Jojoba oil is one of the ingredients I was blown away by from the beginning of Sanbe on how skin healing, soothing and balancing it was. Jojoba oil for skin keeps coming up as one of the most studied, best-understood carrier oils out there, and thats why it's also the base of our Beloved Serum. So I wanted to understand everything about this plant oil. What jojoba oil does for skin, where it comes from, how a plant becomes a bottle, instead of just repeating what every skincare brand says about it.
Here's the twist: jojoba isn't technically an oil at all. It's a liquid wax.
That one detail changes everything about how it behaves on your face.
What Jojoba Oil Actually Is (and Why It Feels Different)
That similarity to your own sebum is the whole reason jojoba oil benefits show up across so many different skin types. It absorbs quickly, it does not turn rancid the way many plant oils do after a few months, and it holds up in a bottle for a long time without requiring heavy preservation.
That similarity to your own sebum is the whole reason jojoba oil benefits show up across so many different skin types. It absorbs quickly, it does not turn rancid the way many plant oils do after a few months, and it holds up in a bottle for a long time without requiring heavy preservation.
Low maintenance for you. High performance for your skin.
Where Jojoba Grows, and How Cold-Pressed Jojoba Oil Is Made
Jojoba is native to the Sonoran Desert, the stretch that spans southern Arizona, southern California, and parts of northern Mexico. We are talking long droughts, brutal heat, the kind of conditions that would wipe out most crops. Jojoba just sits there and survives it. That resilience is part of why the seed wax ends up so stable once it's extracted.
How is jojoba oil made, exactly? The seeds are cold pressed. Mechanically pressed, no added heat, no chemical solvents. That detail matters more than it sounds like it should. Heat and chemical extraction can strip out the exact compounds that make a plant oil worth using on skin in the first place: the antioxidants, the fatty alcohols, the natural tocopherols. What's left behind is closer to filler than function. Cold-pressed jojoba oil keeps all of that intact, which is exactly why we source it this way for Beloved Serum.
What the Research Says About Jojoba Oil for Skin
Here's where it gets interesting. The barrier research on jojoba is more established than almost any other plant oil gets.
A 2017 review in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences looked at how topically applied plant oils affect inflammation and barrier repair. It found that jojoba tends to sit at the surface of skin rather than sinking in deep, which lets it reinforce the skin's outer defenses without disrupting them 1.
A more recent study found that when jojoba wax was applied to human skin tissue in a lab setting, they found it meaningfully increased the tissue's own production of pro-collagen and hyaluronic acid, while reducing markers of inflammation 2. It appears to prompt skin to do more of what it already knows how to do.
Put those two findings together and you get the real case for jojoba oil skin barrier support: it calms, it reinforces, and it does not ask your skin to fight it in order to get the benefit.
Why Jojoba Oil for Oily Skin Still Works So Well in Beloved Serum
If you have oily or combination skin, avoiding oil probably feels like common sense. Here's the plot twist: is jojoba oil good for combination skin, even skin that already runs oily? Yes, and the reason is almost too simple. Its structure mirrors what your skin already produces, so it tends to work with oily and combination skin instead of against it.
Here's how I've explained it to customers in person for years: because jojoba sits so close in structure to what your skin already makes, your skin does not need to work as hard to keep up. Over time, oily and combination skin often starts to look calmer and more balanced instead of overcompensating.
Our Beloved Serum layers jojoba oil with marula oil and grapeseed oil, and each one earns its spot. Jojoba mirrors your own sebum and helps balance the look of oily or combination skin without weighing it down. Marula oil is cushiony, helping skin feel comforted and soft by morning. Grapeseed oil is the lightest of the three, absorbing fast so the whole blend never feels greasy, even on skin that runs oily.
Together, they support skin that looks congested, dull, or uneven in tone, which is exactly the job Beloved Serum was built for.
→ Shop This Ritual Beloved Serum is a night-only step. Apply after your toner and moisturizer, warm two to three drops between your palms, and press into face and neck before bed. New to face oils? One rule to remember: the oil always goes last.
- Beloved Serum, the jojoba, marula, and grapeseed blend this whole post is about
- Chamomile Niacinamide Toner, a good prep step before the serum goes on
If You Are in Perimenopause or Menopause, Here Is Why This Hits A Bit Different
As estrogen declines during perimenopause and menopause, skin's ability to hold onto moisture and produce collagen slows down, and that shows up as real, measurable dryness, thinner-feeling skin, and a weaker barrier over time 3. That's a physical shift. Not something to push through with a stronger cleanser or more willpower.
This is exactly the gap jojoba is built to help fill. Because its structure sits so close to your skin's own oil, it can help stand in for some of what hormonal changes are taking away, without adding weight or clogging skin that may already feel more reactive than it used to.
→ Shop This Ritual
- Beloved Serum, for that overnight balancing step
- Skin Barrier Relief Cream, layered underneath if skin has also been feeling drier and more sensitive lately
The Honest Summary
Jojoba earns its place in skincare the honest way. It's not a trend ingredient, and the research behind it isn't thin. It grows in one of the harshest climates on earth, gets pressed out of the seed without heat or solvents, and once it's on your skin, it behaves like something your body already knows how to use.
If you want help figuring out where an ingredient like this actually fits into your routine, take our skin quiz and I'll point you toward what your skin needs right now.
Is jojoba oil good for oily or combination skin?
Yes. Because its structure is so similar to your skin's own sebum, it tends to help balance the appearance of oily and combination skin rather than exacerbate it.
Can I use jojoba oil in the morning?
Beloved Serum is formulated as a night-only step, so we recommend saving it for your evening routine, applied last after toner and moisturizer. If you want a jojoba-based option for daytime, the Floral Face Serum is also built on jojoba oil and works well for oily skin. If your skin runs more mature or on the drier side, the Uplifting Face Serum uses argan oil as its base and is designed as a morning step.
What makes cold-pressed jojoba oil different from other jojoba oil?
Cold pressing extracts the oil without added heat or chemical solvents, which keeps the natural antioxidants and fatty alcohols intact instead of stripping them out during processing.
Does jojoba oil clog pores?
Research on jojoba oil for skin shows it tends to stay close to the surface rather than sink in deeply, which is exactly why it does not tend to clog pores. It sits lightly, blending with your skin's own oil rather than building up beneath it.
XO, Bettina
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Sources
- International Journal of Molecular Sciences | Anti-Inflammatory and Skin Barrier Repair Effects of Topical Application of Some Plant Oils
- Frontiers in Pharmacology | Topical Application of Jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis L.) Wax Enhances the Synthesis of Pro-Collagen III and Hyaluronic Acid and Reduces Inflammation in the Ex-Vivo Human Skin Organ Culture Model
- Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology | Managing Menopausal Skin Changes: A Narrative Review of Skin Quality Changes, Their Aesthetic Impact, and the Actual Role of Hormone Replacement Therapy in Improvement
