The Himalayan belt above 2,500 metres is a specific environment. Cold winters, strong sun, thin air, short growing seasons. The plants that thrive there do so because they're built for exactly those conditions — and that environment is part of what shapes the character of what they produce.
Sea buckthorn and wild apricot both grow in this belt, both in Himachal Pradesh and the surrounding Himalayan regions. Both yield oils that have been used in these communities for generations. Beyond that shared geography, they are quite different — in plant, in fruit, in process, and in the oil that results.
This is what you need to know about both.
The two oils at a glance
Both oils come from the same mountain belt. Both are cold-pressed in small batches. But they come from entirely different plants, have different characters, and are used in different ways. Here's how to tell them apart — and which one is right for you.
Sea Buckthorn Oil
Known locally as Chharma
Source
Berries of the sea buckthorn shrub (Hippophae rhamnoides), grown above 3,000m
Colour
Deep orange — from the carotenoids concentrated in the berry
Smell
Distinctive — fruity, slightly tart, unmistakable
Character
Intense, rich, concentrated — a little goes a long way
Wild Apricot Kernel Oil
From wild Himalayan apricots
Source
Kernels from wild apricots growing in Himalayan valleys and hillsides
Colour
Pale gold to light amber — subtle, clean-looking
Smell
Mild, faintly nutty — understated compared to sea buckthorn
Character
Light, versatile, absorbs easily — more background presence
Sea Buckthorn — the plant, the berry, the oil
Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) is a thorny shrub that grows at high altitude across Central Asia, the Himalayas, and parts of Europe. In Himachal Pradesh, it grows wild across rocky slopes and riverbeds above 3,000 metres, where very little else can. The berries are small, intensely orange, and grow in dense clusters along the branches. They are sharp in flavour — sour enough to be almost unpalatable raw, which is part of why they haven't been widely commercialised as a fresh fruit.
In the Himalayan communities where it grows, the plant has been called Chharma for generations. The berries have been used in juices, traditional preparations, and as a source of oil. Bichu Buti's Sea Buckthorn Oil is cold-pressed from these berries — not the seeds inside the berry, which produce a paler oil with a different profile, but the fruit flesh and pulp itself.
"The deep orange of cold-pressed sea buckthorn oil isn't dye or processing. It's the carotenoid concentration of the berry itself — the same pigment that gives the fruit its colour."
The colour of the oil — that distinctive deep orange — is the most immediate thing about it. It comes from the carotenoid concentration in the berry. This is a quality signal: properly cold-pressed sea buckthorn oil from ripe berries at altitude should be this colour. Pale yellow sea buckthorn oil is usually seed-derived, which is a different product.
Wild Apricot — the other Himalayan oil most people don't think about
Apricots are grown commercially across India, but Himalayan wild apricots are a different proposition. They grow at altitude in the valleys and hillsides of Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh, and Kinnaur — smaller, more intensely flavoured, and not optimised for the uniformity that commercial cultivation requires.
The oil doesn't come from the fruit flesh. It comes from the kernel — the seed inside the apricot stone. To get to it, the stone has to be cracked open and the kernel extracted before pressing. It is labour-intensive, which is part of why this oil rarely appears outside the regions where it's made.
In Himalayan communities, apricot kernel oil has been used for generations — in cooking, in hair, on skin. It's multipurpose in the way that traditional oils tend to be: not formulated for one specific use, but used wherever an oil with a light character and mild flavour is useful.
Bichu Buti's Wild Apricot Kernel Oil is small-batch, handcrafted, and unrefined — pressed from wild apricot kernels without the high-heat processing that would extend shelf life at the cost of character.
What cold-pressing actually means — and why it matters for these oils
The cold-press difference
Cold-pressing extracts oil mechanically — the fruit or seed is pressed under controlled pressure without the application of heat. Heat increases yield (more oil per kilogram of raw material) but degrades the compounds that give the oil its character, colour, and natural properties.
For sea buckthorn specifically, heat processing destroys the carotenoids responsible for the orange colour and the character of the oil. A heat-processed sea buckthorn oil is a paler, more neutral product — higher yield, lower character.
For apricot kernel oil, cold-pressing preserves the mild flavour profile and the natural composition of the kernel. Refined apricot kernel oil is common in cosmetics — it's cheap to produce in volume. Unrefined, cold-pressed apricot kernel oil is a different product.
Both Bichu Buti oils are cold-pressed and unrefined. The shelf life is shorter than refined oils. The character is intact.
Side by side — which to choose and when
These are not competing products. They're different oils with different characters and different best uses. The choice depends on what you need rather than which is "better."
Sea Buckthorn (Chharma)
- Strong flavour and colour — use where you want it to be present
- Excellent diluted into salad dressings or cold sauces
- Used in small quantities as a finishing oil on neutral dishes
- Traditional use in Himalayan communities in teas and warm drinks
- Not suited to high-heat cooking — cold-pressed oils lose character under heat
- The colour will tint light-coloured preparations visibly
Wild Apricot Kernel
- Mild flavour — works as a background oil where you don't want intrusion
- Light texture, absorbs easily — traditional multipurpose use
- Suitable for light sautéing at moderate temperatures
- Good as a base for dressings where a neutral carrier is needed
- Long traditional use in Himalayan households for hair and skin
- Less visually distinctive — pale colour, subtle smell
If you've never used either, start with the apricot kernel oil — it's more forgiving and works across more contexts. Come to the sea buckthorn oil once you understand its character, because using too much of it in the wrong place will dominate everything else in the dish.
How the cold-pressing process works — step by step
1. Harvest
Sea buckthorn berries are harvested by hand from hillside shrubs above 3,000m. Apricot kernels are extracted from the stones of wild-harvested fruit after the flesh has been removed. Both are seasonal — one harvest window per year.
2. Clean and dry
The raw material is cleaned and dried to the correct moisture level before pressing. Too much moisture and the oil emulsifies; too little and yield drops. No chemicals are used in this stage.
3. Cold press
The berries or kernels are fed through a mechanical press. Pressure extracts the oil without heat. The press temperature is monitored and controlled. The resulting oil is raw and unfiltered.
4. Settle and decant
The pressed oil is allowed to settle, then decanted away from the sediment that naturally separates out. No chemical filtering. No bleaching. The oil retains its natural colour and character from this stage onward.
5. Bottle small-batch
Bottled in small runs to maintain freshness. Each batch is different — slightly — because the raw material is different. This is what single-origin, unrefined oil actually looks like.
Cold-pressed isn't a label. It's a process.
"Cold-pressed" has become a marketing term used loosely on a lot of oil packaging. Understanding what it actually means — and what it doesn't mean — is worth a minute.
True cold-pressing means no external heat is applied during extraction. Some heat is generated naturally by the mechanical pressure of the press, but this is minimal and controlled. The threshold that matters is the point at which heat begins to alter the oil's composition — roughly above 49°C for most plant oils.
If an oil label says "cold-pressed" but the oil is also refined, deodorised, or bleached, those subsequent processes undo much of what cold-pressing preserved. Cold-pressed and unrefined together mean the oil has not been significantly processed beyond the initial extraction.
Both Bichu Buti oils meet this: cold-pressed, unrefined, unfiltered beyond basic settling. The shelf life reflects this — shorter than a refined oil, but the character is intact from berry or kernel to bottle.
Wild & Pure. Always.
Shop Himalayan Wellness Oils
Sea Buckthorn (Chharma) · Wild Apricot Kernel
Cold-pressed. Unrefined. Small-batch from the Himalayan belt.