Naked Bear Perilla Oil
One of the richest plant sources of omega-3 there is. Perilla Seed Oil is cold-pressed from the seeds of Perilla frutescens — egoma in Japan, deulgireum in Korea — and it is pure perilla seed oil — no carrier, no filler, no blend. What's in the bottle is what came off the press.
Perilla was Japan's main lamp and cooking oil before rapeseed took over, and the plant has been grown in East Asia for well over a thousand years. Its seeds run 55–65% alpha-linolenic acid, a higher share of omega-3 than flax. That's also its one demand: omega-3-rich oils are delicate, so this one wants a cool, dark cupboard and a few months rather than a few years.
WHAT IT'S LIKE
Pale gold and very light, with a faint green, nutty smell. It sinks in quickly and leaves skin comfortable rather than coated.
BEST FOR
Skin that feels tight, dry, or easily reactive. Redness after a cold walk or a hot shower. Skin that reads dull in winter.
HOW TO USE
Two or three drops pressed into clean, slightly damp skin at night, on its own or mixed into your moisturizer. Store it somewhere cool and dark and use it within a few months of opening.
WHAT'S IN IT
Perilla Ocymoides Seed Oil. That's the whole list.
Patch test before first use. Keep away from eyes. For external use only.
Egoma, Japan
The oil that lit Japan before rapeseed did.
Perilla — egoma in Japan, deulgireum in Korea — was the country's main oil crop for centuries, burned in lamps as readily as it was cooked with, until rapeseed displaced it. The plant has been grown across East Asia for well over a thousand years, and Korean kitchens still press it from toasted seeds and pour it over vegetables. What we bottle is the untoasted kind: paler, milder, and meant for skin rather than a bowl.
More omega-3 than flax
Between 55 and 65% alpha-linolenic acid, a higher share than flaxseed manages.
Nearly weightless
Sinks in fast and leaves nothing behind. Easy on skin that reacts to richer oils.
Buy small, use it
A short shelf life is the honest cost of that much omega-3. This is a bottle to finish.
The trade-off
What makes it good is what makes it fragile.
Alpha-linolenic acid is the most delicate of the common fatty acids — it oxidises faster than anything else in a bottle of plant oil. Perilla is 55 to 65% of it. Those two facts are the same fact.
So this is a short-lived oil, and we'd rather say so than print a two-year date that isn't real. Keep it cool and dark, use it within a few months of opening, and treat it as something to finish rather than something to keep. If you want an oil that sits patiently in a cupboard for two years, buy the meadowfoam.
Because of the omega-3. Alpha-linolenic acid oxidises faster than oleic or linoleic acid, and perilla is mostly alpha-linolenic. Figure on 9 to 12 months sealed and 3 to 4 months once opened, stored cool and dark.
By smell. Fresh perilla is faintly green and nutty. Oxidised perilla smells sharp, fishy, or like old paint — unmistakable once you've met it. If it smells wrong, stop using it.
Same plant, different pressing. Deulgireum is usually pressed from toasted seeds, which is what gives it that deep nutty flavour and colour. Ours is untoasted, so it's paler and much milder.
It's one of the gentler oils we sell, and it's very light, which tends to suit skin that finds richer oils too much. Patch test anyway — reactive skin is reactive to different things.
You can, though it earns its keep at night. If you do use it in the daytime, put it under sunscreen rather than over it.
They're the same plant. Perilla frutescens is the name you'll see in botanical writing; Perilla ocymoides is a synonym and the form used in cosmetic ingredient naming. We use the INCI name so the label matches what regulators expect.
Face, mainly. It's light and there isn't much in a half-ounce bottle. For body, Sesame or Moringa go further for less.
What's in it
Perilla Ocymoides Seed Oil.
One ingredient, undiluted — the same oil whether you buy it here or in the Japan Collection. High in alpha-linolenic acid, so store it cool and dark and use within a few months of opening. Patch test before first use. Keep away from eyes. For external use only.
If it's not for you
We offer a 30-day return window for all unused products.
Simply contact us and we'll process your return.