-
Oil Free Claims
Hello,
I have seen many product with the term “Oil Free” which is obviously a marketing term. My question is what do they consider as “oil”?Would something like PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil still be considered an oil?
Thanks
-
30 Replies
-
Since “Oil-Free” is a marketing term, it can mean anything you want … obviously, if the INCI has the word “Oil” in it, you would think it would be ironic to list this on the LOI and still claim “Oil-Free”
The real question is: Who is the “they” you are referring to? You can determine for yourself what you consider to be an oil.
-
If you are asking about a general trend, oil free usually assumes the product (moisturizer?) is made with light dry-feel esters, rather than veg/synthetic oils. Could also be cyclomethicone (oil free foundation). It’s not scientific obviously.
-
@MarkBroussard
@ngarayeva001
Thanks for the replies. I’m pretty sure I now have an idea of the vague constraints which I will have to work within. -
Yeah, pretty much avoid any ingredient with the term “oil” in it. You would be hard-pressed to convince consumers your product is oil free when it has an ingredient with the word Oil in it. And some beauty blogger/influencer would likely call you out on it.
People have a hard time convincing consumers their products are “alcohol free” (ethanol) when including an ingredient like Cetyl Alcohol.
-
Oil free is great as long as ‘natural’ isn’t an issue. Esters don’t have the word oil in the INCI.
-
@Perry We refer our customers to this FDA website https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/cosmetics-labeling-claims/alcohol-free to help them understand how our alcohol free deodorant containing cetearyl alcohol is considered alcohol free. -
Can paraffin or PG considered as oil?
-
Quite seriously … If the INCI does not have the word “Oil” in it then you can “marketing claim” that it is not an oil. But, No, neither Paraffin or PG are considered oils.
-
Funny enough, some beauty bloggers confuse PG with oil and they spread this misconception. It probably feels “oily” to them for the lack of understanding of what glycols are. I am talking about things like the ordinary’s 3% ferulic acid and 3% resveratrol in PG (three ingredients). Heard that several times. It comes in a context that one must apply waterbased serums before oil-based serums.
-
I just imagined an oil-free product with hydrocarbons like squalane. So oil-free
-
I’ve seen “oil-free” products lately that include shea butter in their ingredients lists. I guess a butter isn’t an oil……
-
Doesn’t oil free really mean they are talking about silicones? Originally!
-
There are ‘oil-free’ foundations as well. And since most foundations are w/si oil free foundations are made with D5 instead of other silicones.
-
@ngarayeva001
oil free is not meaning that there is no oil in the formula.
but it means that the cream absorbs so quickly and leave very little oil that can not be noticed -
What you are describing is referred to as a “Dry Oil” formula.
“Oil-Free” formulas as supposed to be exactly that, formulas that do not contain any oil.
Neither of these are Freedom Formulations.
-
@MarkBroussard
Origins has oil-free products that still have oils and Shea butter with small %And large amount of silicone
I do not see any cream without oil -
@MarkBroussard, although I am against safe spaces and all up for 1st amendment (it’s an open club and everyone is free to say what they want), it’s still not good when an expert with 20+ years (as I assume from some of your posts/comments) of experience trolls a hobbyist. You see, it’s extremely discouraging and a person might think that they are not good enough and would be afraid to ask a question again (which I suspect is going on). Let’s share knowledge and encourage others.
Having said that sepiplus 400 is such a $..%t! -
@Dtdang, the point is that the “oil-free” claim is nonsense. This is something marketers do but replacing vegetable oils to Isopropyl Myristate and calling it oil-free is deceiving the customer. By the way, if you want to see a “cream” without oil, look at any hair conditioner. You can make a conditioner without a drop of oil, and in fact without silicones either. Water, fatty alcohols, cationic emulsifier. And it will look like a cream and even feel slippery.
-
Who’s trolling? … I am explaining the difference between a Dry Oil formula and an Oil Free formula … It’s not a matter of anyone being afraid to ask a question, it’s a matter of people posting incorrect information … that doesn’t help anyone. If you are not sure of your facts, then do some research and post factual information or ask a question if you are uncertain. Easy enough to do.
@Dtdang: It looks like Origins does not consider essential oils to be oils … since Oil-Free is not a legal definition, that’s their prerogative. They can claim it, but strictly speaking, their product is not Oil-Free.
-
@MarkBroussard What is a Freedom Formula? Is that another way of saying free from?
-
MarkBroussard said:Who’s trolling? … I am explaining the difference between a Dry Oil formula and an Oil Free formula … It’s not a matter of anyone being afraid to ask a question, it’s a matter of people posting incorrect information … that doesn’t help anyone. If you are not sure of your facts, then do some research and post factual information or ask a question if you are uncertain. Easy enough to do.I didn’t see any issue. Mark was refining fuzzy “marketing” terms into useful Formulating concepts. Science is meant to be challenging and one should always be able to defend their argument and also to cite VALID references. I would not be derogatory, but I would not also water down my Science to avoid challenging people. Mark has provided enough Guidance for the person to do their research in a credible manner.
-
@MarkBroussard thanks a lot. I appreciate your inputs. I am very limited knowledge about formulation.
For Free oil concept , what ingredients are used to substitute oils? What emulsifier?thank you very much in advance
-
natzam44 said:Hello,
I have seen many product with the term “Oil Free” which is obviously a marketing term. My question is what do they consider as “oil”?Would something like PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil still be considered an oil?
Thanks
First, do a quick survey to see if your prospective customers actually care about oil-free claims.
Most often they don’t. -
Dtdang said:@MarkBroussard thanks a lot. I appreciate your inputs. I am very limited knowledge about formulation.For Free oil concept , what ingredients are used to substitute oils? What emulsifier?
thank you very much in advance
Just follow a very simple rule: If an ingredient has the word “Oil” in its INCI name, don’t include it in your product if you want to claim “Oil Free” … it is not universally applicable, for instance, Squalane is an oil, but does not have oil in the name, but it probably covers 90% of the possible ingredients.
Generally, the issue people are looking for with an “Oil Free” claim are products that do not contain any carrier oils. So, instead of carrier oils and other ingredients with the word “Oil” in its name, instead use other emollients … IPM, for instance.
The second point is that “Oil-Free” is purely a marketing term, so you don’t have to be 100% on this … as you noted above, Origins’ products contain essential oils, but they claim “Oil-Free”You can make “Oil-Free” creams with BTMS. Olivem 1000 and some other emulsifiers. Just add the emulsifier to your heated water phase and homogenize just as you do when you have oils in your formula.
-
These are all great points!
I never imagined that this question would spark such a discussion
Log in to reply.