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PNW Native Plant: Evening Primrose

The diverse landscapes of Washington, Oregon, and California provide an excellent array of wildflowers that love the Pacific Northwest. Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis) is a native that was once cultivated for its delectable roots. It was an important source of food and medicine for Native Americans but is now often grown for its omega-6 containing seeds.

In the native garden Oenotherais grown for its beauty. It presents four-petal, goblet-like flowers in yellow, white, or pink. Evening primrose is named for its habit of only showing its elegant flowers late in the day.

While there is no magic bullet plant oil that solves all your skin woes, we believe Eventing Primrose Oil comes close. It's brimming with anti-aging and inflammation-reducing goodness that we are head-over-heels for. Packed with Gamma-linoleic acid (GLA), an omega-6 essential fatty acid that’s crucial to the development of cell membranes and hormones, Evening Primrose Oil gives our skin the essential nutrients important for health.

We recommend two methods of application; internally and topically.

When taken internally, Evening Primrose Oil significantly improves inflammatory skin conditions such as acne and eczema (atopic dermatitis). Consuming Evening Primrose Oil has been shown to decrease the severity of dryness and itchiness that accompanies these conditions. Taking Evening Primrose Oil also has the potential to produce local anti-inflammatory metabolites, which presents a non-toxic, natural approach to treating eczema (See 1).

Our favorite topical application of Evening Primrose Oil can be seen in our dry/mature skin product collection. So beloved by us because it improves skin’s elasticity and firmness (See 2) and overall anti-aging powers. The evening primrose oil we use in our formulations is organic, cold-pressed and derived from non-genetically modified plants. It is paraben, phthalate and solvent-free and a good source of gamma-linolenic fatty acids, which reduces the appearance of wrinkles and other signs of aging by restoring elasticity to the skin.

It's very possible that Evening Primrose Oil can be your new best friend. It has the ability to balance hormones (think hormonal acne), has emollient properties for dry skin, and is antioxidant-rich perfect for aging skin.