including at up to 100 percent in body and hand creams.
- It is not easily oxidized and stays chemically unchanged for years.
- In clinical tests it was neither a significant skin irritant nor a sensitizer, and it was not phototoxic.
More information
Jojoba seeds contain about 48 to 53 percent of this liquid wax. It is made of long-chain, mostly monounsaturated fatty acids and fatty alcohols joined as wax esters, and researchers note that it resembles the wax esters that make up 2 to 30 percent of human sebum. It is also unusually stable: the CIR report notes that it is not easily oxidized and stays essentially unchanged for years, even after repeated heating.
The Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) Expert Panel first found jojoba oil safe in 1992 and reaffirmed that in 2008, in a review that also covered jojoba wax, jojoba esters, hydrogenated jojoba oil and other derivatives. At that time jojoba oil was reported in 1,123 products, at concentrations up to 100 percent. In clinical tests it was neither a significant skin irritant nor a sensitizer, and it was not phototoxic. The Panel asked the industry to keep limiting pesticide residues and heavy metals, which can occur in any plant-derived ingredient.
Allergy to jojoba oil is seldom reported. The CIR report includes one published case, a woman who developed facial dermatitis from a moisturizer and reacted in patch tests to jojoba oil and several other ingredients of the cream.
On labels, look for Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil. Jojoba esters, hydrogenated jojoba oil and hydrolyzed jojoba esters are processed forms of the same wax, and a lab-made version is listed as synthetic jojoba oil; all were covered by the same CIR review. Unlike the PUFA seed oils the Foundation rates Red Light, jojoba is made mostly of monounsaturated wax esters.
Sources: CIR: Final Report on the Safety Assessment of Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil and related ingredients (2008); Frontiers in Pharmacology (2024): Topical application of jojoba wax in an ex vivo human skin model
