Natural oils have become a common additive to personal care products. They fit the definition of natural, sustainable and can be renewable and even organic. While these classifications are sometimes unclear in meaning, the reason we formulate with a particular oil is often just as obscure.
Is it marketing, or carbon distribution or aesthetics or perhaps a particular benefit rendered to the oil by a particular native material (antioxidants, UV absorbers)? This article will look at some of these properties.
The selection of a particular natural oil in a personal care application depends upon what the formulator wants to achieve with the particular formulation. The simplest choice is when the choice is simply a marketing choice. The product profile may say that the product should contain a particular oil like olive oil or argan oil. The aesthetics are dictated in large amount by two properties, carbon number and amount of unsaturation (measured by iodine value). Finally, there may be a particular reason to use an oil with an antioxidant or other active that is natural to the oil. While seaming simple, once the oil is chosen, the process by which the oil was prepared becomes the controlling factor. We will address each of these variables.
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