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REVIEW article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Ethnopharmacology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1559139
Cottonseed oil composition and its application to skin health and personal care
Provisionally accepted- North Carolina State University, Raleigh, United States
The historical use of oils for beauty and hygiene dates back to ancient civilizations. While mineral oil and its derivatives dominated the personal care industry in the twentieth century due to chemical stability and low cost, the environmental impact and sustainability concerns have driven a resurgence in the use of vegetable oils. Cottonseed oil derived from Gossypium hirsutum L. (Malvaceae) has been often overlooked in favor of other plant oils, likely due to cotton's primary use as a fiber crop. Yet cottonseed oil stands out in cosmetics for its beneficial linoleic to oleic acid ratio, which supports skin barrier function, and its rich profile of phytosterols and tocopherols that provide higher oxidative stability and extended shelf life. Cottonseed oil is also adaptable for use in a variety of formulations, offering a lightweight, non-greasy emollient base with potential applications in skin care, hair, and cleansing products. This review highlights cottonseed oil as a potentially underutilized ingredient in the personal care sector and emphasizes the need for further research and development to fully exploit its properties.
Keywords: Fatty acid profile, Carrier oil, Skin barrier function, skin conditioning, Sebum, Emulsions, formulations, Cosmetic applications
Received: 11 Jan 2025; Accepted: 24 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Gutierrez and Komarnytsky. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Slavko Komarnytsky, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, United States
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.