In this article
Date oil is the cold-pressed plant oil from the kernel of the desert date, Balanites aegyptiaca, a thorny tree of the dry regions of North Africa and the Sahel. On the label of our date oil the ingredient reads Balanites Aegyptiaca Seed Oil, and there is no second ingredient; the oil is pressed in Egypt. In the trade the same oil is also called desert date oil, wild date oil or date kernel oil. It is a light yellow to amber, thin oil with a mild, slightly sweet and nutty smell, sold in a 30 ml and a 100 ml bottle.
Many people search for 'date oil benefits' or search for 'the versatile wonder of date oil'. We make no claim about what this oil does in or under the skin, on the scalp or to the hair: the label says nothing about that, and neither do we. What you can check yourself is what the label says, which tree the oil comes from, how it looks, smells and feels, and how to use it, in what amount. That is what this guide is about.
Date oil at a glance
- Label: Balanites Aegyptiaca Seed Oil, the only ingredient; cold-pressed; from Egypt.
- Tree: the desert date, Balanites aegyptiaca; not the date palm, Phoenix dactylifera, whose fruit you know from the shop.
- Colour and smell: light yellow to amber; mild, slightly sweet and nutty.
- Texture: thin; absorbs fast and leaves no greasy layer; in feel between sweet almond oil and argan oil.
- Use: face, body, hands and cuticles, hair ends and a pre-wash mask; external use only.
- Bottle and storage: 30 ml or 100 ml; cool, dry and dark, about twelve months after opening.
Which tree the oil comes from
The name puts people on the wrong track, and our own old page did too. The date you know from the shop grows on the date palm, Phoenix dactylifera. The oil in this bottle comes from a different tree altogether: the desert date, Balanites aegyptiaca, a thorny tree of the dry savannah and the edge of the Sahara that bears a small, olive-shaped fruit with a hard stone. Inside that stone sits a kernel, and from that kernel the oil is pressed, which is why the label says Seed Oil. The two trees are unrelated; they share a common name because the fruit of the desert date is sweet and date-like. The label names Balanites aegyptiaca, and the label wins over the common name.
The kernel is what remains when the fruit is processed, and a fair amount of it goes into a small bottle of oil; that is why date oil is less known than the oils it stands next to. Ours is cold-pressed in Egypt, where the desert date grows. What the kernel contains beyond the oil, the label does not say, and so we do not say it either.
How the oil looks, smells and feels
Light yellow to amber and clear, with a mild, slightly sweet and nutty smell that fades soon after applying. It is thin, absorbs fast and leaves no greasy layer. In feel it sits between sweet almond oil and argan oil: lighter than argan, a little fuller than almond. Anyone who finds argan oil too rich for the daytime and almond oil too light for the night usually ends up here. On a damp skin you need less of it than on a dry skin.
On the face
Two or three drops are enough for the whole face. Apply them to cleansed, lightly damp skin: warm the oil between the palms and press it in rather than spread it. Use it in the evening as the last step, or in the morning under your day cream. Once a day is enough for most people; at very dry skin twice. The first time, use one drop along the jawline and look at the skin the next day. Other oils for the face are in the face oils collection.
On the body, the hands and the cuticles
Apply date oil straight after showering, while the skin is still damp; then you need less oil and it spreads more easily. Count on five to ten drops for an arm or a leg. For the cuticles take one drop per hand and massage it in daily, preferably in the evening; this is the use where people notice the oil soonest, simply because that spot rarely gets anything. Dry hands take two or three drops, rubbed in until they no longer shine. Other products for dry hands are in the dry hands collection.
On the hair
For dry ends, rub one or two drops between the fingertips and spread them over the ends of dry or towel-dried hair. As a hair mask, use about a tablespoon over the lengths, leave it thirty minutes and wash it out with a mild shampoo. Keep date oil away from the roots if your hair turns greasy quickly. Other oils for the hair are in the hair oils collection.
As a base oil to blend with
Date oil is thin enough to thin a thick oil with and full enough to give a thin oil more body, which makes it a practical base for a home-made face or body oil. One part date oil to one part jojoba oil gives a light oil with a faint smell of its own; one part date oil to one part castor oil gives a hair oil that spreads more easily than castor alone. Mix in a clean dark bottle, label it with the date and finish it within a few months. Which oil to pair it with, and how thick each one is, is on the pages in the carrier oils collection.
How much you use and which bottle to choose
Face: two to three drops a time, once a day; three drops is about 0.15 ml, so a 30 ml bottle lasts more than six months. Body: five to ten drops per arm or leg, so for the whole body 100 ml is the size that fits. Cuticles: one drop per hand a day, which you hardly notice on the bottle. Hair mask: a tablespoon of 15 ml, so six or seven masks from 100 ml. The 30 ml bottle is meant to try the oil or to take along in a bag; if you use it daily on face and body, 100 ml is cheaper per millilitre. If you use it only on the face, choose 30 ml: after opening the oil keeps about twelve months, and in that time you get through one such bottle. Both bottles hold the same oil.
How to store it
Cool, dry and dark, out of direct sunlight and preferably not in the bathroom. After opening the oil keeps about twelve months. If it smells sharp or rancid instead of mild and nutty, do not use it any more.
What to watch out for
External use only: this is a cosmetic oil, so do not swallow it and do not use it in the kitchen, even though the fruit of the desert date is eaten where the tree grows. If you have a sensitive skin, apply one drop to the inside of the wrist first and wait a day before you use it on the face. The label names one ingredient and no fragrance, preservative or other addition; whether this batch contains anything a particular person reacts to, we cannot rule out without an analysis certificate. Avoid contact with the eyes and rinse with lukewarm water. Keep out of reach of children. Other single-ingredient oils are in the pure oils collection.
Frequently asked questions
Is date oil made from the dates I buy in the shop?
No. Those grow on the date palm. This oil comes from the kernel of the desert date, Balanites aegyptiaca, a different tree; the label names that tree.
Is date oil the same as date kernel oil and desert date oil?
Yes. They are trade names for the same oil: the cold-pressed oil from the kernel of Balanites aegyptiaca.
Does it feel greasy?
No. It is thin and absorbs fast; two or three drops are enough for the face.
How long does it keep?
About twelve months after opening, kept cool, dry and dark.
