Calendula Oil vs Hemp Seed Oil: Composition and Evidence

Neither calendula oil nor hemp seed oil has been shown to reduce inflammation in human skin, so "which is better for inflammation" has no evidence-based answer, and anyone who gives you one is guessing. The comparison that can be made honestly is about what each oil is made of, how fast each goes off, and what the studies do and do not cover. That comparison turns out to be useful.

Calendula oil bottle

Calendula Oil

Our own small-batch calendula oil, in sizes from 0.5 oz to bulk.

From $13.99

Shop Calendula Oil →

They are different kinds of product

Hemp seed oil is a fixed oil pressed from the seeds of the hemp plant. Our calendula oil is an infused oil: calendula flowers extracted, with the extract brought into a carrier oil. One is a seed oil with its own fatty-acid profile; the other is mostly a carrier oil carrying a flower extract. Calendula has a seed oil too, and it is a different material: calendic acid makes up 51-58% of calendula seed-oil fatty acids in an 11-genotype study, and it is a seed feature, (Dulf et al., Chem Cent J, 2013), while solvent extracts of petals in a small Macedonian study were mainly oleic and linoleic acids (Rafajlovska et al., 2012). Our oil is made from petals, not seeds.

Also keep hemp seed oil apart from "hemp extract" or CBD products, which are different ingredients. A study of topical CBD and palmitoylethanolamide products also tested a hemp seed oil product separately (Maghfour et al., Clin Exp Dermatol, 2021). Patch tests on healthy skin showed no irritation or sensitization, but the hemp seed oil product showed mild phototoxicity at 48 hours compared with the negative control. That is one product from one manufacturer on healthy volunteers, so we would not generalize it, but it is a reason to be cautious about sun exposure after applying any seed oil you have not used before.

What the inflammation evidence actually is

Hemp seed oil. The human evidence we found is on eating it, not applying it. A 20-week randomized single-blind crossover study compared dietary hempseed oil with olive oil in patients with atopic dermatitis, and reported improved dryness and itchiness and lower medication use after hempseed oil, with plasma fatty-acid changes (Callaway et al., J Dermatolog Treat, 2005). That is oral use. It is not evidence that rubbing hemp seed oil on skin does the same, and it is not a reason to skip a dermatologist. In our own PubMed searches on 14 October 2026 for topical hemp seed oil on skin we found no human trial of it for inflammation.

Calendula. The best-known mechanistic work is in mice: faradiol esters isolated from the flower heads reduced croton-oil-induced ear swelling (Zitterl-Eglseer et al., J Ethnopharmacol, 1997), and these esters sit mainly in the petals (Golubova et al., Nat Commun, 2025). That work used isolated compounds and extracts, not an infused oil, and no source we found shows how much ends up in oil. In people, the regulator's view is that the evidence is traditional use for minor skin inflammation and minor wounds, and that most studies are small with methodological weakness (EMA/HMPC, 2018). Studies in radiation dermatitis disagree with each other, and a 2020 oncology nursing guideline suggests against calendula for it (Gosselin et al., Oncol Nurs Forum, 2020). Those trials used ointments and creams, so they say little about an oil, but they do not show a clean win for calendula either.

So, as a matter of evidence, the contest is a draw between two ingredients that have not been tested head to head for this use. If you have skin inflammation that matters to you (eczema, psoriasis, a rash that persists), the person to ask is a dermatologist. The American Academy of Dermatology notes that extremely dry skin can reflect conditions such as atopic dermatitis or psoriasis (AAD), and that is not a job for either oil.

Where they really differ: how quickly they go off

This is the comparison with data behind it. Oils with more double bonds oxidize much faster: relative oxidation rates for C18 fatty acids run about 1 for stearic, 10 for oleic, 100 for linoleic and 150 for linolenic, and light, heat, oxygen and trace metals all speed it up (Gharby et al., Food Chem X, 2025). Those rates are for pure fatty acids at 100 C, so they show the direction, not shelf life in days. Cold-pressed hemp seed oil in a 2025 study of three varieties was about half linoleic acid with 9.8-14.4% alpha-linolenic acid (Floares Oarga et al., Plants, 2025). A review of cold-pressed oils reports typical peroxide values of 6-15 meq O2/kg for polyunsaturated oils such as hempseed and grapeseed, against 1-8 for stable oils such as olive and coconut (Dash et al., Front Nutr, 2026). Reasoning from that, hemp seed oil is one of the more perishable oils you can buy, and it should be bought in small bottles, kept closed and cool, and checked by smell.

The same logic applies to our oil, and we will not pretend otherwise. An infused oil's fatty-acid make-up is mainly its carrier's, so how fast it goes off depends on the carrier. We add no tocopherol or other stabilizer, so a polyunsaturated carrier would behave like the oils above. We do not name the carrier in articles, and we do not publish shelf-life test data. The batch paperwork lists the carrier; email the lot number to [email protected] and ask. Our bottles are dated and lot-numbered, which at least lets you track age. See our storage guide and the expiry FAQ.

Pores and acne claims: handle with care

Comedogenic ratings are often used to pick between oils. Many of them trace to rabbit-ear assays, which a 1982 dermatology review said lacked correlation with human experience (Frank, J Am Acad Dermatol, 1982). A small 2006 human study found finished products containing ingredients rated comedogenic in animals were not necessarily comedogenic (Draelos and DiNardo, J Am Acad Dermatol, 2006). That study was six volunteers. A narrative review does say hemp and high-linoleic sunflower oils offer reduced comedogenic effects (Moore et al., Front Pharmacol, 2020), but in the passages we read it cites no human acne trial for either oil. So we make no claim for either one.

How to choose, and who should skip each

For other comparisons, see calendula oil vs rosehip oil, which raises the same freshness issue, calendula oil vs jojoba, and cold-pressed vs infused calendula oil. A 1 oz bottle from the shop is enough to try ours.

In short: do not pick either oil for inflammation, pick by what you want in the bottle and how fast you will use it, and see a dermatologist if the skin problem is real.

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