There are ingredients that arrive in skincare because a trend dictates them. And there are ingredients that have been valued for thousands of years — by physicians, by healers, by cultures separated by continents and centuries — because they genuinely work.
Frankincense is the latter.
It appears in ancient Egyptian texts as a treatment for skin conditions. It was traded across the Arabian Peninsula and into the Mediterranean for millennia, valued as highly as gold. Modern research has begun to catch up with what traditional medicine has long understood — that the resin of the Boswellia tree contains compounds with meaningful effects on inflammation, cellular health, and skin ageing.
Frankincense is in three Pūraka formulations. Here is why.
What frankincense actually is
Frankincense is a resin harvested from trees of the Boswellia genus — primarily Boswellia sacra, Boswellia carterii, and Boswellia serrata — which grow in the arid regions of Oman, Somalia, Ethiopia, and India. When the bark of the tree is cut, it weeps a milky sap that hardens into the amber-coloured resin that has been traded and used for over five thousand years.
In skincare, frankincense is used in two forms: as an essential oil, distilled from the resin through steam extraction, and as a CO2 extract, which draws out a broader and more complete spectrum of the resin's active compounds. Pūraka uses both — the essential oil in the Active Day Cream and Hydrating Super Serum, and the CO2 extract in the Anti-Ageing Cream — because each form brings something distinct to the formulation.
The compounds that matter
The reason frankincense has attracted serious scientific attention is a group of compounds called boswellic acids. These are pentacyclic triterpenic acids found in the resin that have been studied for their anti-inflammatory properties — with research suggesting they inhibit specific enzymes involved in the inflammatory process.
Inflammation is central to skin ageing. Chronic low-level inflammation — sometimes called inflammaging — drives the breakdown of collagen and elastin, accelerates cellular damage, and contributes to the uneven skin tone and loss of firmness that many people notice from their 40s onwards. Ingredients that address inflammation at a cellular level, rather than simply masking its visible effects, are the ones worth taking seriously.
Boswellic acids are not the only active compounds in frankincense. The essential oil also contains alpha-pinene and other terpenes that have been studied for their effects on skin cell regeneration. Research has suggested that frankincense may support the skin's ability to renew itself — relevant both for ageing skin and for skin that has been compromised by sun damage or environmental stress.
What the research says
The evidence base for frankincense in skincare is growing but still developing — which is worth acknowledging honestly. Much of the research to date has been conducted in vitro or in animal models, and the clinical trial data specifically on topical application is more limited than the traditional use history might suggest.
What the existing research does support is that boswellic acids have measurable anti-inflammatory effects, that frankincense extracts show antioxidant activity, and that the compounds in the resin interact meaningfully with the skin's cellular processes. For an ingredient with five thousand years of documented use across multiple independent medical traditions, the direction of the evidence is consistent even where the volume is still building.
This is the honest position: frankincense is not a miracle ingredient, and Pūraka would never present it as one. It is a well-documented botanical with a compelling profile of active compounds — one that belongs in a serious natural skincare formulation alongside other ingredients chosen for equally specific reasons.
Why the extraction method matters
Not all frankincense ingredients are equal. Steam-distilled essential oil and CO2 extract behave differently because they contain different profiles of the resin's compounds.
Steam distillation captures the volatile aromatic compounds — the terpenes, the pinenes — that give frankincense its distinctive scent and contribute to its effect on skin cell regeneration. CO2 extraction goes further, capturing the heavier, non-volatile compounds including the boswellic acids that are responsible for much of the anti-inflammatory research.
This is why Pūraka uses both. The essential oil in the Active Day Cream and Hydrating Super Serum brings the aromatic and regenerative compounds. The CO2 extract in the Anti-Ageing Cream brings the fuller spectrum — including the boswellic acids — for a more comprehensive effect on skin that is dealing with the visible changes of ageing.
Where you'll find it in Pūraka
Frankincense appears in three products.
The Active Day Cream — the hero daily moisturiser — uses frankincense essential oil alongside cold-pressed macadamia and apricot kernel oils, squalane, vitamins A and C, lupin peptides, and tissue salts. It is one of several botanicals working in concert in a formulation designed for daily anti-ageing support.
The Hydrating Super Serum uses frankincense essential oil alongside rosewater, peptides, Bach flower essences, and tissue salts. The serum format allows for deeper penetration, making frankincense's cellular effects more directly available to the skin.
The Anti-Ageing Cream uses frankincense CO2 extract — the more complete form — alongside rosehip and seabuckthorn botanical extracts, hyaluronic acid, and rose absolute. This is the most comprehensive frankincense formulation in the range, built around the needs of skin that is actively experiencing the changes of ageing.
Five thousand years is a long time to be wrong
Traditional medicine is not infallible. But when an ingredient has been independently valued by Egyptian physicians, Arabian traders, Ayurvedic practitioners, and Chinese medicine for five millennia — and when modern research begins to identify the specific compounds responsible for those effects — it is reasonable to conclude that something real is happening.
Frankincense is in Pūraka because Melissa has worked with it for years and believes in it. And because the science, developing as it still is, points consistently in the same direction as five thousand years of use.
Nothing in here is by accident.
Explore the Active Day Cream, Hydrating Super Serum, and Anti-Ageing Cream at purakaskincare.com
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