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Review: Human Heart Nature Sunflower Beauty Oil (or any other sunflower oil)

Today, I will be reviewing a product which is quite intriguing for me, thanks to my office mate's very energetic raving and it's purported  "23 miracles in a single bottle". One miracle is enough to rouse the skeptic in me, but 23? Oh boy! This review for Human Heart Nature's Sunflower Beauty Oil is probably the  most exciting one I've done.

Price and Availability: A 100 mL bottle costs 275 php. It seems cheap, but this is almost comparable to Skinfood's Grapefruit Body Lotion at 1200 php for a 400 mL bottle, and is expensive. Human Heart Nature products are available in supermarkets, malls, and through their website, making this an easy purchase.

Packaging: The pump is hard to control and leaky so bottle always leaves a circular oil mark on my table. Not good.

Texture and Scent: Imagine mineral (or baby) oil, but a bit more runny. This product is supposed to be unscented - and it was - until about two months after opening. Now it has a nutty and musty scent. I could be wrong, but I do get an impression that because the oil is extracted from organic material and it has no preservatives, some unnecessary organic components might have been left and is now attacked by bacteria. I hope I'm wrong, but still, the smell is unsettling.

Ingredients: Yay, my favorite part! According to their website, HHN's Sunflower Beauty Oil is made of "purest, premium-grade Helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil". Their website also lists the "23 miracles" brought to you by sunflower oil. Discussing them all one by one would take up too much time, so I took it upon myself to categorize the claims as follows:

Cleansing: removes stubborn makeup (Yes, makeup can be dissolved by oils like sunflower or mineral oil.)

Moisturizing: under eye moisturizer, prevents and diminishes the appearance of stretch marks, softens feet soles, knees and elbows, overall body moisturizer, softens the cuticles, hydrates dry patches (like many oils, sunflower oil can be used as a moisturizer - softer and tighter skin may be attributed to proper moisturizing)

Look at all those miracles.
Whitening: softens and lightens underarms, lightens dark under eye circles, lightens dark spots and pimple marks, lightens dark lips, helps lighten lesions and scars (sunflower oil contains 60-73% linoleic acid, which is known to have whitening effect)  

Hair care: moisturizes dry hair ends, de-frizzes hair, adds shine to dull hair (according to this study, there is no evidence that sunflower oil can  penetrate the hair fiber and therefore affect the hair, but anecdotes all over the net say sunflower oil made their hair soft and shiny)

Relief/healing: Relieves itching and inflammation caused by insect bites, soothes skin after shaving, relieves itchy scalp, soothes skin damaged by sunburn, smoothen skin from shaving, helps soothe rashes, helps heal skin infections (there is insufficient evidence on sunflower oil's effect on skin conditions and wound healing)

Others: nourishes and conditions eyelashes (I did not find any study saying sunflower oil, mineral oil or any oil for skin care can do something to the eyelashes)

Effect/Finish: Now to check the plausible "miracles". I only used this on my body and while it does moisturize, it does not fare better than an average, cheaper lotion in that aspect. The runny fluid, while hard to apply without drips elsewhere but the body, also lingers too long on the skin, so by the end of the week, my sheets had the musty odor.

I had a bad hyperpigmentation on my foot (from an insect bite) and I did not notice any lightening, even with daily use. Maybe this product just wasn't miraculous enough for me. 

Rating: Unfortunately for this product, only 13 "miracles" stand, which are mostly about moisturizing and whitening. Sunflower oil is a safe product when compared to other whitening ingredients, which is why even if it did not work for my hyperpigmentation, I am okay with it. The price may seem steep, but since it can be used for both the body and face (patch test first!), this bump can be justified. If you can tolerate the smell, this product does offer help, but nothing too miraculous.

Ingredients: 4/5
Value for money: 3/5
Performance: 3/5
Overall: 3.3/5

29 comments:

  1. Sunflower oil is one of my favorite skin care ingredients. I read of one study about it used on preterm babies. It improved skin barrier functions and I need that because I use tretinoin.

    It does help lessen the irritation significantly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I saw that study, too. I am inclined to try other brands of Sunflower oil - I just didn't like how HHN marketed their product (plus the oil's smell deteriorated), hence the average rating.

      Delete
    2. Same here. I didn't like the sunflower oil. It went rancid so fast considering I placed it inside a drawer away from sunlight.

      Anyway, the quest for skin care products with sunflower oil was what got me to try andalou naturals. I'm usually not comfortable using 'organic' because of the preservative system but so far so good with that brand.

      Currently I'm using Andalou Omega Glow something. The first two oils listed is sunflower oil, then jojoba.

      Delete
  2. I tried this on my face and underarm. It made my underarm look gray..?? So I stopped using it. I don't get it, it wasn't moisturizing enough on the face, gives gray discoloration on the skin and makes you smell like cooking grease. Why do people love it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It must have worked for them, so that's why they loved it. Or some maybe new when it comes to skincare.

      Delete
    2. Okay, so I decided to still use HHN sunflower oil, since I didn't want to throw away full bottle anyway. It's been 2 months of consistent use (wow, my last comment here was also 28th! haha). After morning bath and on night regimen, everyday. 1-pump per area-application. No other moisturizer and deodorant used, just the sunflower oil (on underarm, face and some stretchmarks). The result? Hmm... none? Lol! Nothing happened.=( Old acne marks still there, and still prominent, didn't prevent new acne marks from darkening (I'm using face sunscreen here in Japan), no noticeable lightening on the underarm and on anywhere I would like to lighten, face still has dry patches sometimes. I want to "believe" that there is somewhat improvement on the overall texture of my face. I think my skin feels soft? Yeah, pretty much it. Sorry if I made a "review" comment here. But I have to agree with your post that it wasn't miraculous enough for me, too.

      Delete
    3. Nope, actually the more reviews, the better. Thanks for your input! Since you're already on sunblock, might I recommend exfoliation using AHA? Definitely works.

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    4. I have tried the DETClear Bright & Peel Fruits Peeling Jelly (Unscented Type) before. But I stopped it because last time, I got serious breakouts and tons of whiteheads. I am not sure if it's the peeling jelly or the Cetaphil. But I think it was the Cetaphil. Lol! Another "great" product according to most reviews, that did more harm than good to me. So sad. Haha. I think Cetaphil cannot clean my face enough, and worse, trapped all the remaining oil and dirt with its "moisturizing film". It clogged my pores soooo bad! Anyway, I stopped using both. Oops, back to topic.XD Have you tried exfoliating with AHA while there are still "active" pimples? I worry that it may irritate them more.

      Delete
    5. Hi Anon,

      Nope sorry. I never tried. :(

      Delete
  3. Do you use any cream or lotion to solve your hyperpigmentation problem? Pls recommend an effective one. Thanks!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I do!
      - First, I use an exfoliant (either an AHA or BHA)
      - I use a Vitamin C serum (I use this http://pas-sosyal.blogspot.com/2013/09/review-andalou-naturals-turmeric-c.html)
      - I am crazy about sunscreen. Not only does in lighten hyperpigmentation, it keeps wrinkles away too. I've used far too many sunscreen. You can some of the reviews here http://pas-sosyal.blogspot.com/search/label/sunscreen

      Delete
    2. Does it lighten or really erase the spots? For how long? Huhu. I can't wear skirt or shorts because of this prob. Thanks for the recommendation!

      Delete
    3. And also where can I buy the exfoliant thing? Super thanks!

      Delete
  4. Exfoliants, Vitamin C and sunscreen are proven PIH lighteners. I bought my Olay Regenerist Night Resurfacing Essence from Mercury. Most drugstores have it! -Vanessa

    ReplyDelete
  5. So you both use the exfoliant and vitamin C serum? Vitamin C serum on daytime? While the olay thing is applied before going to bed?

    ReplyDelete
  6. You got it. -Vanessa (sorry, no time to log in on the real account)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Okay. Thank you very much. :)

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    2. Hi! I heard the Olay thing that you recommended is no longer available in the market. Is it true? Huhu.
      Sorry I haven't check it out in the market. :(

      Delete
    3. Dear Anon,

      Still available. Saw one when I bought groceries last weekend. -Vanessa

      Delete
    4. Okay okay thanks yaaaay! :))

      Delete
  7. Used it for a couple of night, it gives me a "glow" when I woke up in the morning but I stopped using it because I had lots of small whiteheads on my chin and cheek area. =(

    ReplyDelete
  8. Used it for a couple of night, it gives me a "glow" when I woke up in the morning but I stopped using it because I had lots of small whiteheads on my chin and cheek area. =(

    ReplyDelete
  9. Used it for a couple of night, it gives me a "glow" when I woke up in the morning but I stopped using it because I had lots of small whiteheads on my chin and cheek area. =(

    ReplyDelete
  10. I tried HHN sunflower oil and it gave me pimples and "butlig" all over my face. Very disappointed coz now I got something to worry about -- how to get rid of my pimples.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi, for me, I apply it as my over all moisturizer. But I just wanna ask, is it safe for babies? My niece gets insect bites easily and I know it's itchy as hell, so I just wanna try to help soothe the itch with this. Any advice? Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'd ask a pedia to be safe. They might also be able to suggest something that works well, on top of safety of course.

      Delete
  12. I'm very happy with the sunflower oil's result on my skin, I am not a newbie when it comes to skincare routines. It didn't work on your skin because maybe it is not for your skin type or it just simply doesn't work on you. I haven't encountered a single product that works on everyone.

    ReplyDelete
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    ReplyDelete
  14. how to lighten underarms
    I'm very happy with the sunflower oil's result on my skin, I am not a newbie when it comes to skincare routines.

    ReplyDelete

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