Highlights
Skim through
| Ingredient name | what-it-does | irr., com. | ID-Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polyisobutylene | |||
| Mineral Oil | emollient, solvent | 0, 0-2 | |
| Tridecane | perfuming | ||
| Ceresin | viscosity controlling | 0, 0 | |
| Ethylhexyl Palmitate | emollient | 0, 2-4 | |
| Mica | colorant | ||
| Talc Powder | abrasive/scrub | 0, 1 | |
| Beeswax | emollient, viscosity controlling, emulsifying, perfuming | 0, 0-2 | |
| Microcrystalline Wax | viscosity controlling | ||
| Phenoxyethanol | preservative | ||
| Titanium Dioxide (Ci77891) | colorant | 0, 0 | |
| Iron Oxide (Ci77491, Ci77492, Ci77499) | colorant | 0, 0 |
AOA Studio Hush Cream Blush - PassionIngredients explained
This ingredient name is not according to the INCI-standard. :( What, why?!
The famous or maybe rather infamous mineral oil. The clear oily liquid that is the "cheap by-product" of refining crude oil and the one that gets a lot of heat for its poor provenance. It is a very controversial ingredient with pros and cons and plenty of myths around it. So let us see them:
The pros of mineral oil
Trust us, if something is used for more than 100 years in cosmetic products, it has advantages. Chemically speaking, cosmetic grade mineral oil is a complex mixture of highly refined saturated hydrocarbons with C15-50 chain length. It is not merely a "by-product" but rather a specifically isolated part of petroleum that is very pure and inert.
It is a great emollient and moisturizer working mainly by occlusivity. Occlusivity is one of the basic mechanisms of how moisturizers work and it means that mineral oil sits on top of the skin and hinders so-called trans-epidermal water loss, i.e water evaporating out of your skin. When compared to heavy-duty plant oil, extra virgin coconut oil, the two of them were equally efficient and safe as moisturizers in treating xerosis, a skin condition connected to very dry skin.
The other thing that mineral oil is really good at is being non-irritating to the skin. The chemical composition of plant oils is more complex with many more possible allergens or irritating components, while mineral oil is simple, pure and sensitivity to it is extremely rare. If you check out the classic French pharmacy brands and their moisturizers for the most sensitive, allergy prone skin, they usually contain mineral oil. This is no coincidence.
The cons of mineral oil
The pros of mineral oil can be interpreted as cons if we look at them from another perspective. Not penetrating the skin but mostly just sitting on top of it and not containing biologically active components, like nice fatty acids and vitamins mean that mineral oil does not "nourish" the skin in the way plant oils do. Mineral oil does not give the skin any extra goodness, it is simply a non-irritating moisturizer working mainly by occlusivity.
The myths around mineral oil
Badmouthing mineral oil is a favorite sport of many, it is a cheap material and being connected to petrolatum makes it fairly easy to demonize.
While it is true that industrial grade mineral oil contains carcinogenic components (so-called polycyclic compounds), these are completely removed from cosmetic and food grade mineral oil and there is no scientific data showing that the pure, cosmetic grade version is carcinogenic.
What is more, in terms of the general health effects of mineral oils used in cosmetics, a 2017 study reviewed the data on their skin penetration and concluded that "the cosmetic use of mineral oils and waxes does not present a risk to consumers due to a lack of systemic exposure."
Another super common myth surrounding mineral oil is that it is comedogenic. A 2005 study titled "Is mineral oil comedogenic?" examined this very question and guess what happened? The study concluded that "based on the animal and human data reported, along with the AAD recommendation, it would appear reasonable to conclude that mineral oil is noncomedogenic in humans."
Overall, we feel that the scaremongering around mineral oil is not justified. For dry and super-sensitive skin types it is a great option. However, if you do not like its origin or its heavy feeling or anything else about it, avoiding it has never been easier. Mineral oil has such a bad reputation nowadays that cosmetic companies hardly dare to use it anymore.
A hydrocarbon wax produced by the purification of another hydrocarbon wax, ozokerite. Similar to ozokerite, it is mostly used in stick type products to keep them nice and solid.
A super common, medium-spreading emollient ester that gives richness to the formula and a mild feel during rubout. It can be a replacement for mineral oil and is often combined with other emollients to achieve different sensorial properties.
A super versatile and common mineral powder that comes in different particle sizes. It is a multi-tasker used to improve skin feel, increase product slip, give the product light-reflecting properties, enhance skin adhesion or serve as an anti-caking agent.
It is also the most commonly used "base" material for layered composite pigments such as pearl-effect pigments. In this case, mica is coated with one or more metal oxides (most commonly titanium dioxide) to achieve pearl effect via the physical phenomenon known as interference.
Talc is the major component of most powder makeup products (think face powder, eyeshadows, and blushers) that usually contain it up to 70%. Its two winning properties that make it very suitable for this role is its outstanding spreadability for a smooth application and its low covering power, aka translucency to avoid clown-like effects.
Chemically speaking, it is a clay mineral (hydrated magnesium silicate) that is mined in several countries. The drawback of mined minerals is potential impurities and the version used in cosmetics has to be white (not gray like cheaper grades), free from asbestos, sterilized and have thin plates for a maximum slip.
It's the yellow, solid stuff that you probably know from beeswax candles. It's a natural material produced by honey bees to build their honeycomb.
As for skincare, it's used as an emollient and thickening agent. It's super common in lip balms and lipsticks.
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
It’s pretty much the current IT-preservative. It’s safe and gentle, but even more importantly, it’s not a feared-by-everyone-mostly-without-scientific-reason paraben.
It’s not something new: it was introduced around 1950 and today it can be used up to 1% worldwide. It can be found in nature - in green tea - but the version used in cosmetics is synthetic.
Other than having a good safety profile and being quite gentle to the skin it has some other advantages too. It can be used in many types of formulations as it has great thermal stability (can be heated up to 85°C) and works on a wide range of pH levels (ph 3-10).
It’s often used together with ethylhexylglycerin as it nicely improves the preservative activity of phenoxyethanol.
Ci 77891 is the color code of titanium dioxide. It's a white pigment with great color consistency and dispersibility.
Red Iron Oxide is the super common pigment that gives the familiar, "rust" red color. It is also the one that gives the pink tones in your foundation. Chemically speaking, it is iron III oxide (Fe2O3).
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| what‑it‑does | emollient | solvent |
| irritancy, com. | 0, 0-2 |
| what‑it‑does | perfuming |
| what‑it‑does | viscosity controlling |
| irritancy, com. | 0, 0 |
| what‑it‑does | emollient |
| irritancy, com. | 0, 2-4 |
| what‑it‑does | colorant |
| what‑it‑does | abrasive/scrub |
| irritancy, com. | 0, 1 |
| what‑it‑does | emollient | viscosity controlling | emulsifying | perfuming |
| irritancy, com. | 0, 0-2 |
| what‑it‑does | viscosity controlling |
| what‑it‑does | preservative |
| what‑it‑does | colorant |
| irritancy, com. | 0, 0 |
| what‑it‑does | colorant |
| irritancy, com. | 0, 0 |