Kalahari Melon Seed Oil: Why It Runs Through Our Formulas

Kalahari melon seed oil is our hero ingredient, and it runs through our face, body and hand formulas. We chose it for how it feels: it is light and dry to the touch, it absorbs quickly, it leaves little residue, and it helps skin hold moisture. It leads the blend in our award-winning Royal Kalahari Face Serum, and you will also find it in our under eye roller, Detox Gel, face wash, night oil, body oil, body scrub, creams and washes.

Here is why we chose it, where it appears, and what it is doing in each formula.

Why we chose it

We choose every ingredient for how it feels on the skin, how it sits and what it leaves behind. Kalahari melon seed oil passes all three tests. It is cold-pressed from the seeds of a wild melon that grows in the Kalahari of southern Africa and stores water through the dry season. The oil is clear and golden, and it is high in linoleic acid, a light fatty acid that skin uses to keep its outer layer intact, with natural vitamin E that keeps the oil stable.

What that means in practice is range. A heavy oil works in a balm but feels wrong in a face serum worn under makeup, or in a hand cream that should leave nothing on the next thing you touch. Kalahari melon seed oil works in both. It brings the softness of an oil at a weight light enough for almost any formula, which is why it shows up across so much of our line.

In our face formulas

The Royal Kalahari Face Serum

This is where the oil does its most direct work. The serum is a cold-pressed blend of botanical oils led by Kalahari melon seed oil, with baobab and camellia seed oils to cushion and soften dry skin, passion fruit seed oil to help skin look brighter and more even, tamanu to comfort skin that looks dry or stressed, and mongongo, monoi de Tahiti and vitamins C and E. It has no added fragrance. It won People's Star Beauty Award for Best Facial Care Product.

The Royal Kalahari Under Eye and Lip Serum Roller Oil

The roller uses the same family of oils, with castor oil added for a soft, glossy cushion. Here Kalahari melon's lightness matters: the skin under the eyes is thin, and a heavy oil would sit on it.

Detox Gel

Detox Gel is not a cleanser. It is a light, clear aloe gel used after cleansing, sitting between toning and moisturizing, with shea for a touch of cushion and tea tree oil for a crisp, herbal scent. Its full name, Detox Gel now with Kalahari Melon Seed Oil, says what changed: our hero oil is now part of the formula. Skin is left fresh, soft and ready for the serum that follows.

Rose Face Wash Cream and the Midnight Youth Potion

In our Rose Face Wash Cream, Kalahari melon seed oil sits alongside rosehip seed oil and shea butter, and helps skin look smoother and more refined after cleansing. In The Midnight Youth Potion, our evening oil serum, it is one of thirteen botanical oils.

In our body and hand formulas

Creams

Our Hydrating Hand Cream and Rejuvenating Body Cream both start with Kalahari melon seed oil. Aloe leaf juice and glycerin add hydration, and coconut, sunflower, jojoba, avocado, argan and borage oils add cushion. Because the base oil is light, the hand cream sinks in without a greasy film and the body cream leaves skin velvety rather than slick.

Washes

Our Hydrating Hand Wash and Replenishing Body Wash are castile-style liquid soaps made from saponified organic coconut, olive and jojoba oils. A touch of Kalahari melon seed oil finishes each one. In a product that rinses away, it is a finishing note, adding softness without a film.

Body oil and body scrub

In our Imperial Jade Body Oil, Kalahari melon seed oil joins mongongo, marula, grapeseed and argan, and keeps the blend light enough to sink in fast on damp skin. In our Hawaiian Black Lava Body Caviar, it joins coconut and passion fruit seed oils to leave skin soft after sea salt and sugar have polished it.

Beard oil

Even our GRR Oil Beard Oil uses it, in a base with jojoba, avocado, coconut and castor oils that spreads easily through the beard and sinks in fast, without a greasy shine.

A different amount for each job

How much Kalahari melon seed oil a formula needs depends on what the formula is for. In the face serum, it leads the blend. In the creams, it is the starting oil the rest is built around. In the washes, it is a touch. We would rather use the right amount for the job than put the most into everything.

All of these formulas are made by hand in our Williamsburg workshop, in batches of 50 to 100. Our Ingredient Library lists every product that contains Kalahari melon seed oil, along with everything else we use.

Questions about Kalahari melon seed oil in our products

Where does Kalahari melon seed oil do its most direct work in your line?

In the Royal Kalahari Face Serum, where it leads the blend and is pressed straight into the skin, morning and night.

Is Detox Gel a cleanser?

No. It is a light aloe gel you smooth on after cleansing and before serum, to leave skin fresh, soft and ready for the next step.

Do the hand and body products contain Kalahari melon seed oil?

Yes. It starts the hand and body creams, finishes the hand and body washes, and is part of the Imperial Jade Body Oil and the Hawaiian Black Lava Body Caviar.