Database/Emollient/Red Petrolatum
100% petroleum · ISO 16128

Is Red Petrolatum natural?

No. Semi-solid hydrocarbon mixture obtained directly from petroleum residual-oil dewaxing; no renewable fragment.

INCI nameRed Petrolatum
CAS8009-03-8
FunctionEmollient · Moisturising
FeedstockRed Petrolatum is a petrolatum grade refined from…

How we scored it

Petrolatum: dewaxed paraffinic residual oil fraction, saturated hydrocarbons above C25; entirely fossil petroleum feedstock, per this site's convention on petrolatum/mineral oil.
What counts. ISO 16128-2 scores the atoms that remain in the final ingredient. Reagents, solvents, catalysts and protecting groups used during manufacture leave no mass behind and are not counted.

Where it comes from

Red Petrolatum is a petrolatum grade refined from paraffinic residual crude oil, consisting of saturated hydrocarbons above C25, with natural porphyrin pigments left in for UV-filtering colour. The entire hydrocarbon mass is fossil petroleum-derived.

In plain English

A reddish form of petroleum jelly used as a skin-protecting emollient and mild UV filter. It comes directly from refining crude oil, not from plants or minerals.

CosIng definition: Petrolatum. A complex combination of hydrocarbons obtained as a semi-solid from dewaxing paraffinic residual oil. It consists predominantly of saturated crystalline and liquid hydrocarbons having carbon numbers predominantly greater than C25

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References

  1. 1ISO 16128-1:2016 and ISO 16128-2:2017 — Guidelines on technical definitions and criteria for natural and organic cosmetic ingredients and products. ISO, Geneva.
  2. 2RED PETROLATUM. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  3. 3RED PETROLATUM. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=RED%20PETROLATUM