Candelilla Wax

Actions: Hydrating, Skin Protecting, Softening

Found In: Touch + Soothe

Candelilla is a flowering plant favored by butterflies and native to Chihuahua, Coahuila, Hidalgo, and Querétaro States of Mexico, Texas and Southern New Mexico in the United States¹.

The white sap of the plant has been historically used by indigenous peoples of Mexico for common skin ailments but in the early twentieth it became commercially harvested to make candelilla wax. Though it is still being mostly produced in Northern Mexico it is exported to other countries for its use in cosmetics and foods. Candelilla has been known as an effective anti-inflammatory treatment for atopic eczema, herpes simplex, shingles, psoriasis, and other allergic skin reactions².

1. Germplasm Resources Information Network. (2010). Agricultural Research Service United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
2. David YeungEugene and GansSergio Nacht. (1984). Topical treatment of skin inflammatory disorders. Chemical Abstracts 79: 103005