March 29, 2023

Why we avoid mineral oil

At Fountain Cosmetics, we pride ourselves on not using mineral oil in our formulations. Here’s our rundown why:

What is mineral oil?

Mineral oil is a colourless, odourless by-product of petroleum gasoline. It’s lightweight, inexpensive and long been used by the cosmetics industry. You’ll find it listed as paraffin, paraffin oil, petrolatum or liquid paraffin. Cosmetics-grade mineral oil is considered safe by the Australian TGA, the European EUC and the United States FDA. It’s not necessarily a bad ingredient… just not the best choice. Here’s our two cents on mineral oil:

1. Mineral oil is not environmentally sustainable.

We don’t think skincare should cost the earth – literally! Petrol isn’t a renewable resource, and mineral oil is extracted from petroleum. Sure, we could stop driving cars and using anything with plastic, but that’s not realistic in today's world. You know what is realistic? Cutting out mineral oil when it’s just not necessary.

2. Mineral oil really doesn’t do that much for your skin.

Unlike other oils, which actually contain nutrients and vitamins to help and heal your skin, mineral oil just sits on top. Don’t get us wrong, mineral oil is a decent occlusive (occlusive form barriers on your skin, locking in moisture), but that’s all it does. Jojoba oil has occlusive properties too – and it also contains Vitamin E and Vitamin A, helping your skin control oil and renew itself. Jojoba oil is also the closest mimic of the skin’s natural oils, allowing it to penetrate deeply and actually nourish your skin.

What we use instead:

Shea butter: high in oleic acid, an essential fatty acid that is deeply moisturising and holds in moisture once it’s applied. Shea butter reduces inflammation and smooths the skin. You’ll find shea butter in our Total Moisture and Complete Moisture.
Olive-derived squalane: squalane naturally occurs in the skin and absorbs easily into the deeper layers to hydrate from within. Squalane also does double duty as an occlusive, locking in all that precious moisture. You’ll find squalene in our Complete Moistureand Neuro Dream Night Cream.