Sesame Oil for the Face

Sesame oil for face care is, in one sense, where Ayurvedic skin care begins, because sesame oil, Tila Thailam, is the default Sneha, the base oiliness, of the whole classical tradition of oiling the body. When the texts speak simply of “oil” in the context of Abhyanga, the daily self-massage, and Snehana, the practice of oiling in general, sesame is most often what is meant. It is the oil the Nighantus, the classical lexicons, describe first among the oils, and the one Charaka singles out for its penetrating, warming, nourishing character. Understanding sesame oil is therefore a good way to understand the Ayurvedic idea of facial oiling as a whole, since almost every medicated facial oil, Kumkumadi included, is built upon a sesame base.

This article sets out how the tradition understands sesame oil, why it is so valued for the skin, the skins and conditions it suits, and the way the classical writers used it on the face.

Why sesame is the classical Sneha

Ayurveda judges every substance by its qualities, its guna, and its heating or cooling potency, its virya, and sesame oil scores in a way the tradition prizes for oiling. It is Ushna, warming in potency; it is Snigdha, unctuous, the very quality that oiling is meant to supply; it is heavy and nourishing; and, unusually among oils, it is regarded as strongly penetrating, able to travel into the tissues rather than sitting on the surface. Charaka, in the fifth chapter of the Sutrasthana, praises it among the oils on exactly these grounds, and the classical writers treat it as the standard against which other oils are measured.

Above all sesame is Vata-shamaka, settling of Vata, the dry, light, cold, mobile quality. Because oiling is the tradition’s first answer to Vata everywhere in the body, and because Vata governs dryness, roughness, thinning and the drying of ageing skin, an oil that is both richly unctuous and deeply penetrating is the natural instrument. This is the whole reason sesame stands at the head of Ayurvedic skin oils: it supplies the moist, warm, heavy qualities that oppose the dry, cold, light qualities of aggravated Vata, and it carries them into the skin rather than merely across it.

What sesame oil is understood to do for the skin

Adapted to the face from the classical account of oiling the body, sesame oil is held to nourish and soften the skin, keeping it supple, Mridu, rather than dry and thin; to settle the local Vata that dries, roughens and lines the face, which is why it is a natural choice for a dry, mature or wind-worn complexion; and to warm and comfort the tissue, easing the small tensions the face holds. The Ashtanga Hridayam connects regular oiling with a well-nourished skin and with resistance to the wear of age, and these benefits are the reasons the tradition gives for choosing sesame in particular. As with all Abhyanga, the fruits are understood to come from steady practice rather than from any single application.

The skins and seasons sesame suits

Because sesame is warming and heavy, the tradition matches it carefully to the person and the time of year, in the ordinary Ayurvedic discipline of fitting the remedy to the constitution.

Vata skin

A dry, thin, cold, easily-lined skin, the classic Vata picture, is where sesame oil belongs most fully. It welcomes the warmth and the rich unctuousness, and the tradition reaches for sesame readily on such skin and through the dry, cold Vata seasons of autumn and winter, when the face wants nourishing most.

Pitta skin

A skin that runs hot, that reddens and inflames easily, the Pitta picture, is treated with more caution, since sesame is warming and Pitta is heat. The tradition does not forbid it, but on such skin it prefers sesame that has been medicated with cooling Varnya herbs, Chandana (sandalwood), Yashtimadhu (liquorice) and their companions, so that the warming base is tempered, or it turns to a cooler oil or to Ghrita. Plain warm sesame in high summer on an inflamed skin runs against the grain of the Dosha.

Kapha skin

A naturally oily, congested, heavy skin, the Kapha picture, needs the least oil of all, and here the tradition uses sesame sparingly if at all, since adding a heavy, oily quality to an already oily surface aggravates Kapha. On such skin a cleansing Ubtan paste is often preferred to an oil.

How the tradition used sesame on the face

The practice is Mukha Abhyanga, the gentle facial oiling and massage that belongs to Dinacharya, the daily routine. With sesame the method is the ordinary one, done with care for the fineness of facial skin. A few drops of sesame oil are warmed to a little above skin temperature, since warmth helps the penetrating oil do its work and further counters the cold quality of Vata, and worked into a clean face with light, upward and outward strokes of the fingertips, following the natural lines, with gentle circles at the temples and along the jaw. The oil is then left to rest and be taken up, ideally overnight, before the face is wiped or gently washed with warm water, a warm cloth or a mild Ubtan.

The tradition treats a little sesame oil as sufficient and warns against a heavy hand, and it favours the small daily oiling over the occasional generous one. On the body the same oil is used more freely, which is a useful reminder that a facial oil is simply the body’s Sneha brought to a finer, more reactive skin and used with proportionately more restraint.

A word on the sesame itself is in keeping with the classical care over materials. The tradition speaks of Tila, sesame, in more than one form, and the oil pressed from the seed is what is meant by Tila Thailam. The classical writers prize a well-prepared oil and, in the making of medicated oils, subject the base to the slow, attentive cooking of Sneha Paka, in which the herbs and their decoctions are drawn into the fat over hours. Even plain sesame oil, in the classical view, is a considered substance rather than a mere carrier, and the qualities the Nighantus record, warming, unctuous, penetrating, are the reason it was chosen for the skin in the first place. This is why almost every facial oil the tradition later devised, from the complexion oils to the strengthening ones, began by asking what sesame alone could not carry and adding the herbs to supply it.

Plain sesame and the medicated oils built on it

It is worth seeing plain sesame oil as the trunk from which the classical facial oils branch. Kumkumadi, the saffron-led complexion oil, is sesame oil into which the Varnya herbs have been cooked by the slow Sneha Paka method; the Bala oils are sesame carrying the strengthening Bala herb; the Nalpamaradi preparations are sesame carrying the Ficus barks and complexion herbs used for evening the skin. In each the sesame supplies the nourishing, Vata-settling, penetrating base, and the added herbs give the oil its particular direction. For a plain, unmedicated facial oil, warm sesame is itself the classical answer; for a complexion, an ageing or an uneven skin, the tradition reaches for one of the medicated oils built upon it.

Used in this spirit, sesame oil for the face is the plainest expression of the Ayurvedic idea of Snehana: a warm, nourishing, Vata-settling Sneha, worked gently into a clean face and left to feed the skin, matched to the constitution and the season, and kept up as a steady habit rather than an occasional treat. It is the base on which the whole tradition of facial oiling rests.

This article describes classical Ayurvedic tradition and is for education, not a substitute for professional medical advice. Anyone with reactive, inflamed or broken skin, or who is pregnant, should speak with a qualified doctor or a registered Ayurvedic practitioner before beginning regular facial oiling.

Frequently asked

Why is sesame oil so important in Ayurveda? Because it is the default Sneha, the base oiliness, of the whole tradition of oiling. It is warming, nourishing, deeply penetrating and strongly Vata-settling, which is why Charaka praises it among the oils and why almost every medicated facial oil is built on a sesame base.

Is sesame oil good for the face? The tradition treats it as well suited to a dry, thin, Vata skin and to the cold, dry seasons, used gently and in small amounts. On a hot, easily-reddened Pitta skin it prefers sesame tempered with cooling herbs, and on a naturally oily Kapha skin it uses very little, if any.

How is sesame oil used on the face? As Mukha Abhyanga: a few drops warmed and worked into a clean face with light upward strokes, left to rest and be taken up, ideally overnight, then wiped or gently washed away. A little is treated as sufficient.

Is plain sesame oil enough, or is a medicated oil better? For simple nourishing and Vata-settling, plain warm sesame is the classical answer. For a complexion, ageing or uneven skin, the tradition reaches for a medicated oil such as Kumkumadi, which is sesame carrying the complexion herbs.