Mineral oils in cosmetics: no oil on my skin!

In "Oils in cosmetics: what's behind your beauty products?" we saw that very little is said about the oils that make up a cosmetic product. All attention is focused on the active ingredients, even though oils make up the majority of cream formulas. The quality of your product depends directly on their quality. It's therefore important to take stock of cosmetic oilsstarting with the most widely used: mineral oils.

Mineral? Did you say mineral, like mineral water? Alas, no! The term mineral oil actually refers to products derived from petroleum refining. Yes, petroleum, you read that right... And yet, these oils are used almost universally in cosmetics. Ever since the little round blue jar of your earliest childhood, your skin has been full (humorously) of kerosene, vaseline and other petrochemical derivatives.

Totally synthetic, these oils offer no benefit to our skin. Except to give the impression of being moisturized. In reality, they create an occlusive film on the skin that limits its natural water loss and keeps it artificially hydrated. Even if the skin feels softer, this hydration is very superficial and not long-lasting. As soon as you stop applying a mineral-oil-based cream , the skin becomes dehydrated again at its usual rate, without any improvement.

In fact, mineral oils do not provide the skin with any nutrients (essential fatty acids, vitamins, antioxidants, etc.) that would enable it to function better, and in particular to better self-regulate its hydration. The skin is therefore dependent on the application of a cream based on this type of oil to maintain a feeling of hydration (dependence on oil extends right into our bathroom!).

What's more, by forming an occlusive layer of oil on the skin, mineral oils tend to clog pores. They therefore encourage the appearance of blackheads and pimples...

It's their low cost and stability that encourage manufacturers to include them so abundantly in their formulas.

You can find them on the list of ingredients that must appear on all cosmetic products. They are called :

• - Paraffinum Liquidum
• - Petrolatum
• - Cera Microcristallina
• - Ozokerite
• - Ceresin
• - Mineral oil
• - words with -methicone or -siloxane
•  

Fortunately, your skin is not condemned to mineral oils. They are excluded from the specifications of organic cosmetics, due to their very negative environmental impact. Because even if they are not toxic to the skin, their impact on the environment is disastrous, from the extraction methods used to their release into the environment. Non-biodegradable, a petroleum-based cosmetic product, once rinsed off, ends up polluting the ocean...