Hot and greasy was yesterday! Vegetable oils – the upgrade for our skin and every care product.

In this article you will learn why vegetable oils can care for the skin in a particularly gentle way.

Most people now know that vegetable oils are suitable for much more than cooking, frying and baking. In skin care, the trend in recent years has been increasingly moving towards vegetable oils. Awareness of caring for one's own body has grown immensely in recent years and the use of cosmetics with mineral oil derivatives and silicone oils, which will damage the skin, is becoming increasingly unattractive, because mineral oils are obtained by distilling petroleum. And who wants petroleum on their skin or in their own cosmetics these days?
In addition to the use of vegetable oils in natural cosmetic care products, we here at SheaThomé have also noticed an increased demand for vegetable oils for direct skin care.
Anyone who relies on the use of vegetable oils for skin care has a wide range of natural treasures at their disposal that can work wonders when used correctly. Let's take a closer look at this exciting topic.

Vegetable oils versus mineral oil derivatives and silicone oils – how do these components affect the skin?

The crucial difference between a natural cosmetic product and a comparable conventional cosmetic product lies in the selection of oil components . While the manufacturers of conventional cosmetics rely on the use of silicones and mineral oil derivatives, in natural cosmetics these are replaced by vegetable oils, fats and waxes.
Since it is generally known that the use of natural cosmetics cares for the skin more gently and effectively, the question arises to what extent these two components affect the skin.

Mineral oil derivatives and silicone oils have the advantage of giving creams and lotions the lightness and silkiness that we value so much. They only have a very light smell, which makes it possible to smell the care product pleasantly.

How does our skin behave when we apply a conventional care product containing mineral oil derivatives and silicone oils?

Mineral oil derivatives and silicone oils are synthetic fats. These lie like an impermeable film on the skin, which means that the evaporating water from deeper layers of the skin cannot be released into the air and builds up under this “film”. This effect is called the occlusive effect . The result is a swelling of the stratum corneum and a temporary smoothing of the top layer of skin (epidermis). With the help of the occlusive effect, anti-aging effectiveness can be advertised.
The problem with a severe occlusion is that the skin is practically cut off from the outside world and does not receive any regulatory impulses to control its own processes. It is normal and necessary for the skin to lose water. This is the only way the skin is stimulated to produce its own water-binding substances. But the accumulated water gives the skin the signal that these processes are not necessary - and that is devastating misinformation.

The occlusive effect should by no means be considered entirely bad. To a small extent, this effect causes the skin's water loss to be delayed because the process of transepidermal water loss - i.e. the release of water into the air - is slowed down. But as soon as the occlusive effect reaches such an extent that small wrinkles appear to be smoothed, the normal skin processes are disturbed - and we don't want to achieve a disturbed skin condition with our skin care, right?

How does our skin behave when we apply a care product with pure vegetable oils?

Unlike mineral oils and silicones, vegetable oils and fats do not remain as an impermeable film on the surface of the skin. Thanks to their affinity - the similarity to the skin's own lipids - vegetable oils are absorbed by the skin and incorporated into the skin's metabolic process . This not only supports the skin's own processes; In addition, the skin's barrier layer is also stabilized. The vegetable oils act like an upgrade for the skin by expanding and supporting the skin with valuable fatty substances. The added value of vegetable oils and fats lies in the fatty acids they contain and the fat accompanying substances (e.g. tocopherols). Due to the already mentioned similarity of vegetable oils to the skin's own lipids, the active ingredients of vegetable oils can penetrate deeper layers of the skin and nourish the skin from the inside out. In the upper layer of the skin, plant oils and their accompanying substances act as elementary components of the skin's barrier layer and are incorporated into the stratum corneum as an integral part of the cell membrane.

In summary, we can now say that, unlike mineral oil derivatives and silicone oils, vegetable oils do not form an impermeable film around the skin. Due to their similarity to the skin's own fats, they can be broken down by enzymes and incorporated into the skin's metabolism. This is not the case with mineral oil derivatives and silicone oils - and let's be honest: that's a good thing. In addition, due to the wide range of vegetable oils available to us, we can cover an ideal fatty acid spectrum for every skin type. But more on that in a later post.

What experiences have you had with using or processing vegetable oils for body care? Let us know and feel free to share your experiences in a comment.