Sea Buckthorn: the Nordic superfruit that belongs in your skincare
by Bo van Rijzewijk
It's small, orange, and grows on thorny shrubs along Nordic coastlines. You've probably never eaten one. But if you care about your skin barrier, you should know what sea buckthorn does.
Sea buckthorn (Hippophae Rhamnoides) has been used in traditional medicine across Scandinavia, Russia, and Central Asia for centuries — for wound healing, skin repair, and inflammation. Modern research has confirmed what traditional practitioners observed: this is one of the most nutritionally dense plants on earth.
Here's why it matters for skincare.
The unusual fat
Most plant oils are rich in Omega-3, Omega-6, or Omega-9 fatty acids. Sea buckthorn is one of the very few plants that contains significant amounts of Omega-7 — specifically palmitoleic acid.
Omega-7 is structurally similar to the fatty acids found in your skin's own lipid barrier. When applied topically, it integrates into the barrier naturally — reinforcing it rather than just coating the surface. The result is a genuine repair mechanism, not just temporary moisture retention.
For men who shave, this is particularly relevant. Shaving disrupts the skin barrier daily. An ingredient that actively rebuilds that barrier rather than just soothing it temporarily is worth paying attention to.
The antioxidant profile
Sea buckthorn contains exceptionally high concentrations of carotenoids — the pigments that give it its distinctive orange colour. These carotenoids (including beta-carotene and lycopene) are potent antioxidants that protect skin cells from oxidative damage and help even skin tone over time.
It also contains Vitamins C, E, and K, along with flavonoids and phytosterols. In nutritional terms, sea buckthorn is extraordinary. In skincare terms, it delivers multiple mechanisms of action in a single ingredient.
Why you don't see it everywhere
Sea buckthorn is expensive to source and challenging to work with. The oil is intensely orange and has a strong smell in its raw form. Formulating with it effectively requires expertise and good sourcing.
Most mass-market brands avoid it for this reason. It doesn't appear on the back of most moisturisers not because it doesn't work, but because it's inconvenient.
KLÄR sources sea buckthorn from Nordic coastlines — where the cold climate produces a more nutrient-dense berry — and uses it as a key active in the Daily Moisturiser.
The bottom line
Sea buckthorn is one of those rare ingredients where the traditional use, the nutritional science, and the clinical evidence all point in the same direction. It works. It works in a way that most other plant oils don't, because Omega-7 does something structurally different to your skin barrier.
If your skin barrier is compromised — from shaving, from dryness, from environmental exposure — this is the ingredient to look for.