Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating Mineral oil

  • Mineral oil

    Posted by danielyau on March 25, 2015 at 2:19 am

    what will be the best substitute for Mineral oil to maintain texture of Creams? 

    Look for good suggestions. thanks
    danielyau replied 8 years, 11 months ago 6 Members · 14 Replies
  • 14 Replies
  • bobzchemist

    Member
    March 26, 2015 at 2:10 pm

    The first question for you is why you want to stop using mineral oil? (If you want to stop using petrochemicals, for example, it would be silly for me to recomend a different petrochemical)

  • danielyau

    Member
    March 27, 2015 at 1:45 am

    Thanks Bob. Customers are rejecting Mineral Oil in the formulation/packaging labels as they are taught this is not healthy to skin, pores get stuck with it. they want products free of Mineral oil. will 

    bobzchemist

    Member
    March 27, 2015 at 2:51 pm

    If you’re just doing this for consumer concern, then cost will probably be a big issue. Mineral Oil is probably the cheapest oil on the planet, so you are going to have to be careful - most substitutes are at least 3 times the cost. I’d look in to other petrochemicals first - polyalphaolefins, polyisobutenes, hydrogenated polyisobutene, maybe even polybutylene glycol.

    If you are trying to maintain the same skin feel as mineral oil, then CETYL ETHYLHEXANOATE (SCHERCEMOL™ CO) will not be a good choice. Oddly enough, it’s because that ester is a better ingredient - it has a much nicer, dryer, non-oily skin feel than mineral oil.
    If I were you, I would take this opportunity to pitch the idea of making a better, more elegant-feeling product while you have to change out the mineral oil anyway. It’s actually a much harder project to match the performance/feel of mineral oil than it is to improve the performance/feel of mineral oil.
  • braveheart

    Member
    March 27, 2015 at 9:57 pm

    What about vegetable glycerine?

    Won’t it be a good substitute?
  • belassi

    Member
    March 27, 2015 at 11:26 pm

    Glycerine being a polar ingredient I don’t think will give the result. The CO ester is at the wrong end of the table, it’s too light. Maybe Schercemol 1688 or ICS. I’ve got some SHS here and it certainly leaves an oily film on the skin like mineral oil would but it’s semi-solid.

  • danielyau

    Member
    April 13, 2015 at 5:10 am

    Will Capryl/Capric Triglyceride a good substitute for mineral oil to match same texture?

  • CosChemFan

    Member
    April 13, 2015 at 5:42 am

    Cetiol G16S (Eutanol Hexyldecyl Stearate) could be an option. I also use Isoeicosane. It’s just not as heavy, but feel wise it’s pretty similar I think. I use both in different lotion formulas with great results. Isoeicosane has a very satiny feeling going on and not greasy.

  • chemist77

    Member
    April 13, 2015 at 6:04 am

    @danielyau while considering the substitues for the mineral oil, have you got the margin for the cost adjustment in the formula. The suggestions made here are at least twice as costly nd it may run to 5 or 6 times of the cost of the paraffin liquid.
    Just a thought!!!!!!

  • bobzchemist

    Member
    April 13, 2015 at 3:03 pm
    @danielyau, It will be almost impossible to match the feel of mineral oil without using a blend of emollients to do so.


    If you really need to match, and not improve, the feel of mineral oil, then your best bet is the Lipovol MOS series, from Lipo. These are blends of esters Lipo came up with specifically to replace the feel and performance of mineral oil (MOS = Mineral Oil Substitute). There are three grades, to match the three most common grades of mineral oils used in cosmetics: MOS-70, MOS-130, MOS-350:

    http://www.lipochemicals.com/products/lipovol-mos-350


    Another good alternative is Permethyl 102A (Isoeicosane) from Presperse, blended with some Permethyl 104A (Polyisobutene), with the amount of 104A needed depending on the viscosity of the mineral oil you are trying to replace.

  • belassi

    Member
    April 13, 2015 at 5:41 pm

    @danielyau:

    Capric/caprylic triglycerides (Myritol 318 in my stock) is great stuff but not as a substitute for mineral oil. It absorbs really fast leaving a ‘dry’ feel whereas mineral oil just sits on the skin feeling greasy and stains things you come into contact with. They have totally different sensorials and action. If I am looking to make a cream that passes actives into the dermis, I use triglycerides.
  • danielyau

    Member
    April 14, 2015 at 3:02 am

    Thanks for all your suggestions. How about using Cetyl Ethylhexanoate + Caprylic/Capric Triglceride to replace mineral oil?

  • bobzchemist

    Member
    April 14, 2015 at 2:03 pm

    @Danielyau, at this point, all I can say is “try it and see”. 

    I know the people at Lipo who developed their MOS blends, and I know that they spent several hundred lab-hours trying to perfect those blends. (This was back when the controversy over Mineral Oil first started, and the companies scrambling to replace Mineral Oil needed a dead-on perfect replacement). If you need to replace Mineral Oil yourself, you can either use the results of their work, or spend the same amount of time in your lab replicating their work.
    As a starting point, you are going to need a heavy, greasy, non-absorbent emollient mixed with at least one light, spreadable emollient.
    Good luck.
  • belassi

    Member
    April 14, 2015 at 3:46 pm

    No. Try SHS (Isostearyl Hydroxystearate) and capric/caprylic triglycerides instead.

  • danielyau

    Member
    April 15, 2015 at 1:53 am

    Appreciate much for all suggestions and will work on it to find out best solution. thank you.

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