One of the rarest sea buckthorn oils in the world, from the mountains of Tibet
📍 Home: Tibet
I first met sea buckthorn when I was four or five years old. It was 1975, and we were driving to Riga, our capital city. In those days a trip to Riga was a very special day. On the way, my mum stopped the car by the roadside and showed me a bush with silvery leaves and bright orange berries. “This is something really special,” she told me, and she explained all the goodness hidden in those berries. There was no internet then and no easy way to read scientific research, but she already knew.
Why Tibetan oil? There are three kinds of sea buckthorn oil. Seed oil, pressed from the seeds, is the weakest. Macerated oil, made by soaking dried berries in another oil, is better. This is the kind traditionally made in Latvia, and for years I made it myself in our lab. Then I found the rarest of all: oil from fresh Tibetan berries, gently spun so the precious golden oil rises to the top of the juice and is collected. No heat, no solvents, nothing added. Once I’d tried it, I could never go back.
Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) is a spiny shrub that grows in the cold mountains and coasts of Europe and Asia. Its name comes from the Greek for “shining horse”: legend says the ancient Greeks fed it to their racehorses for glossy coats.
What’s in it: sea buckthorn is one of nature’s richest plants. Researchers have identified nearly 200 nutrients and bioactive compounds in its berries, seeds and leaves. The fruit oil is especially rich in carotenoids (which give it its deep orange colour) and vitamin E, and in omega fatty acids: rare omega-7 and omega-9, plus smaller amounts of omega-3 and omega-6.
Why we chose it: we add it to help skin look brighter, more even and radiant, and to feel soft, supple and deeply nourished. Its natural scent and colour are part of every jar. We keep them on purpose, because they show the oil is unrefined and the goodness is still there.
Find it in: Glowing Skin Cleansing Milk · Glowing Skin Day Cream · Natural Eye Cream · Velvet Skin Night Elixir · Golden Collagen Elixir · Overnight Brightening Face Mask · Luxury Body Oil · Stretch Mark Oil
Feed it from within 🧡
Sea buckthorn is very popular in Latvia. Every autumn, families pick the orange berries, and we drink the juice, eat the berries, use the oil and make tea. The berries are famously rich in vitamin C, which is why they taste so wonderfully sour.
How I make sea buckthorn tea: add a tablespoon of sea buckthorn berries (fresh or frozen) to a mug and lightly crush them. Add a slice of orange and a few fresh mint leaves, pour over hot (not boiling) water and leave for 5 minutes. Stir in honey to taste. It’s sunshine in a cup on a cold winter day.
