30 MEN’S GROOMING
Cold pressed seed oils enhance men’s skin care
n Matthew Taylor - Statfold Seed Oils, UK
The choice of which oils to use when developing a new product for a men’s skin care range is something that is not always given major consideration. With consumer demands for male products to not appear feminine, along with brand owners and retailers wanting to work to ever tighter price points, it is all too easy to fall back on the tried and tested oils; those that are readily available stock materials, cost effective and will not have senior management querying the necessity of bringing a new raw material in to stock. With an ever-growing market and
increasing diversity to the male skin care segment, with the rise of the ‘lumbersexual’ and ‘spornosexual’1
alongside the
established ‘metrosexual’, then it might be time to consider changing your go-to base oil and looking to add some focused and functional marketing oils. There is a vast and diverse array of seed oils to choose from, which, when viewed at their most basic level of being ‘just’ oils, can lose their uniqueness. When considering them in this way the arguments for greater formulation diversity and a more focused use of these key functional ingredients can become more difficult to justify than it perhaps should be. By taking a more in depth look at seed oils it soon becomes clear that they can offer a range of benefits to any oil containing product. Every oil has its own unique fatty acid profile, energy content, mineral and vitamin composition, all of which means each individual oil can bring its own specific range of benefits to any given formulation.
Male skin care requirements Before looking at which oils might best be suited for use in male focused products, it is worth looking at the specific requirements of men’s skin compared to women’s. There are some fundamental differences between male and female skin biology which could have a bearing on the choice and quantity of oil used. Male skin is typically about 25% thicker than female skin and thins gradually with age, whereas female skin remains a constant thickness until about the
PERSONAL CARE ASIA PACIFIC age of 50.2 Male skin also has a higher
The greater hydration of male skin could also be attributed to the fact it produces greater quantities of sebum compared to female skin. Another consideration is the negative effect the higher levels of testosterone can have on male skin, it may lead to higher rates of psoriasis and atopic dermatitis in men compared to women,3
along with slowing
down skin barrier repair after damage. Higher levels of testosterone, along with DHT, have also been implicated as major factors that impede wound healing.4, 5
This
is a potentially important consideration for male facial care products due to the regular shaving carried out by many men, which can lead to frequent small nicks and cuts to the skin.
Along with the physiological requirements that can be taken into consideration when looking at oils for male skin care products, there are also aspects of the male psyche that should not be forgotten, things like hassle-free products, brand loyalty and the continued use of products that work. With 65% of men being interested in taking care of their skin and 40% who make time to
collagen density and higher sebum production, along with a thicker stratum corneum than female skin, male skin generally appears to be better hydrated than female skin which might be an effect of the higher lactic acid content in male sweat.3
take care of their appearance6 it makes
sense to promote products that meet as many of these traits as possible, while also being perceived as masculine.
Choosing your oil With such a wide and varied range of oils available to choose from, the hardest decision can be which one to use. One way of ruling out a wide range of oils can be as simple as; are they perceived as masculine? This could have an immediate effect on oils such as evening primrose (Oenothera biennis), safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) and rosehip (Rosa canina), while these oils all have their benefits they may not appeal to a male consumer, so may not have a positive impact on a decision to purchase. Other factors such as cost are important considerations, the higher cost of some newer emerging oils that are coming ‘on trend’ could have an impact on their use. Oils like Amazonian cacay (Caryodendron orinocense) and prickly pear which is also known as Barbary fig (Opuntia ficus indica) are both great oils for men’s products with their light dry feels and beneficial compositions, however the high cost of these oils is likely to be prohibitive to them being used at appreciable levels in anything other than premium products. What follows are a few oils that we believe can be used to enhance male skin care products, ranging from the widely used almost commodity oils to the more exotic South American ‘super grain’ oils which are relatively under-utilised, and while these oils do vary in price it should be possible to include any of them in products at more than ‘tip in’ levels.
Black seed
Black seed oil (Nigella sativa) Black seed (also known as black cumin) oil is a rich, darker coloured oil that has a very pleasant warm spicy aroma, of all the oils we are looking at this is the most aromatic, and when included at around 5% or above in a product the aroma can still be appreciated. Black seed has been used for millennia, and was widely utilised by the ancient Egyptians and even found in
November 2017
©spline_x/Fotolia
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96
