Naked Bear Tsubaki Oil
0.5 fl oz
$26.00
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Naked Bear Tsubaki Oil
$26.00
Japan's oldest beauty oil. Tsubaki Oil is pressed from the seeds of Camellia japonica, the camellia that grows wild along Japan's southern coasts and islands, and it is pure tsubaki — no carrier, no filler, no blend. What's in the bottle is what came off the press.
Tsubaki has been pressed in Japan for more than a thousand years. It's the oil geisha used to keep their hair glossy and their skin smooth, and on the Goto and Izu islands camellia seeds are still gathered by hand each autumn. The oil runs around 80% oleic acid — close to the makeup of skin's own sebum, which is why it sinks in the way it does.
WHAT IT'S LIKE
Clear pale gold, silky, almost scentless. It absorbs fast and leaves a soft finish with real shine on hair and none on skin.
BEST FOR
Hair, first — shine, frizz, dry ends. Then face and body for skin that looks dull or feels rough.
HOW TO USE
For hair: one or two drops smoothed over dry ends, or a few drops through damp hair before you style it. For skin: two or three drops pressed in at night. A drop on the backs of your hands after washing.
WHAT'S IN IT
Camellia Japonica Seed Oil. That's the whole list.
Patch test before first use. Keep away from eyes. For external use only.
Goto Islands, Japan
A thousand autumns of hand-picking.
Camellia japonica grows wild along Japan's southern coasts and islands, and its seeds have been pressed for more than a thousand years — this is the oil geisha used to keep their hair glossy and their skin smooth. On the Goto and Izu islands the seeds are still gathered by hand each autumn, after the flowers have dropped and the fruit has split. Nothing about the process has needed to change.
Hair first
A thousand years of use were mostly about shine, frizz and dry ends. Skin came second.
Close to your own oil
Around 80% oleic acid, near the makeup of human sebum, which is why it sinks in instead of sitting.
Almost scentless
No fragrance, no essential oils. It won't argue with anything else you're wearing.
Two different camellias
Not the one in our blue bottle.
Tsubaki is Camellia japonica. The camellia in our Blue Tansy Oil is Camellia oleifera — a cousin, pressed from a different species, often sold as tea seed oil. Both are good. They are not interchangeable, and plenty of shops selling "camellia oil" won't tell you which one is in the bottle.
This is the japonica: the one from the islands, the one with the thousand-year record, the one that made its name on hair. We name the species on the label because the species is the whole point.
No. This is Camellia japonica. Tea seed oil, and the camellia in our Blue Tansy Oil, is Camellia oleifera — a related species with a different profile. Both are worth using; they aren't the same oil.
Not if you use it sparingly. One or two drops rubbed between your palms and smoothed over the ends is enough for most hair. It absorbs rather than coating, which is the reason it became a hair oil in the first place.
Yes. At roughly 80% oleic acid it suits normal, dry and mature skin well. If your skin runs oily or congests easily, a lighter linoleic-rich oil is a better fit — Kalahari Melon Seed Oil or Grapeseed.
Almost nothing — a faint clean note and that's it. Nothing is added, and there's no fragrance to fade.
No, and we wouldn't rely on it as one. Use it on damp hair before styling for shine and slip, or on dry ends afterwards, but don't treat it as protection from a hot tool.
Both, in different amounts. Fine hair wants a single drop on the ends only. Curly and coarse hair can take several drops worked through damp lengths.
Around 18 to 24 months sealed, about 12 once opened. Being high in oleic acid makes it one of the steadier oils we sell. Keep it capped and out of direct sun.
What's in it
Camellia Japonica Seed Oil
One ingredient, undiluted — the same oil whether you buy it here or in the Japan Collection. 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.