Calendula Oil for Skin: What Studies Cover and What They Skip

The honest summary of calendula and skin is that the research is real but mostly about something other than an infused oil. Nearly all human trials used extracts, ointments or creams, often a defined pharmaceutical product, and the EU's herbal medicines committee judged most of the studies small and methodologically weak. We make an infused calendula oil, so this page lays out what has been tested, in what form, and what that does and does not tell you about a bottle of oil.

Calendula oil bottle

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The gap between the studies and the bottle

An infused oil is flowers soaked in a carrier oil. The trials below tested ointments in petroleum jelly, hydroglycolic sprays, creams with a CO2 extract, and combination products. Reading any of them as evidence for an infused oil is an inference. The clearest regulatory reference is the EU herbal committee's, which lists calendula flower preparations, including a 1:10 olive-oil extract in semi-solid products, as traditional herbal medicines for minor skin inflammation such as sunburn and minor wounds, based on long-standing use rather than clinical trials (EMA/HMPC, 2018). In its assessment report the committee wrote that most studies "are small with methodological weakness", so efficacy evidence was not sufficient for a well-established-use claim. A 2025 periodic review found 67 newer references and none considered relevant enough to revise the monograph.

Goal by goal: what was tested

Skin goalWhat the studies areHow to read it
Radiation skin reactionsA 2004 trial of 254 women (calendula ointment vs trolamine), later trials with no differenceConflicting; see below
Wounds and ulcersSystematic reviews of 14 studies (2019) and 6 trials (2008)Weak to mixed; extract products
Diaper dermatitisTrials in infants, none with a placebo or untreated groupCalendula beat aloe once, lost to bentonite, matched olive
Hydration and skin firmnessTwo small volunteer studies (20 and 21 people), extract creamsLimited signals
AcneOne placebo-controlled trial of a three-ingredient serumSays nothing about calendula alone
EczemaCompany-funded multi-ingredient emulgel studiesCalendula contribution unknowable
Sun protectionIn vitro SPF estimates for distilled essential oilNot human data, not infused oil

Radiation skin reactions

This is where the most-cited result comes from, and the one most likely to be misread. In a 2004 French trial of 254 women having radiotherapy for breast cancer, grade 2 or higher skin reactions occurred in 41% using a calendula ointment and 63% using trolamine (P<.001), but trolamine was not a placebo (Pommier et al., J Clin Oncol, 2004). A blinded 2013 Swedish trial of 411 women found severe reactions in 23% using a calendula cream and 19% using a standard cream, no significant difference (Sharp et al.). The Oncology Nursing Society's 2020 guideline suggests against calendula for radiodermatitis, and MASCC's 2013 guideline recommends against it on insufficient evidence. If you are in radiotherapy, ask your oncology team what to put on the skin; our oil is not the answer to that question.

Wounds, ulcers and burns

A 2019 systematic review of 14 studies (7 animal, 7 human) found faster early repair in animal studies and one human trial, mixed results for chronic ulcers and burns, and called for larger randomized trials (Givol et al., Wound Repair Regen). An earlier review found six randomized trials, only one of good quality, and called the supporting evidence weak (Leach, Wounds, 2008). Open wounds need a clinician; an oil is not a wound dressing.

Diaper dermatitis, hydration, acne and eczema

The diaper trials point different ways: a 2012 trial of 66 infants reported fewer rash sites with a calendula ointment than with aloe (P=0.001), bentonite trials reported faster improvement with bentonite than calendula, and a 2018 trial found 1.5% olive and calendula ointments similar. No trial had a placebo or untreated group (Panahi et al.; Mahmoudi et al.; Sharifi-Heris et al.). For hydration, a double-blind study of 20 healthy volunteers found higher hydration on sites treated with a cream containing a 1% CO2 extract (Crnčević et al., 2025). For acne, the one placebo-controlled trial tested a serum with snail secretion, calendula and licorice extracts for 12 weeks on 66 people with mask-related acne, with a marginal difference in inflammatory lesions (p=0.03; Puaratanaarunkon et al.). For atopic dermatitis, the available studies are company-funded and combine calendula with five other active ingredients (Gómez-Farto et al., 2024). For more on those two conditions, see our acne article and our eczema article.

Sun protection

The SPF figures you may see (8.36 and 18.54 in two laboratory studies) are spectrophotometer estimates for distilled calendula essential oil or engineered creams, not human tests and not infused oil (Lohani et al., 2019; 2021). FDA regulates sunscreens as nonprescription drugs with SPF determined by standardized testing. Use a real sunscreen; our SPF explainer has the detail.

Safety: who should not use it

The EU monograph lists hypersensitivity to Asteraceae (daisy family) plants as a contraindication, says skin sensitization has been reported with unknown frequency, does not recommend skin use under age 6, and says safety in pregnancy and lactation has not been established. The Cosmetic Ingredient Review panel concluded in 2010 that calendula-derived ingredients, including flower oil, are safe in cosmetics at the concentrations and practices of use it reviewed and may be mild ocular irritants (Andersen et al.). Its 2001 report had found the data insufficient. In one Austrian patch-test series of 443 dermatitis patients, about 2% reacted to marigold (Reider et al., 2001), though those were referred patients. We could not confirm how the CIR concentration tables apply to an infused oil used undiluted, so do not read "safe in cosmetics" as a blanket assurance. Our own limit on the oil: patch test first, and skip it if you react.

How we would decide

Work out what you are dealing with first: if the skin problem is a rash that has not cleared, a wound, a rapidly changing mole, or anything painful, see a dermatologist rather than choose an oil. If the skin is intact and you want a plain facial or body oil, decide whether you tolerate it: run the repeated open application test dermatologists describe, twice daily for 7 days on the inner forearm (Hannuksela and Salo, 1986), though no standardized method exists (Brown et al., 2015). Our patch test guide goes through it. Then check how it behaves on your skin over the following weeks, one change at a time. If a reaction appears, FDA advises you to stop using the product and contact a healthcare provider.

What we can vouch for

We make one product, so the claims we can stand behind are about the flower and the batch. The flowers are Calendula officinalis grown organically on family farms in Egypt, Hungary, the Balkans and Turkey; we buy them dried and make the oil in-house, extracting calendula on its own and then bringing the extract into a carrier oil. Nothing else is added, each batch is tested by independent third-party labs, and the batch documentation is on request. The carrier is on that paperwork. For skin outcomes we point you to the literature above and to a dermatologist. See also the studies roundup and the wound studies.

Calendula oil bottle

Calendula Oil

Nature's Golden Botanical, bottled: small-batch calendula oil in sizes from 0.5 oz to bulk.

From $13.99

Shop Calendula Oil →

Sources & Further Reading