94 NATURALS
Formulating with sweet almond oil
Sam Greenberg, Jeff Smith - Blue Diamond Almonds Global Ingredients Division, US
Since before the time of ancient Rome, sweet almond oil has been an effective moisturiser and beauty treatment. These civilisations prized beauty at least as much as contemporary populations and the purity of their skin oils, salves and lotions quite literally set the standard for the unadulterated, natural ingredients we use today.
The same rich, therapeutic emollient qualities of pure sweet almond oil that have softened skin and conditioned hair over the centuries continue to add value to health and beauty products today. The growth in beauty products labelled and promoted as “natural” or “all natural” has skyrocketed in the last decade and now represent 41 per cent of the total personal care products market, according to market research firm Nielsen.
This rapid growth is due to increased almond oil demand in the personal care industry. Blue Diamond’s expertise has protected the quality and integrity of its products for over a century. Our commitment to producing only 100% pure sweet almond oil drives the effectiveness and quality when formulating premium cosmetics and personal care products. It connects with our history as a global supplier dedicated to superior quality and service.
Understanding sweet almond oil at a molecular level
While sweet almond oil is beneficial and unique for several important reasons, it is important to first consider what an oil is at its molecular level—this has effects not only to skin-feel, but potentially to skin health, too.
Understanding that an ‘oil’ is a collection
of discrete molecules rather than a discrete substance is helpful when considering how an oil performs. It is a feature of intermolecular activities, not only in an emollient, but also within a greater formulation.
The major component of an oil is the triglyceride. A triglyceride is a compound molecule made up of a glycerin molecule
PERSONAL CARE EUROPE
bonded with three fatty acid molecules. This type of compound molecule is called amphipathic, which means that part of it is hydrophilic (water loving) and the other is lipophilic (oil loving). This fact has important implications in everything from barrier functionality to soap making. The part of the triglyceride which is
hydrophilic is called the glycerin. Glycerin is a chain of carbon atoms attached to three alcohol groups (OH groups) which are polar, they resemble and interact with water molecules (H2
O). In contrast, the parts of
the molecule which are lipophilic are the fatty acids. Fatty acids are long chains of hydrocarbons (RCH2
CH2 …CH2 CH3 ). These
fatty acids can differ from each other in two important ways: in chain length and hydrogen saturation. We experience differences in saturation and chain length in performance. Aside from lauric oils (coconut oil and palm kernel oil) which are useful due to their exceptionally high content of lauric and myristic fatty acids in surfactants, most
vegetable-based fatty acids are 16 or 18 carbons long.
These chains can be saturated, monounsaturated, or polyunsaturated. Saturated means that for each carbon atom on the chain, there is either another hydrogen atom or another carbon atom bonded—all carbons have been saturated with hydrogens. When there is some unsaturation, two adjacent carbon atoms are bonded twice to one another with a double bond, and only once to a hydrogen. Polyunsaturation is when multiple carbon neighbours bond twice with each other instead of being fully saturated with hydrogen. These differences in saturation change the physical structure of these sub- molecules and that can have drastic implications to how we see and feel an oil or butter on our skin. For example, shea butter has a high level of saturation, so the different triglycerides physically stack atop of one another. We see this stacking as a solid fat. In contrast, rosehip seed oil has a
April 2018
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