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Broccoli seed oil is the cold-pressed plant oil from the seed of broccoli, Brassica oleracea var. italica, a cultivated cabbage of the mustard family, the same family as rapeseed, mustard and radish. On the label of our broccoli seed oil the ingredient reads Brassica Oleracea Italica (Broccoli) Seed Oil, cold-pressed and made in India, as a cosmetic oil for hair and skin; there is no second ingredient. It is a thin, light yellow oil that feels dry, sold in a 30 ml and a 100 ml bottle with a pipette.
Many people search for 'broccoli seed oil benefits' or search for 'broccoli seed oil for hair'. 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, how the oil feels and why, and how to use it, in what amount. That is what this guide is about.
Broccoli seed oil at a glance
- Label: Brassica Oleracea Italica (Broccoli) Seed Oil, the only ingredient; cold-pressed; made in India.
- Plant: broccoli, a cabbage of the mustard family; the oil comes from the seed, not from the green florets.
- Colour and smell: light yellow to golden yellow; mild, and not the smell of cooked broccoli.
- Texture: thin and dry to the touch; absorbs fast and lays a thin, smooth, slightly glossy layer on the hair.
- Use: hair ends and leave-in, face and over a cream, a home-made body butter or hair oil; external use only.
- Silicone: on the hair it feels like a silicone serum feels; that is a comparison of feel, not a statement about what it does.
- Bottle and storage: 30 ml or 100 ml in dark glass with a pipette; cool, dark and closed, finish within a year.
From the seed, not the vegetable
Broccoli that is allowed to bolt flowers yellow and then sets pods with small, round, dark brown seeds; the oil is pressed from those seeds, not from the green heads you cook. That is why the oil does not smell of cooked broccoli: the sulphur smell of cooked cabbage sits in the vegetable and not in the seed oil, although some people find a faint green note in it. The label names the plant, cold-pressed, made in India, and no second ingredient. What the seed contains beyond the oil, the label does not say, and so we do not say it either.
Why it feels so dry, and why people compare it with silicone
How a plant oil feels depends mainly on the kind of fat it is made of. Most seed oils are built from chains of eighteen carbon atoms; broccoli seed oil is one of the few with a large share of erucic acid, a chain of twenty-two that is typical of the seed oils of the cabbage family. Such long chains spread on skin and hair into a very thin film that does not stick and does not feel greasy. That is exactly the feel people know from dimethicone, the silicone in most hair serums: smooth, dry, slightly glossy. We put it precisely: on the hair it feels like a silicone serum feels. It is not a silicone and it replaces nothing.
The same erucic acid is the reason this is a cosmetic oil and not a kitchen oil: for foods there is a limit on erucic acid, and this bottle was not pressed, filled or checked for that. The label names no content of erucic acid or of anything else, and so we name none.
On the hair ends and as a leave-in
This is the use most bottles are bought for. Put one drop of broccoli seed oil in the palm, rub the hands together until only a gloss is left on them, and pass the hands over the lengths and ends of towel-dried or dry hair, from the ears down and not on the roots. Long or thick hair takes a second drop; more is almost never needed, and too much shows as hair that looks greasy after an hour. Comb through to spread it. The oil stays in the hair until the next wash; that is what leave-in means. On fine hair it goes on best towel-dried, before drying, so that it spreads as the hair dries. Other oils for the hair are in the hair oils collection.
On the face and over a cream
Two to three drops on lightly damp skin after cleansing, pressed in with the flat of the hand rather than rubbed; after a minute the skin feels dry. If you use a day cream, apply the cream first and the oil as the last layer, or mix two drops into the portion of cream in your hand. Because the oil feels dry, make-up can go straight over it. 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 and in a home-made blend
On the body, broccoli seed oil goes on lightly damp skin straight after showering: half a teaspoon for both arms or both lower legs, spread thinly with the hands. It absorbs fast, and clothes can go on almost at once; for anyone who wants a richer oil this is not the one, for anyone who wants to feel nothing after a minute it is.
In a blend, keep to one part broccoli seed oil to three or four parts butter or thicker oil: one part to three or four parts shea butter gives a body butter that sits less greasy on the skin, and one part to two parts argan oil gives a hair oil that weighs less. Stir it into the soft butter or the oil in a clean jar and use the blend within the shelf life of its shortest-keeping part.
Broccoli seed oil, jojoba oil and argan oil: three light oils
Anyone looking for a light oil for the hair ends or the face usually ends up with one of these three. Jojoba oil is strictly a liquid wax and also feels light, but it stays on the skin a little longer than broccoli seed oil and gives less of that smooth, silicone-like feel on the hair. Argan oil is fuller and nutty in smell and the classic choice for dry lengths; it weighs fine hair down sooner. Broccoli seed oil is the thinnest and driest of the three with the smoothest feel on the hair, which makes it the oil for fine hair or for a leave-in nobody sees. Anyone who wants the opposite texture, thick and syrupy for brows and hair masks, ends up with castor oil.
How much you use and which bottle to choose
Hair ends: one or two drops a time, on every wash day or daily; two drops is about 0.1 ml, so a 30 ml bottle lasts three hundred times, almost a year at daily use, and then the bottle is old before it is empty. Face: two to three drops a time; three drops is about 0.15 ml, so two hundred times from 30 ml, more than six months at once a day. Body: half a teaspoon, about 2.5 ml, for both arms, so forty times from 100 ml. More oil does not give a better result, only hair that looks greasy.
For the hair ends or the face, 30 ml is enough for months to almost a year and the bottle is empty before the oil is old; for most people that is the right size. For the body, or for blending body butters and hair oils, 30 ml goes quickly and 100 ml is cheaper per millilitre; keep the big bottle cool and dark and finish it within a year. Both bottles hold the same oil, in dark glass with a pipette.
How to store it
Cool, dark and tightly closed, preferably not in the bathroom, and finish an opened bottle within a year, because the label gives no shelf life. If the oil smells sharp or rancid instead of mild, 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 vegetable itself is a food; for erucic acid there is a limit in foods, and this oil was not pressed or checked for that. Apply one drop to the inside of the wrist first and wait a day; that goes in particular for anyone who reacts to mustard or rapeseed, because broccoli belongs to the same plant family, and whether that means anything for the pressed seed oil we cannot say 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
Does broccoli seed oil smell of broccoli?
Not of cooked broccoli. The oil comes from the seed, not from the vegetable; it smells mild, at most faintly green.
Is it a natural silicone?
No. It is a plant oil that feels on the hair the way a silicone serum feels. That is all we say about it.
How many drops as a leave-in?
One for medium-length hair, two for long or thick hair, rubbed out between the palms first.
Can I use it in the kitchen?
No. It is a cosmetic oil, and it was not pressed or checked as a food.
