The Oils Behind Every WCE Formula

Every bottle Shannon makes starts with a question: what does this ingredient actually do, and does it earn its place in the formula?

There are no fillers in the Wild Crafted Elixirs line. No cheap carrier oils added to stretch a batch. No trendy extracts included for label appeal. What you will find instead is a tight, intentional roster of botanicals, each one chosen for a specific reason, each one with a story worth knowing.

Here is the full glossary. Consider it a field guide to what is inside every WCE product and why it matters.

Batana Oil: The Rainforest Anchor

Origin: Honduras. Cold-pressed from the nut of the American oil palm, batana has been used by the Miskito people of the Mosquitia rainforest for generations. It is not a discovery. It is a tradition that outsiders are only recently paying attention to.

Batana is dense and amber-colored with a rich, earthy scent that softens in a blend. Its fatty acid profile is dominated by oleic acid (omega-9) and linoleic acid (omega-6), and it carries tocopherols and phytosterols alongside them. In a hair formula it delivers a conditioning feel that leaves dry, brittle-looking hair softer from root to tip.

You will find batana at the heart of the Batana Hair Oil with MSM and Jojoba, the hero product of the line and the formula Shannon built around this ingredient first.

Jojoba: The Wax That Thinks It Is an Oil

Technically jojoba is a liquid wax, not an oil. That distinction matters, because it is the reason jojoba behaves so differently from other botanicals in a formula.

Jojoba's molecular structure closely resembles human sebum, the natural oil your skin and scalp produce. That similarity is why it absorbs so readily, why it does not leave a greasy film, and why it sits well with sensitive skin types. It is also exceptionally stable, with a long shelf life and strong resistance to oxidation.

In the WCE line, jojoba appears in both hair and skin formulas. In the Batana Hair Oil it acts as a balancing carrier for the richer oils. In the men's beard oils it is a primary ingredient, helping argan and other botanicals distribute evenly through coarser facial hair.

Argan Oil: The Desert Standard

Origin: Morocco. Cold-pressed from the kernels of the argan tree, argan has become one of the most recognized botanical oils in personal care, and the reputation is earned.

Argan is rich in oleic and linoleic fatty acids plus a notably high concentration of tocopherols. On skin it leaves a smooth, even feel. For beard care specifically, it softens coarse hair and conditions the skin beneath, an area that often gets overlooked in grooming routines.

You will find argan across the men's beard oil line, where it pairs with jojoba to create a formula that works for both the hair and the skin underneath.

Squalane: The Skin's Own Language

Squalane is the stable, cosmetic-grade form of a lipid your skin already produces as part of its own sebum. That is why it is so compatible: it is not foreign chemistry, it is familiar.

The squalane in the WCE line is plant-derived, sourced from olives, and it brings deep, non-greasy moisture to the skin formulas. It is lightweight, absorbs quickly, and suits a wide range of skin types including sensitive and dry.

Squalane is a key ingredient in the women's body oil line. Arctic Radiance pairs it with marula for a luminous finish. Aurora Glow combines it with sea buckthorn for something warmer and more golden.

Marula Oil: The African Luxury

Origin: sub-Saharan Africa. Marula oil is cold-pressed from the kernels of the marula fruit, a tree that has been part of African skincare traditions for centuries. It is exceptionally high in oleic acid, roughly 70 to 78 percent, which gives it a rich, silky texture and a strong affinity for skin.

Marula absorbs quickly for an oil of its richness. It does not feel heavy or occlusive. It leaves skin feeling soft and supple without the greasy finish heavier oils can leave behind.

In Arctic Radiance Body Oil, marula pairs with squalane to create something that feels genuinely luxurious, the kind of body oil that changes how you think about moisturizing.

Sea Buckthorn: The Orange Powerhouse

Sea buckthorn is one of the most nutrient-dense botanical oils available and one of the most distinctive. The oil is a deep, vivid orange, the result of an exceptionally high concentration of carotenoids including beta-carotene and lycopene.

It carries omega-3, omega-6, omega-7, and omega-9 fatty acids, a rare combination in a single plant source. Omega-7 in particular has a notable affinity with skin.

Used in small, precise amounts, sea buckthorn contributes to the warm, golden quality of Aurora Glow Body Oil. It is an ingredient that requires careful formulation. Too much and it overwhelms a blend, too little and you lose its contribution. Shannon uses it at the right concentration.

MSM: The Quiet Contributor

Methylsulfonylmethane, or MSM, is a naturally occurring sulfur compound. It does not have a dramatic origin story or a centuries-old tradition attached to it. What it has is a place in modern scalp-care formulation, where it is valued for its conditioning feel.

It works quietly and consistently, without fanfare, which is exactly the kind of ingredient a serious formula includes.

MSM appears in the Batana Hair Oil, alongside batana and jojoba.

Why Cold-Pressing Matters

Every botanical oil in the WCE line is cold-pressed. That is not a marketing term. It is a processing method that matters for quality.

Heat extraction is faster and yields more oil per batch, but it degrades fatty acid profiles and destroys heat-sensitive micronutrients like tocopherols and carotenoids. Cold-pressing uses mechanical pressure at low temperatures, preserving the full complexity of the source material.

When Shannon sources oils for a formula, she is sourcing for quality. Cold-pressing is how that quality survives the trip from harvest to bottle.

World-Sourced Ingredients, Alaskan Craft

Batana from Honduras. Argan from Morocco. Marula from sub-Saharan Africa. Sea buckthorn from the northern latitudes.

The WCE line draws from botanical traditions across the world, not to appropriate them, but to honor what generations of people already knew about the plants growing around them. Shannon's role is bringing those ingredients together with care, in small batches, in Alaska.

That is the whole philosophy. World-sourced ingredients. Alaska Made.

Browse the full line and find the formula that fits your routine, whether that is the Batana Hair Oil for hair, Arctic Radiance Body Oil for skin, or one of the men's beard oils for beard care. Every product starts with the same question: does this ingredient earn its place?

The answer, every time, is yes.