Skin occlusive performance: Sustainable alternatives for petrolatum in skincare formulations

The emollients are important ingredients used in skincare formulations that can act as moisturizing agents through their occlusive potential, preventing skin water loss. Consumer interest in natural and sustainable products has grown considerably in the last few years, requiring efforts from the cosmetic industry to design products with raw materials of natural, organic, and sustainable origin. Thus, it is essential to improve the knowledge about the behavior of cosmetic raw materials that can be used as sustainable alternatives to synthetic ingredients.

This work aimed to evaluate the occlusive performance of different vegetable oils used as emollients in skincare cosmetics, through comparative analysis with petrolatum, a synthetic emollient with a high occlusive skin potential.

The study included 80 healthy female adult volunteers. TEWL measurements were performed before and after 15 min, 2 and 6 h of emollients application on the forearms of the research participants. All research participants provided written informed consent.

The results obtained showed that the vegetable oils were effective in providing an occlusive effect on the skin. When compared to the petrolatum, the vegetable oils did not provide a high immediate skin occlusion effect. However, most of them showed a skin occlusion performance comparable to petrolatum throughout the 6 h time course.

Vegetable oils can be used as a sustainable alternative to synthetic emollients, and they are promising in replacing petrolatum in skincare formulations with respect to the occlusion effect of the skin. The vegetable oils did not provide a high immediate skin occlusion effect (15 min post-application) as the petrolatum, which is known to have increased occlusion properties. However, most of them showed a skin occlusion performance comparable to petrolatum throughout the 6-hour time course.