I do a deep dive into the ingredients, claims and packaging of over 160 Face Oils on the market in Australia, with the aim to help the everyday consumer make better skincare choices. I expose those deceptively masquerading their products as “all natural” and/or “all organic”, as well as those covering up the inclusion of more sinister ingredients.
As the owner of an organic skincare brand, it really frustrates me when I see other brands promoting their products as “All Natural” or “All Organic” when in fact they’re not. These companies rely on the fact that most people don’t have the time or skills to be able to pick up a product, read its ingredient list and accurately assess whether a company’s marketing efforts are hiding truths.
Knowing my passion for deep ingredient research, and the fact that I’m an avid ingredient label reader, it’s not uncommon for those that personally know me to ask “what about this product?’ or “how does this other product compare to yours?”.
Realising that most people don’t know what even half the ingredients are in the products they’re using, I knew I could help by doing something unheard of in the skincare industry… publish my own competitor analysis to help the everyday consumer see what I can.
So I got to work tidying up my competitor analysis spreadsheet and presenting it in a more user-friendly way... the result is The Face Oil Comparison Chart below. From doing this, I hope you can not only see how other facial oils stack up to my scrutiny, but you also hopefully recognise the immense value my 100% Organic Face & Body Oils offer… after all they’re still THE ONLY FACE OILS in this list that are 100% Organic, 100% Natural and all Carrier Oils utilised are Cold Pressed.
If you’re keen to learn more about my methodology and reasonings for the ratings given, I discuss this after The Face Oil Comparison Chart below.
Firstly, as I’m calling out companies incorrectly promoting their products as “All Natural” or “All Organic”, I think it’s prudent for me to start with my definitions of Natural and Organic.
To me, if an ingredient exists naturally in the natural world, then it can be considered Natural.
Even if that ingredient can be synthesised in a lab, if it’s biochemically identical to the naturally existing compound, then I believe it’s fair to consider the lab synthesised version as natural too.
For example, Ubiquinone (commonly called Coenzyme Q10 or CoQ10) is a naturally occurring, fat-soluble nutrient that is present in almost every cell within the human body. CoQ10 is also naturally present in Avocado 1a, Argan 1b,1c, Camelia 1d, Hazelnut 1a, Sweet Almond 1a and Sunflower Oils 1a 1e.
Ubiquinone/CoQ10 can be synthesised in a lab to be biochemically identical to the compound that exists in nature. Therefore, I classify Ubiquinone (CoQ10), even if it's made in a lab, as a natural ingredient.
Whereas caprylic/capric triglyceride (aka Fractionated Coconut Oil or MCT Oil), is a man-made substance that’s often marketed as “naturally derived” and sometimes even misleadingly promoted as Natural 29. As an ingredient that only exists after being manufactured using extensive processes in a lab, even if it’s synthesised from mostly natural inputs, in my opinion MCT Oil should never be granted the superior status of "Natural" because it simply doesn’t exist naturally anywhere in the natural world.
For Organic, only things that were once living (with a carbon-based structure), grown & processed without the use of synthetic substances (like fertilisers and pesticides) can be considered organic. This means that despite being allowed in organic certifications, natural ingredients like Water, Minerals (eg salt) and Clays are NOT Organic as they were never living and do not possess a carbon based structure.
NaturalvsSynthetic
Don't let the big cosmetic companies fool you... There is simply no human (or robot) on this planet capable of replicating the complexities of the compound combinations found in nature.
Big pharma and big cosmetic companies are well aware of this fact, after all, the drugs and compounds they develop are ALL designed to mimic naturally occurring substances. But instead of praising Mother Nature, these companies manipulate the truth to convince you that their lab/man-made substances are superior to Mother Natures.
In reality though, Mother Nature is the true pinnacle of chemists… Whilst man has learnt how to extract, hijack, reverse engineer and replicate individual substances found in complex organisms, we simply do not have the skill or know how to build entire living organisms from the DNA level up yet. Until such a time, in my view, Mother Nature will remain the superior chemist.
When you come to understand this and that our bodies have spent thousands upon thousands of years evolving to know how to process naturally existing compounds, you start to understand that when you throw a “new” man/lab made compound in the mix (the ones that have only been invented within the last 100 years), our bodies essentially have no idea how to process it. As a result, these foreign synthetic and unfamiliar substances tend to be rejected by our skin and bodies. We see this rejection play out in the form of irritations, allergic reactions and disease.
What’s more, man/lab made imitations of the natural compounds (including all “Naturally derived” compounds) tend to be ineffective, bio-unavailable and nutrient poor as singular compounds can't work in isolation, and they don’t possess the synergistic nutrient complexities that exist alongside the Natural versions.
It’s little wonder our skin has been getting progressively worse since the advent of modern day skincare products… particularly water-based products like creams, lotions, gels and serums (learn more about why water is harmful to our skin here).
To disguise the inclusion of synthetic & toxic ingredients in their "Natural" products, manufacturers use a myriad of tricks...
Many manufacturers rely on the fact that people perceive the word “Vitamin” to mean “natural”. However, there are both natural and synthetic versions of vitamins.
Tocopherol (aka Vitamin E) is one such Vitamin that often gets mistaken for being natural, when in fact it can be both natural and synthetic.
Natural versions of Vitamin E contain the “D” prefix in their name and are often labelled accordingly. For example, you’ll see natural Vitamin E in ingredient lists as:
Natural Vitamin E is naturally present in many cold pressed plant oils including Apricot Kernal Oil, Avocado Oil, Argan Oil, Blueberry Seed Oil, Camelia Seed Oil, Hazelnut Oil, Hemp Seed Oil, Jojoba Oil, Macadamia Oil, Nigella Sativa (Black) Seed Oil, Pomegranate Kernel Oil, Red Raspberry Seed Oil, Rosehip Oil, Sweet Almond Oil and Sunflower Oil.
It’s also worth noting that whilst Natural Vitamin E is approved for use in organic products under some organic certification standards, due to the way it’s manufactured (not grown) Natural Vitamin E itself cannot be considered an organic ingredient. Meaning, a product containing added Natural Vitamin E can be 100% Natural, but it can never be 100% Organic.
Synthetic Vitamin E contains the “DL” prefix in their name and is often listed in a product’s ingredient list as one of the following:
Synthetic Vitamin E is derived from petroleum and is NOT biochemically identical to the natural form. Meaning the synthetic form of Vitamin E does not exist in nature, and therefore should NOT be considered natural.
And just like most synthetic compounds, studies show that Synthetic Vitamin E is much less bioavailable than Natural Vitamin E 30 . Which means manufacturers need to use higher concentrations of it in their formulations to obtain the same benefit as Natural Vitamin E (leaving less room for other natural and more nutritious ingredients).
Unless a product’s ingredient list specifically states they use a natural form of Vitamin E, you can assume they’re using Synthetic Vitamin E simply because it's much much cheaper.
is another good example of where manufacturers get away with using a synthetic version and hope their customers mistake the word “Vitamin” to mean natural.
For many years cosmetic companies have incorrectly claimed that their oil-based products like Face Oils or Body Butters contain Vitamin C. The problem with this is that Vitamin C, along with the B group of vitamins, are not soluble in oil – they’re only soluble in water 2, 3. So it’s simply NOT POSSIBLE for Vitamin C (or the B Complex Vitamins) to naturally be present in an Oil-based product.
Knowing that customers were wising up to this fact, recently manufacturers have started including synthetic fat-soluble forms of Vitamin C in their products.
Examples of the synthetic fat-soluble forms of Vitamin C include:
These compounds are created by man, in a lab, and do not exist in the natural world. Therefore, no fat/oil soluble form of Vitamin C can be considered natural.
In fact, if you do happen to come across an oil-based product that’s advertised to contain Vitamin C, or any of the B group vitamins, alarm bells should sound... because this indicates that the manufacturer is using synthetics, or they’re knowingly / unknowingly lying. Which is worse?
What’s wrong with Petroleum & Coconut Oil based ingredients?
Petroleum ingredients are ingredients that are made from highly refined and processed non-renewable crude oil (the same oil they make petrol, diesel and plastic from), and consist of predominantly long chain saturated hydrocarbons. Because of their molecule size and saturation, petroleum ingredients are not absorbed by the skin (unless your skin is damaged/broken) and offer your skin zero nutritional value. Rather, these ingredients are generally designed & used to ‘lock-in’ moisture by creating a waterproof, or occlusive, layer on top of your skin. Meaning, these substances are designed to sit on top of the skin until they are washed or wiped away… which can make you feel greasy, suffocate the skin and lead to clogged pores or irritations.
So why are these ingredients added to skincare? Because they’re cheap!
Some manufacturers claim it’s because they can improve the texture and skin feel of a product. But if manufacturers were truly chasing these benefits for their products, and if they truly cared about your skin instead of their profits, there are nutrient dense natural alternatives they could use instead.
Moreover, because they’re often not fully refined, there are many concerns that petroleum ingredients can also contain volatile and toxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) 27. "PAHs exhibit endocrine-disrupting properties, influencing hormone levels and disrupting reproductive health, correlating with fertility issues, adverse birth outcomes, and developmental abnormalities" 27a. In fact, because of these risks, the European Union classifies many petroleum ingredients containing PAHs as carcinogenic and restricts their use in cosmetics 28.
There are many Petroleum based ingredients used in cosmetics, including:
Another cheap ingredient manufacturers tend to favour is Coconut Oil (Cocos Nucifera Oil). Much like petroleum ingredients, Coconut oil also has a very high proportion (>85%) of long chain saturated fatty acids that are not easily absorbed by the skin. And this means, just like petroleum ingredients, Coconut oil tends to sit on top of the skin until its washed or wiped away… which again can make you feel greasy, suffocate the skin and lead to clogged pores or irritations.
To get around the absorption issues, manufacturers are increasingly using derivates of coconut oil instead. Examples of coconut oil derivates include:
My issue with these derivatives is that none of them are truly natural (see my comments on Naturally Derived Ingredients below), and the chemical procedures used to create them destroys the nutritional content present in the raw ingredients.
Squalene (with an “e”) is a natural moisturiser produced in the human body and is one of the main components in the skin’s natural sebum. As an oil soluble compound, Squalene is naturally found in both animals and plants.
In fact, Squalene is naturally found in the following plant oils used in Oasis Black Organic Face & Body Oils:
Production of Squalene within the human body slows with age, so cosmetic manufactures love to promote its addition to their products. Though unfortunately, when isolated and removed from the protective cellular environments that it naturally develops within, Squalene becomes quite unstable. This makes it hard for manufacturers to separate and bottle pure Squalene as a standalone ingredient. So, synthetic Squalane (with an “a”) was developed (in a lab) to give skincare manufacturers a more shelf stable option.
Squalane (with an “a”) is a hydrogenated (aka chemically altered) version of Squalene (with an “e”) and is NOT biochemically identical to the highly prized Squalene.
Squalane (with an “a”) does not exist in the natural world and in fact the body must convert Squalane to Squalene in order to utilise it. Making Squalane much less effective than naturally occurring Squalene. Therefore, Squalane (with an “a”) should only be recognised as a synthetic compound and should never be granted the superior status of “Natural”.
In addition to the inclusion of Squalane, synthetic Vitamin E or Vitamin C, here are some other techniques manufacturers use to hide the inclusion of un-natural substances in products.
The terms “natural origin”, “naturally derived” or “plant derived” are often used to describe ingredients that have been created in a lab and do not exist naturally in nature. As otherwise, if these “naturally derived” ingredients were truly natural ingredients, manufacturers would simply be able to call them natural from the start.
You’ll often see these types of ingredients listed with “(from X)” appended to the end of the ingredient’s name, where X represents a natural ingredient. Eg “(from coconut)”.
Despite generally being made from mostly (not always) natural inputs, the resulting “naturally derived” ingredients go through vast chemical processes and modifications that they don't endure in the natural world. Therefore, "naturally derived" ingredients cannot and should not be considered natural.
For example Coconut oil (a Natural ingredient) is often used to make the popular “Naturally Derived” ingredients Caprylic/Capric triglyceride and Coco-Caprylate/Caprate. Despite being derived 'from coconut', these two ingredients are manufactured using complex chemical reactions involving other substances and many processes. Neither of these two ingredients exist in the natural world, they are both synthetically made, and hence they cannot be considered natural 22, 29
Plus, as only a few specific components of the raw ingredients are used in the manufacturing of these derivatives, the resulting synthetic substances lack the nutrient dense profiles of the raw materials… This makes them, in my opinion, nothing more than cheap, nutrient poor, synthetic filler ingredients.
There are thousands of chemicals used in “fragrance/parfum”, most of which are synthetic compounds derived from petroleum and are known hormone disrupters 23, 24.
Unless a company states their “Fragrance/Parfum” is made purely from natural essential oils, we can assume the fragrance/parfum they’re using is synthetic and definitely not natural.
By law, no natural ingredient can be patented or trademarked.
If you spot a ® or ™ symbol next to an ingredient in an ingredient list, then you’ll immediately know that ingredient is not natural because only synthetic ingredients can patented and trademarked.
Most people assume that if a product is certified Natural or Organic then that product is 100% Natural or 100% Organic. But unfortunately, unless it’s a single ingredient product, this is often not the case.
Almost all Organic/Natural Certification bodies allow non-natural, non-organic, synthetic and petroleum derived ingredients to be used in the products they certify (as otherwise they'd have very few clients).
For example, of the over 160 products I analysed, 18 products claim they’re Certified Organic. However, of these 18 Certified Organic products there’s only one I view as being 100% Organic… meaning 94% of Certified Organic products are NOT 100% Organic. But it gets worse, because more than 60% of these Certified Organic Products aren’t even 100% Natural. Showing that most Organically Certified products aren’t even All Natural let alone 100% Organic!
I’m not alone in my issues with Certifications either… An article published by CHOICE entitled “B Corps: Real change or just more greenwashing?” highlights the growing number of large multinational companies successfully receiving 'green' certifications like B Corp, despite sometimes having “well-documented issues with child labour and human rights abuses in its supply chains.”
Most customers don’t realise that these self-governed certification schemes are also running a business that needs to make profits. And because they’re not regulated or governed by law, these businesses have the power to create and change their own rules to suit theirs or their customer’s needs. For me, until certification bodies are regulated, like what’s being propose in the EU, I believe certifications will continue to mislead customers and therefore should NOT be blindly trusted.
Likewise, company brand names and slogans can also give the impression that their products are all natural, botanical, clean or organic.
For example, there are 26 products in my analysis that contain the words “Natural”, “Organic”, “Clean” or “Botanic” in their Brand or Product Names. Of these 26 products, there are only two that I consider to be 100% Organic, and another five that fit my definition of 100% Natural. Meaning more than 70% of products that sound like they’re Natural/Organic/Clean include artificial fragrances, synthetics and petroleum-based ingredients in their products.
The above examples clearly demonstrate that you can’t rely on certifications, brand or product names when looking for all natural and organic products. Instead, the only reliable method you can adopt is to always check the full ingredient list yourself (the list that shows ALL the ingredients used, not just the "Key Ingredients").
After all, if I hadn’t done the lengthy exercise of individually checking the ingredient lists of more than 160 products in my analysis, I would have missed the five other non-certified products in my analysis that do meet my definition of being 100% Organic!
Manufactures like to add synthetic ingredients for many reasons…
What should you look for?
To maintain healthy and youthful looking skin, we need to be feeding our skin with the most nutrient dense food it knows. For the most part, our skin knows how to utilise, loves and needs topical fats/oils/lipids for optimal health (not synthetics or water-based products - learn why here).
The most highly nutritious oils that offer the most bio-available compounds to our skin are non-comedogenic plant oils that have been Organically farmed and Minimally Processed.
MINIMALLY PROCESSED oils are ones that are as close as possible to their host plant material, with minimal interference and processing from humans. Minimally Processed Essential Oils are extracted using steam (aka Steam Distilled). And Minimally Processed Carrier Oils are obtained by simply squashing/pressing plant matter at cool temperatures (aka Cold Pressed), then lightly filtering the oil to remove sediment/solids.
As a result, Minimally Processed oils are naturally abundant in fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E & K), minerals, essential fatty acids, antioxidants, polyphenols, carotenoids and phytosterols as well as a variety of other beneficial compounds like squalene and CoQ10. So there’s simply no need to add in any inferior synthetics.
Whereas, more common industrial oil processing techniques like heat extraction, solvent extraction, heavy refining, deodorising, bleaching and de-gumming are unnecessarily wasteful (they consume a lot of time, labour & monetary resources) and destructive as they contaminate, strip away and destroy the most beneficial components of the natural raw materials. The result is an oil with a long shelf life... but the cost is nutrient density, wasted resources and/or contamination. Oils treated with these processes are what the health/wellness industry generally refers to as "Seed Oils".
However, as my analysis shows, finding a suitable product isn't easy. Of the more than 160 products I analysed, it was staggering to see that less than 4% of products are 100% Organic, only 25% could be considered All Natural, and only 1.8% can claim that all carrier oils utilised are cold pressed.
And the more expensive the product, the worse these numbers are... particularly the increase in use of synthetics like toxic artificial fragrances and nutrient poor cheap filler (Petroleum and Coconut Oil) ingredients:
This is a really bad result! No wonder so many people have such bad reactions and experiences with other brands face &/or body oils.
And this is exactly why I started Oasis Black in the first place – there was not, and still isn’t, a single other product on the market that is 100% Organic, 100% Natural and all Carrier Oils utilised are Cold Pressed.
But if my Organic Face & Body Oils aren't for you, then the only way to be sure the products you're using don't masque the inclusions of toxic pesticide/fertiliser/solvent residues, synthetics, or nutrient poor cheap filler ingredients, is to always check the FULL INGREDIENT LIST yourself and look for products that are:
A good rule of thumb you can adopt is that if a company doesn’t say their ingredients are 100% natural, organic, cold pressed or steam distilled then it’s safe for you to assume they’re not.
From the products I analysed, the average price/ml is $2.82/ml. You can also see from the charts above that higher prices don't indicate superior products/ingredients... the top 12 most expensive products have higher percentages of synthetics, toxic artificial fragrances and nutrient poor cheap filler ingredients. This suggests that the higher prices you’re paying for these products aren’t a reflection of the quality of the ingredients they use... rather I'd say it's a reflection of how much they spend on marketing.
Given the superior quality of the ingredients I use, it’s hard to imagine that I can keep my Organic Face & Body Oils price well below this average. Though I can achieve this because my operation is small, allowing me to focus on quality over quantity, and I choose not to pay big tech giants advertising fees so I don't need to pass these costs on to you.
With the value my products offer I believe my prices are accessible and more than fair, and my analysis proves this. Yet people consistently ask or expect discounts from me... Yes I could do as others do and artificially inflate my prices simply to satisfy peoples seemingly insatiable need for continuous discounts. But I see this as a deceptive and manipulative tactic – words I hope to never be associated with. Instead, I choose to price my products fairly (so I can earn a reasonable living from this work) and trust that my customers can recognise the immense value in my products without feeling the need to devalue my efforts by demanding discounts.
Not only do “plastic products leach chemicals triggering toxicity” 32, but plastic that accidentally (or intentionally) ends up in the natural environment injures and kills wildlife. So it was pleasing to see the number of products moving away from harmful plastic packaging.
Whilst there are there are several brands offering refill options for their products, there are no other brands offering in-store refills of their products (you can find a list of my stockists offering refills here).
Whilst offering refills has well placed intentions, all the refills I came across in my analysis were packaged in single use soft plastic pouches. From my research, there are no bio-degradable soft plastic pouches available on the market that are suitable to house oils. Furthermore, soft plastics are difficult to recycle (as evidenced by the collapse of REDCycle here in Australia), and are more likely to end up in landfill or polluting the natural environment.
Don't get me wrong, I dislike and avoid plastic packaging as much as possible (and I'm continuously looking for plastic free alternatives to my serum pump caps - so far Vivomer developed by Shellworks has me most hopeful), but if I was forced to choose between soft and hard plastic packaging, I’d choose hard plastic because at least it has a higher chance of being recycled.
It was interesting to note that the most common plant oils used in the products in my analysis are Jojoba Oil, Sunflower Oil and Rosehip Oil. Given its price point, I was surprised to see Rosehip Oil in the top 3 plant oils used in product formulations.
Conversely, the plant oils used least across the products I analysed are Blueberry Seed Oil, Hazelnut Oil and Nigella (Black) Seed Oil. I’m not surprised to see Blueberry Seed Oil as one of the least used oils because next to Red Raspberry Seed Oil it’s the most expensive Carrier Oil I use in my formula. Its price hasn't deterred me from including it in my Oils because it’s one of the most potent anti-aging carrier oils around.
Likewise, Hazelnut Oil is another under-rated carrier oil in my opinion. Including Hazelnut Oil in my formula was essential because of its superior skin tightening, pore minimising and sebum regulating abilities.
When I first started Oasis Black there was virtually no-one else using Black Seed Oil in their skincare formulas. So it's great to see that more people are now aware of it's amazing benefits (learn more about Black Seeds here), particularly for the skin.
Full ingredient list availability was another issue for me. There are many companies in my analysis that make their full ingredient list (INCI preferably) difficult to find. Instead, I noticed a trend of making their 'key ingredient list' prominent, and hiding their full ingredient list elsewhere.
I find this deceptive as it indicates to me that they’ve got something to hide. Some didn’t even display their full ingredient list on their website at all and I had to contact them to obtain it. The biggest culprits were the more expensive “top end” products that only seem to be available through the big department stores and other retailers. Maybe those companies, retailers and department stores are forgetting that it’s illegal not to publish the full ingredient list of a product at the point of sale in Australia 33 (ie on their website when selling online)?
And finally, I couldn’t count the number of times I said “yuck” to myself whilst going through the ingredient lists of the products in my analysis. If it wasn’t the mainly synthetic formulas, then it was the formulas laden with toxic fragrances or nutrient poor, comedogenic and cheap filler ingredients (petroleum or coconut based) that had me screwing up my nose.
The information on this blog constitutes the opinions of the author and is for information purposes only. It is not personal product or medical advice. Please always do your own product and medical research before using a product or following advice.
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