Helichrysum Essential Oil for Skin: What It Is, What We Know, and How to Use It Well

Helichrysum is the ingredient many of our products are built around. We travel to a small family-run distillery in Corsica to get it, and it's one of the ingredients I get asked about most.

Helichrysum has a reputation as a skin miracle, and the internet is full of big claims about it. This post is my attempt at the honest version: where it comes from, how people have used it, what's in it, what research has and hasn't shown, and how to use it safely. I drew on a 2023 scientific review of the plant throughout^[1], and the sources are listed at the end.

What Is Helichrysum?

Helichrysum italicum is an evergreen shrub in the daisy family (Asteraceae), native to the Mediterranean. It grows about one to two and a half feet tall, with small yellow flowers and a strong, curry-like scent. The name comes from the Greek words for sun and gold, a nod to those flowers. It's also called immortelle or everlasting, because the blossoms last a long time without wilting.^[1]

Helichrysum is a huge genus, with more than a thousand taxa, a term that covers species, subspecies, and varieties.^[1] Helichrysum italicum is the best known for skincare essential oil. That matters, because the oils from different helichrysum species aren't interchangeable.

A Long History in Mediterranean Medicine

Helichrysum grows wild across the Mediterranean, in dry, sandy, rocky ground, and it's adapted to survive where water is scarce.^[1] That makes it a fitting plant for a skincare line built for dry climates.

For generations, it has been part of the traditional medicine of Mediterranean countries.^[1] Ethnobotanical reports from Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Bosnia and Herzegovina describe people using its flowers and leaves, and the most commonly reported uses were for respiratory, digestive, and inflammatory skin complaints.^[2]

A 2014 review of that traditional knowledge noted that the plant's traditional uses are much broader than what scientific studies have so far confirmed.^[2] That's worth remembering with any ingredient that has a long history. History tells us how people have used something. It doesn't tell us what it has been proven to do.

From Folk Remedy to Skin Care

The essential oil is a newer chapter. According to our distillery, helichrysum has been distilled in Corsica for decades, first for perfumery and more recently for aromatherapy.^[3] French aromatherapists, including Pierre Franchomme and Daniel Pénoël, helped bring it into wider use in the second half of the 20th century.^[4] In aromatherapy, it has been reported for wound care and for skin concerns such as bruising and sunburn.^[1]

From there, it made its way into cosmetics. Today, helichrysum oil is used in a wide range of skincare formulas, including products made for mature skin. In lab tests, it has been reported to inhibit collagenase and elastase, enzymes that break down collagen and elastin, which is part of why the cosmetic industry is interested in it.^[1] That's a result from a test tube, though, not from someone's face.

The scientific interest in helichrysum on skin goes back further than you might expect. In the late 1980s, researchers were already studying flavonoids from helichrysum applied to the skin, compounds found in the plant's extracts, not in the essential oil. They reported effects on redness and sun-related damage in guinea pigs and in people.^[5] And in 2007, a French report described applying helichrysum essential oil, diluted in rosehip seed oil, to skin after plastic and reconstructive surgery, and noted reduced swelling and bruising.^[6] These are interesting data points, but a single report isn't proof, and we don't make claims based on it.

How the Essential Oil Is Made

Helichrysum essential oil is made by distilling the flowering tops of the plant with steam or hot water. In the research literature, the early flowering tops are cut by hand from mid-June to mid-July. The steam carries the aromatic compounds with it and is then cooled back into liquid, and the essential oil is collected.^[1]

The plant holds very little oil, only about 0.2 to 0.3 percent. A ton of flowering tops yields roughly 900 grams to 1.5 kilograms of essential oil, which is why true helichrysum oil is so expensive.^[1]

Where It's Grown Matters

Our helichrysum comes from Corsica, the French island in the Mediterranean, from a family-run distillery in the village of Lumio, in the Balagne region. The plant flowers in June and holds onto its blooms long afterward, which is where the name "everlasting" comes from.^[3]

An essential oil isn't a single ingredient. It's a mix of dozens of naturally occurring compounds, and the proportions depend on the climate and soil where the plant grows, its subspecies, and how far along it is in its growth cycle.^[1] In one study of Corsican helichrysum oils, the amount of neryl acetate, one of the main compounds, ranged from about 16 percent in plants at the early shoot stage to about 42 percent at full flowering. The same study found that oils from early-stage plants contained more ketones and beta-diketones, while oils from flowering plants contained more neryl acetate.^[7] That's a big difference from timing alone, and it's one reason sourcing matters to us, and why we go to the distillery ourselves instead of ordering from a distributor.

What's in It

The oil usually has two or three major compounds present in relatively high amounts, and they largely shape its character. Oils from Corsica and Italy are generally characterized by:^[1]

• Nerol and its esters, including neryl acetate and neryl propionate, nerol being known for a sweet, rose-like fragrance
• Sesquiterpenes, including selinenes and γ-curcumene
• Alpha-pinene, which varies a lot from oil to oil
• Italidiones, a group of compounds known as beta-diketones, which are found in Corsican helichrysum oil^[7]

Researchers have even identified distinct chemotypes, meaning groups of plants with different dominant compounds, including types rich in nerol and its esters, in selinenes, or in γ-curcumene.^[1] The exact percentages differ from batch to batch and farm to farm, which is normal for a natural product.

What the Research Says

Most of the research on helichrysum is laboratory work, and some is in animals. Extracts of the plant and compounds isolated from them have shown antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial activity in test-tube studies, and in mice, extracts reduced inflammation in models such as ear swelling.^[1]

There's an important detail in that research. Many of the compounds researchers highlight most, like arzanol and certain flavonoids, are found in solvent extracts of the whole plant, not in the steam-distilled essential oil. The oil's main components are terpenes, and the review notes that the biological activities of its major sesquiterpenes are still largely unexplored.^[1]

Large, well-controlled studies in people are limited. So we don't claim that helichrysum treats, heals, or repairs anything. What I can tell you is that people have turned to the plant for a very long time, and it's the ingredient I've chosen to build so many of our formulas around.

Essential Oil vs. Hydrosol

When helichrysum is steam distilled, you get two things: the essential oil, and the water that carried the aromatic compounds, called a hydrosol. They're related, but they're very different.

Essential oil is highly concentrated and should be diluted before it touches your skin. A hydrosol is much gentler. It's mostly water, with only trace amounts of the aromatic compounds, and it's meant to be used directly on the skin.

Helichrysum in Our Products

Helichrysum shows up in several of our formulas:

• Immortal Dew, a hydrosol toner made from steam-distilled helichrysum, rose, and neroli
• Blueberry C Serum, our antioxidant vitamin C serum
• FACE repair
• Firm Resolve
• Perfect Skin

In finished products like these, helichrysum is blended into the formula, so there's no dilution for you to do. If you're new to it, Immortal Dew is a gentle place to start.

How to Use Helichrysum Essential Oil Safely

If you're using pure essential oil on its own, a little care goes a long way.

• Never apply it undiluted. Mix it into a carrier oil first. Dilution recommendations vary, so follow guidance from a qualified aromatherapist and keep it low.
• Patch test first. Apply a small amount of your diluted oil to your inner forearm and wait 24 to 48 hours before using it more widely. Reactions are uncommon, but an allergic reaction to helichrysum extracts has been reported^[2], and any essential oil can cause a reaction in some people.
• Keep it away from your eyes and the delicate skin around them.
• As a precaution, check with your doctor first if you're pregnant, using it on a child, or taking blood-thinning medication.
• Store it properly. Keep it tightly closed, in a cool, dark place. Essential oils that have oxidized can irritate skin.

Helichrysum isn't generally considered phototoxic, but that doesn't replace sun protection. If you have a skin condition or a wound, talk to a doctor or dermatologist. Essential oils shouldn't take the place of medical care.

Where It Fits in a Routine

If you use a hydrosol, the simplest place for it is right after cleansing, while your skin is still slightly damp. Follow with your serum and moisturizer. If you're curious how that fits together, my post on the skin barrier and basic routines walks through the logic.

The Takeaway

Helichrysum is a plant with a long history of traditional use and interesting chemistry. It isn't a miracle, and a good routine doesn't need one. What I love about it is the quality of the plant itself, which is why we make the trip to Corsica.

If you have questions about helichrysum or anything else, just reach out. 

Sources

1. Furlan V, Bren U. Helichrysum italicum: From Extraction, Distillation, and Encapsulation Techniques to Beneficial Health Effects. Foods. 2023;12(4):802.
2. Viegas DA, et al. Helichrysum italicum: From traditional use to scientific data. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 2014;151:54-65.
3. Astratella, family distillery, Lumio, Corsica. Essences de Corse and Immortelle.
4. Franchomme P, Pénoël D. L'aromathérapie exactement. Éditions Roger Jollois.
5. Maffei Facino R, et al. Anti-erythematous and photoprotective activities in guinea pigs and man of topically applied flavonoids from Helichrysum italicum G. Don. Acta Therapeutica. 1988;14:323-345.
6. Voinchet V, Giraud-Robert AM. Utilisation de l'huile essentielle d'hélichryse italienne et de l'huile végétale de rose musquée après intervention de chirurgie plastique réparatrice et esthétique. Phytothérapie. 2007;5:67-72.
7. Bianchini A, Tomi P, Costa J, Bernardini AF. Composition of Helichrysum italicum (Roth) G. Don fil. subsp. italicum essential oils from Corsica (France). Flavour and Fragrance Journal. 2001;16:30-34.