Calendula Oil and Psoriasis: What Is Known and What Is Not

We sell a cosmetic calendula oil, and psoriasis is a medical condition. Under US rules, a product's regulatory status depends on its intended use, so we cannot position a cosmetic oil as something for psoriasis, and there is no human study that would let us. What we can do is lay out what is known, what is not, and the questions worth settling with a dermatologist before an oil goes anywhere near a plaque.

Calendula oil bottle

Calendula Oil

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

From $13.99

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What you are actually managing

The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) describes psoriasis as a condition that causes the body to make new skin cells in days rather than weeks, so cells build up as thick, scaly patches. About 80% to 90% of people with psoriasis get plaques, the AAD says, and most people who get psoriasis have it for life. It also warns that psoriasis can raise the risk of other conditions, such as psoriatic arthritis or diabetes. The joint AAD and National Psoriasis Foundation guideline on topical therapy and alternative medicine (Elmets et al., J Am Acad Dermatol, 2021) puts the figure at up to 3.2% of the US population, and calls psoriasis a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem disease.

That description explains why we do not frame an oil as the answer. Reasoning from a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem disease, this is not simply a dryness problem, and a plain oil sitting on the surface is not a match for it. The AAD says a board-certified dermatologist can tell whether you have psoriasis and then build an individualised plan, and that most people use medication applied directly to the skin; stronger cases may need light treatments or medication that works throughout the body.

What has been tested on calendula and psoriasis

In people, nothing that we could find. Our literature search for human studies of calendula and psoriasis turned up none. The only item is a 2019 mouse study (Das et al., Turk J Pharm Sci) in which mice with imiquimod-induced psoriasis-like skin inflammation were given aqueous extracts of calendula leaves and of another plant, Phlebodium decumanum, separately and combined at 200 mg/kg body weight. The combined extracts were followed by reduced redness, scaling and epidermal thickness from day 7 to day 21, with a retinoid cream as the standard comparison.

It is worth being precise about what that does not show. It was a mouse model, not a person. The extracts came from leaves, not the flowers our oil is made from, and they were aqueous (water) extracts, not an oil infusion. The test material was calendula combined with a second plant. The dose was given per kilogram of body weight, and the abstract does not say whether it was applied to skin. For a reader deciding about an infused flower oil, it is not evidence that the oil would behave the same way.

The broader calendula picture is similar. The EU herbal medicines committee (HMPC, 2018) judged most calendula skin studies small and methodologically weak and listed its traditional use only for minor skin inflammation such as sunburn and minor wounds. Psoriasis is not among them.

Why the cosmetic line matters here

FDA says that whether a product is a cosmetic or a drug is determined by its intended use, which claims can establish, and that a plant origin does not exempt a product from drug regulation if it is marketed with therapeutic claims. Our oil is a cosmetic. That is the plain reason this article has no application schedule: a schedule for a skin disease would be a drug claim, and it would also be a claim we cannot support.

If you have psoriasis and are thinking about an oil anyway

Here is how we would handle that conversation, as the maker of a simple oil.

As for what is in our bottle: whole-dried calendula flowers, infused into a carrier oil, nothing else added. The batch paperwork lists the carrier and the third-party test results, and you can request it by emailing the lot number to [email protected]. That is the full extent of what we can say about the product, and for psoriasis it is not a claim about skin.

Which question should you actually be asking?

If the real question is "will this oil make my plaques better?", the honest answer is that nobody has tested it. If it is "is plain oil a safe thing to have on skin that is dry in general?", that is a different question, and our dry skin article covers it. If it is "can I replace my prescription with something natural?", read our piece on why calendula cannot replace medications and then talk to your dermatologist.

Psoriasis is lifelong for most people and has well-established medical care. Our oil is a cosmetic, and we would rather you spend your effort on a dermatologist visit than on an unsupported routine.

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