Does mineral oil cause zits

May

When you`ve been in the beauty business long enough you learn that you can`t believe everything you read. Take the information about mineral oil from this website for example. They make many claims about the evils of mineral oil. It`s suggested that big companies use mineral oil because it`s inexpensive even though they know it is dangerous and can cause disease and acne.

When you come across information like this you should always ask yourself, what is the motivation for writing it? And surprise, surprise the people writing this information are trying to sell you skin products that don`t contain mineral oil. They use this scare tactic to convince their consumers not to buy from mainstream skin product manufacturers but instead buy from them.

The truth is mineral oil is a perfectly safe ingredient that has been used in skin products for many years. It acts as a barrier on the skin and helps to prevent moisture loss. There is no scientifically valid evidence that it dries the skin, causes premature aging, or even removes vitamins from the skin. The one knock against mineral oil is that there has been some evidence that mineral oil is comedogenic, that is, it causes acne.

But now scientists have made the discovery that mineral oil won`t give you zits! In this study published in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, Joseph DiNardo found that the cosmetic grade of mineral oil used in beauty products is not comedogenic. What the authors of this study suggest is that consumers should look for products that claim to be non-comedogenic not mineral oil free.

Before you fall into the trap of believing everything you read ask yourself, why would these authors write something positive about mineral oil? Well, they are scientists who are investigating a question and endeavoring to get something published in a premiere scientific journal. This isn`t easy either because their evidence is scrutinized by other scientists in the field. Their conclusions aren`t biased by the fact that they are trying to sell you their product. And that lack of bias and scrutiny of their peers makes the information much more believable.

9 Responses to “Does mineral oil cause zits”

avalange Says:

Hello ladies,

I just wanted to add that a valid objection to mineral oil is a political one (despite the fact that it makes me break out, instantly, all over my body): because it is a refined petrochemical. The main point is that the petrochemical industry wants to make the most efficient use of all of its waste products, and the creation of mineral oil is one of its ‘treated’ waste products. of course it is refined and treated enough now to be considered non comedogenic, but in fact the FDA only doesn’t stringently regulate grades or degrees of refinement–again, due to lobbying by the petrochemical industry’s commercial offshoots. I know it is thebeautybrains’ job to debunk popular myths and conspiracy theories about products, but i think it is important for you guys as well to help us make informed choices that also take into account provenance and political history. The bottom line is that cosmetic companies never went up to the petrochemical industry begging them to treat one of their waste refinery products with enough chemicals to formulate a cosmetic-grade ingredient. and there are SO many other ingredients out there that provide the same barrier qualities as mineral oil. so yes, whereas it is a relatively anodyne cosmetic product, i tend to avoid it and anything marketed to me by the most powerful lobbying interest in the world (including propylene glycol).
–avalange
thebeautybrains Says:

Mineral oil is regulated to the point that the material is non-carcinogenic. The stuff used for beauty products is not regulated to be non-comedogenic (acne causing). It is only made that way because that’s the only thing cosmetic companies will buy.

There really aren’t SO many other ingredients that provide the same barrier qualities as mineral oil. In fact, when companies make new raw materials, mineral oil is always the one they compare it to because it is the best performer. Seriously, with the bad press that mineral oil gets cosmetic companies would be perfectly happy finding alternatives that work as well.

As far as the political angle goes, people are buying gas, so by-products like mineral oil are just left over. There is no extra oil mining going on to get mineral oil. Have you stopped driving a car?

And what about organic products produced from land that could be used to create FOOD for people instead of wasted on growing organic crops for your cosmetics? What’s more important, food to feed the hungry of the world or organic crops to sprinkle in your body lotion? If you want to point out horrible political & social issues think about how we’re wasting farm land for frivolity.
jess Says:

im still confused. does it make you break out or not?
Nicole Says:

From my knowledge on mineral oil, it is a great mositure barrier as it does lock moisture in. But, not every skin type needs it’s mositure locked in. A great time to use a mineral oil based product, or petrolum jelly is when your skiing and don’t want to get wind burned.

There are many other skin compatable oils that affect skin types differently. Again it’s all about the ingredients and what they are activated to perform.

In a way cosmetic manufactures could be biased as well, the more products they can produce at a reduced cost the more revenue.

I can’t imagine mineral is more expensive then oils like grape seed oil or jojoba. I think you can buy a bottle of mineral oil in the store for under $3 and grape seed oil for about $5-$7

So maybe there is some trueth to mineral oil being less expensive then other skin compatable oils?

Just my 2 cents
thebeautybrains Says:

Jess,
No, mineral oil does not make you break out.

Nicole,
You’re right. Mineral oil is cheaper than things like some natural oils. At least it was. With the way oil prices have increased, the price of petroleum derivatives are way up.

But still cheaper than naturals so big companies are more inclined to use the ingredient over natural oils. There just hasn’t been a good economic or performance reason to switch. When there is, big companies may switch.
Barbara Says:

I am floored. Just finding this information posted on this website makes me cringe. thebeautybrains actually promoting mineral oil as safe and effective and not causing other issues lets me know that you have not only NOT done your research well, but that you might have an another motive?? Oh wait, look at the right hand side of my screen!!?! A LIST of health and beauty supplies that are full of petrochemicals.

The studies have been done by companies other than beauty companies, think again. Check out toxicology reports from those very UNBIASED doctors, students, and researchers from Cornell University and Oxford University. Those are two places for you to start. There is a SLEW of info available from sources that are NOT trying to sell you anything.

I think that you will find that thebeautybrains is full of crap to keep her advertisers happy.

B
thebeautybrains Says:

@Barbara,

You’ve got a lot of nerve spewing your hatred and filling our site with your ad hominem attacks. You don’t know the Beauty Brains and you obviously don’t have an open mind that could look at all the science before coming to your biased conclusions.

Please provide real references for your sources. We’d be happy to look at any new science that we haven’t seen and make our own conclusions.
Michelle Says:

does mineral oil (paraffin liquidium) cause spots?? in my experience YES!!

i am aged 23 years old and have slightly oily skin

as a teenager i did not have acne and my parents, siblings or grandparents have NEVER has problems with spots

reaching the age of around 20 from reading magazines and gaining more interest in beauty products i started to use moisturisers, cleansers and face washes

around the age of 21 i got a few spots on my face, which eventually became acne. i read up on this and went to my doctors and they suggested using antibacterial oil-free products.
i bought every product under the sun, the ones which worked for me were the oil free products, so i gathered that my spots were caused from excess sebum.

from then on i used oil free products which worked a treat, my acne cleared up and i only got a spot now and again.

in the same year i got acne i went on holiday and i also had trouble with prickly heat, i learnt this is where your pores get blocked in the sun and sweat cannot be released from your skin causing a rash, i found it was certain aftersuns that blocked my pores and gave me prickly heat. one product that didn’t give it to me was garnier soothing aftersun milk.

every year after the prickly heat incident i used the garnier product and never got it again!

i have recently been on another holiday and again i used ganier but a SPRAY version, half way into the holiday i got prickly heat!!!

i thought what is different?? surely it is the same product?? NO!! the only ingredient that is different is Mineral Oil! i intstantly stopped using it and the prickley heat went.

when i realised that mineral oil was causing my pores blocking on my body i thought it may have the same affect on my face, so i decided to go out and buy oily face moisturisers but avoid products with mineral oil….

And WOW!!! my face has never been better, really moisturised and spot free

i hope this helps other people because i glad i did my research

at the end of the day it blocks my pores so i am sure it will block other peoples too
thebeautybrains Says:

@Michelle – Thank you for your story. Every person is different so anyone can have a reaction to an ingredient that most other people have no problems with. When studied under scientifically controlled circumstances mineral oil was demonstrated not to cause acne. Most people will not have a problem with it.