Cosmetic Ingredient Awareness: mineral oil

Mar 24, 2011

Krystal C.

The first time I heard of mineral oil, my friend had bought a bottle to help his horribly bad sun burn... I don't know what he was trying to accomplish. I was looking into skincare products online, and while reading the descriptions, they mentioned the products have no mineral oil. I didn't know that products even had mineral oil in them. So I began searching what mineral oil was and is used for and why cosmetics use it. The information I found is a bit confusing - pretty much the mineral oil ingredient is not harmful unless you have an allergy to it or you use that product everyday of your life.
I don't know... based on what I found, I'm not going to go out of my way to avoid products that have mineral oil, but I will better understand why some products will not keep me as hydrated as they claim to. Below is some interesting information I found:

(courtesy of Wikipedia)
A mineral oil or liquid petroleum is a liquid by-product of the distillation of petroleum to produce gasoline and other petroleum based products from crude oil.
Mineral oil is generally safe for human contact and consumption and has been approved by the FDA in personal care and cosmetic products, as well as for an additive for food to 10 mg/kg of daily consumption.
Mineral oil is a common ingredient in baby lotions, cold creams, ointments and cosmetics. It is a lightweight inexpensive oil that is odorless and tasteless. It can be used on eyelashes to prevent brittleness and breaking and, in cold cream, is also used to remove creme make-up and temporary tattoos. One of the common concerns regarding the use of mineral oil is its presence on several lists of comedogenic substances. These lists of comedogenic substances were developed many years ago and are frequently quoted in the dermatological literature. A study reported in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology (2005) found that the type of highly refined and purified mineral oil found in cosmetic and skincare products is noncomedogenic (does not cause acne).

(courtesy of Healthy-Communications.com)
The allergic reactions can become quite serious in time leading to arthritis, migraine, hyperkinesis, epilepsy and diabetes.
The fact that mineral oil does not penetrate the skin well makes it inappropriate for use in an absorption base in a skin cream of any kind. In fact, mineral oil-containing cosmetics can produce symptoms similar to dry skin by inhibiting the natural moisturizing factor of your skin. Petrolatum, paraffin or paraffin oil and propylene glycol are other common cosmetic forms of mineral oil.
Has tendency to dissolve the skin's own natural oil and thereby increase dehydration. Mineral oils have been found to be probably the single greatest cause of breakouts in women who use a new product.
- - -
http://beautybykrystalc.blogspot.com/2011/03/cosmetic-ingredient-awareness-mineral.html