Undercover Petroleum

It's petroleum's turn...

Petroleum: black, dark brown or greenish liquid found in porous rock formations in the earth. The American Petroleum Institute, in its Manual of Petroleum Measurement Standards (MPMS), defines it as "a substance, generally liquid, occurring naturally in the earth and composed mainly of mixtures of chemical compounds of carbon and hydrogen with or without other nonmetallic elements such as sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen." (1)

Also known as:

Crude Oil

Bitumen

Petrol

Vaseline (brand name)

References

1. Petroleum

2. Green and Chic

Undercover Mineral Oil

There are quite a number of individuals that prefer to stay away from products that contain high levels of petroleum, mineral oil, and silicones.

So later those individual try a product and the results are unexplainable and undesirable...what happened?

What if one of those ingredients that you have been avoiding is hidden with a product but listed under another name. Knowing all the names associated with an ingredient that you are using can be beneficial to your regimen and product choices.

First up: Mineral oil

Mineral oil or liquid petroleum is a by-product in the distillation of petroleum to produce gasoline and other petroleum based products from crude oil (1).

Also known as:

white mineral oil	paraffin oil
Liquid petroleum	Liquid paraffin
Nujol	white oil
paraffinum liquidum	Petrolatum
Paraffin wax	gelatinous petroleum
frigol	kremol
kaydol	alboline
paroleine	Saxol
adepsine oil	glymol
lignite oil	Heat-treating oil
Hydraulic oil	Cable oil
Lubricating oil	Oil mist
refined mineral	mineral oil mist
oil mist	mineral
severely refined	Uvasol
oil, petroleum	clearteck
drakeol	hevyteck
filtrawhite	blandol white mineral oil
carnea 21	Ervol
gloria	hydrocarbon oils
peneteck	primol
triona b	blandlube
crystosol	Molol
protopet	bayol f
crystol 325	fonoline
bayol 55	kondremul
neo-cultol	penreco
perfecta	petrogalar
primol 355	primol d
tech pet f	Petroleum hydrocarbons
jute batching oil	Mineral oil, aromatic
Mineral Seal Oil	Electrical Insulating Oil
Mineral oil hydrocarbon solvent (petroleum)
Mineral oil (saturated parrafin oil)

I must say that this list is ridiculous. It seems like a lot to go through to disguise mineral oil. I am not sure if there are certain terms are only used in cosmetics but better safe than sorry.

References

1. Mineral Oil, Wikipedia

2. What is Mineral Oil

3. The Dangers of Mineral Oil

4. Mineral Oil Cosmetic Toxin Data

5. Why Arbonne Does Not Use Mineral Oil

Aloe Gro Treatment REMIX

Recall the Aloe Gro Treatment video that I found on YouTube. Well, I really liked it but because of lack of proper ingredients, I had to get creative when I mixed up the next batch. It still feels awesome!! So now I believe that as long as you have the water and organic aloe-you can substitute the essential oils to suit your hair care needs.

Here's what I mixed:

1.5 Cup Organic Aloe Vera Gel

1 Cup Water (distilled)

6 Drops Rosemary EO (Pregnant women should not use this EO)

10 Drops Peppermint EO

5 Drops Tea Tree EO

Product Ingredients

Per a suggestion from the Curly Chemist, Dajewel, on Curly Nikki, I went through some of my products that are currently in my house and wrote down the top five ingredients. This was to see what ingredients they have in common and they way those products with commonalities respond to my hair.

The products on this list that I don't like or can live without include:

Mane N Tail Shampoo

Soft & Precious Detangling

Organics Shea Butter Detangling Hair Lotion

The one I love include:

All the oils listed

Giovanni Tea Tree Triple Treat

As for ones not mentioned; I am still shopping around for that "wow" product in that category.

This list will be of great help when I am out shopping around for products. Prior to creating this list I would look for ingredients with water high on the list and no mineral oil or petroleum. Keeping my eye out for those few things did help some I am looking forward to going shopping better armed with knowledge. So when my financial fast ends I will put this to the test :)

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Purity Terms

I believe that if we are armed with the right knowledge that we all can make wiser decisions that can benefit us as individuals. I have never been one to just "listen" to what people tell me, you gotta provide me with evidence. So today I came across a few contradicting YouTube video and decided to do some research on my own about the terms used to describe the purity of oils and which one is "better."

Unrefined: the oils are just that—left in their virgin state after pressing. These oils tend to be rich, robust and ‘true' in their flavors; also much richer in nutrients.

Pure Virgin: Virgin means the oil was produced by the use of physical means and no chemical treatment. The term virgin oil referring to production is different from Virgin Oil on a retail label

Refined: means that the oil has been chemically treated to neutralize strong tastes (characterized as defects) and neutralize the acid content. Refined oil is commonly regarded as lower quality than virgin oil; the retail labels extra-virgin olive oil and virgin olive oil cannot contain any refined oil.

I have used all types of Olive Oil and in my opinion....there was not a difference in my hair. Now this is specifically for my hair. There may be someone out there that can tell a difference with the different ways to press oil. It's good to know what I am and what I am not paying for.

Whipped Shea Butter

I attempted to make my first batch of whipped shea butter today. Normally I just add a little oil to shea and use it that way--not whipped.

This time I actually whipped it with a mixer until it reached a thick creamy consistency. My goal was to create something both my husband and I could use on our hair and body.

I made a small batch since this is my first time. I wanted to make sure it's something we love before I make more. I mixed: Shea butter, Coconut Oil, Africa's Best Ultimate Herbal Oil, and Olive oil. Hopefully, we will know in about a week whether or not this is going to work for us.

So far, it feels nice...

Hair Friendly Alcohols, Yes! They do exist!

When I first started on my better hair care journey I kept hearing over and over to stay away from products that contain alcohol. But to my discovery not all alcohols are bad for your hair. Here's the scoop:

There are a such thing as "hair friendly" alcohols. They are different from the ones that are found in various finishing sprays. These hair friendly alcohols are referred to as fatty alcohols They include: cetyl alcohol, cetearyl alcohol, stearyl alcohol, and myristyl alcohol.

Cetyl Alcohol: is a fatty alcohol that, at room temperature, takes the form of a waxy white solid or flakes. The name cetyl derives from the whale oil (Latin: cetus) from which it was first isolated. Cetyl alcohol is used in the cosmetic industry as a surfactant in shampoos, or as an emollient,emulsifier or thickening agent in the manufacture of skin creams and lotions.

Cetearyl alcohol: a mixture of fatty alcohols, consisting predominantly of cetyl andstearyl alcohols; It is used as an emulsion stabilizer, opacifying agent, and foam boosting surfactant, as well as an aqueous and nonaqueous viscosity-increasing agent. It imparts an emollient feel to the skin and can be used in water-in-oil emulsions, oil-in-water emulsions, and anhydrous formulations. It is commonly used in hair conditioners and other hair products; it is an emulsifying wax, made by combining fatty alcohols from vegetable sources, such as coconut alcohol. It can also be made artificially. It is used in many cosmetics as an emollient, thickening agent, moisturizer, emulsifier, stabilizer, opacifier as well as a carrying

agent for other ingredients. It is a substitute for making lotions if you don't have emulsifying wax as well.

Stearyl alcohol: is a substance prepared fromstearic acid by the process of catalytic hydrogenation. It is a fatty alcohol. It takes the form of white solid granules or flakes which are insoluble in water, with a melting point of 60 °C and boiling pointof 210 °C; It has a wide range of uses as an ingredient in lubricants,resins, perfumes and cosmetics. It is used as an emollient, emulsifier, and thickener in ointmentsof various sorts, and is widely used as a hair coating in shampoos and hair conditioners. Stearyl alcohol is even used as a liquid solar blanket in swimming pools by forming a molecule thick layer on the surface of the water and slowing the evaporation rate of the pool water.

Myristyl alcohol: also referred to as 1-Tetradecanol; used as an ingredient in cosmetics such as cold creams for its emollient properties.

Resources

How To Select A Moisturizing Conditioner

Fatty Alcohol

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