Chamomile is a good ingredient for what it is: a plant extract with a long history of use and a safety record in cosmetics. What it does for skin is less clear than its reputation. For a specific result, start from what your skin needs.
Find what fits my skinWhat chamomile is, and what it does for skin
The chamomile in skincare is Matricaria chamomilla, a plant of the daisy family (Asteraceae). Its dried flowers contain terpenoids and flavonoids, and it has a long history in traditional herbal medicine. On an ingredient list it appears as Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract.
How well does it work on skin? A 2010 analysis of the studies found that the claimed effects, such as calming the skin and easing itch, had not been convincingly shown, mainly because of how the studies were designed. DermNet, a dermatology reference, also finds no controlled evidence of an effect on skin conditions.
That does not make it a bad ingredient. The CIR expert panel, which assesses cosmetic ingredients in the United States, concluded in 2018 that chamomile-derived ingredients are safe in cosmetics as currently used, when formulated to be non-sensitising. In formulas they work mainly as skin-conditioning and fragrance ingredients.
So the useful question is not what chamomile can do, but what you want for your skin. A few questions, under a minute.
How chamomile extract is made
Chamomile extract is a botanical ingredient. The flowers are steeped and their active fraction is drawn out: this is extraction. The process tells you how the ingredient came to be. It is not proof of what it does.
Biotech describes single ingredients made by fermentation or by enzymatic hydrolysis. Hyaluronic acid, for example, is made by fermentation: a microorganism produces it. A careful brand says which part of its formula is botanical and which is biotech.
Where it sits in a formula, and what it cannot do
On a label, look for Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract. Ingredients are listed from the largest share to the smallest down to 1 %; below 1 % the order is free. An extract in the second half of a long list is a small part of the formula. Check the list of a product you own today.
Two examples from our range, both cleansing products: the Oil-To-Milk Cleanser lists organic chamomile extract 11th of 17 ingredients, and the Micellar Cleansing Water 9th of 14. Neither lists chamomile oil.
When another ingredient does the job better: for hydration, water-binders such as glycerin (well studied) and hyaluronic acid (shown in small clinical studies); for the look of redness, an ingredient with a stated job such as hydrolysed red algae extract (Hydrolyzed Rhodophyceae Extract), tested by its supplier; for fine lines, retinol, bakuchiol or Bidens pilosa extract, in that order of how well they are studied; for excess oil and shine, gentle exfoliation with an AHA such as lactic acid, a well-studied class.
The honest limits. Chamomile is not a treatment: skin under a dermatologist’s care is a question for the dermatologist. It is traditionally used to soften the look of blemishes and redness, which is why it is sometimes called a ‘natural skin bleach’, but it does not change your natural skin tone. Skin reactions to chamomile are documented, so if you react to daisy-family plants, leave it out.