Eucerin Original Healing Cream is a time-tested formula that helps heal and protect extremely dry, sensitive, and compromised skin.Provides moisture to help heal extremely dry, compromised skinNon-comedogenicFragrance and dye free
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Ingredients overview
Water, Petrolatum, Mineral Oil, Ceresin, Lanolin Alcohol, Phenoxyethanol, Piroctone Olamine
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Highlights
#alcohol-free #fragrance & essentialoil-free
Alcohol Free
Fragrance and Essential Oil Free
Emollient: Petrolatum, Mineral Oil, Lanolin Alcohol
Emulsifying: Lanolin Alcohol
Preservative: Phenoxyethanol, Piroctone Olamine
Solvent: Water, Mineral Oil
Viscosity controlling: Ceresin, Lanolin Alcohol
Skim through
| Ingredient name | what-it-does | irr., com. | ID-Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water | solvent | ||
| Petrolatum | emollient | ||
| Mineral Oil | emollient, solvent | 0, 0-2 | |
| Ceresin | viscosity controlling | 0, 0 | |
| Lanolin Alcohol | emollient, emulsifying, viscosity controlling | 0, 0-2 | |
| Phenoxyethanol | preservative | ||
| Piroctone Olamine | preservative |
Eucerin Original Healing Cream
Ingredients explainedWater
Also-called: Aqua | What-it-does: solvent
Good old water, aka H2O. The most common skincare ingredient of all. You can usually find it right in the very first spot of the ingredient list, meaning it’s the biggest thing out of all the stuff that makes up the product.
It’s mainly a solvent for ingredients that do not like to dissolve in oils but rather in water.
Once inside the skin, it hydrates, but not from the outside - putting pure water on the skin (hello long baths!) is drying.
One more thing: the water used in cosmetics is purified and deionized (it means that almost all of the mineral ions inside it is removed). Like this, the products can stay more stable over time.
Petrolatum
Also-called: Petroleum jelly, Vaseline | What-it-does: emollient
The famous Vaseline orPetroleum Jelly. Just like mineral oil, it is also a by-product of refining crude oil, aka petroleum, and it is also a mixture ofhydrocarbons but with bigger (C18-90+) carbon chain length.
The unique thing about petrolatum is that it is the most effective occlusive agent known today. While the occlusivity of mineral oil is in the same league as the occlusivity of plant oils, petrolatum is in a league of its own. It sits on top of the skin and hinders so-called transepidermal water loss (TEWL) like nothingelse.
This comes in handy healing cracked lips or severely dry skin patches, though overdoing it (i.e. reducing TEWL by more than 40%) isnot good as it can create a nice moist place for fungi and bacteria to grow.
As for petrolatum and safety, we can write here pretty much the exact same thing as we have written at mineral oil. There is no evidence whatsoever that cosmetic, USP grade petrolatum is carcinogenic. It also does not absorb into the skinbut sits on top of it and that in itself greatly minimises health risks. It also has a long history of safe use, as it was first used as a skincare product more than 100 years ago, in 1872to be precise.
It is also non-comedogenic, though its pure form is very heavy and greasy so combination and oily skin typesmight want to avoid it anyway.
Overall, it is the gold-standard occlusive agent known today and a tub of Vaseline comes in handy in any household to heal cracked lips or other severely dry skin patches.
Mineral Oil
Also-called: Paraffinum Liquidum | What-it-does: emollient, solvent | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0-2
The famous or maybe rather infamous mineral oil. The clear oily liquid that is the "cheap by-product" of refining crude oil and the one that gets a lot of heat for its poor provenance. It is a very controversial ingredient with pros and cons and plenty of mythsaround it. So let us see them:
The pros of mineral oil
Trust us, if something is used for more than 100 years in cosmeticproducts, it hasadvantages. Chemically speaking, cosmetic grade mineral oil is a complex mixture ofhighly refined saturated hydrocarbons with C15-50 chain length.It is not merely a "by-product" but rather a specifically isolated part of petroleum that is very pure and inert.
It is a great emollient and moisturizer working mainly by occlusivity.Occlusivity is one of the basic mechanisms of how moisturizers work and it means that mineral oilsits on top of the skin and hinders so-called trans-epidermal water loss, i.e water evaporating out of your skin. When compared to heavy-duty plant oil, extra virgin coconut oil, the two of them were equally efficient and safe as moisturizers in treating xerosis, a skin condition connected to very dry skin.
The other thing that mineral oil is really good at is being non-irritating to the skin. The chemical composition of plant oils is more complex with many more possible allergens or irritatingcomponents, while mineral oil is simple, pureand sensitivity to it is extremely rare.If you check out the classic French pharmacy brands and their moisturizers for the most sensitive, allergy prone skin, they usually containmineral oil. This is no coincidence.
The cons of mineral oil
The pros of mineral oilcan be interpreted as cons if we look at them from another perspective. Not penetrating the skin but mostly just sitting on top of it and not containing biologically active components, like nice fatty acids and vitamins meanthat mineral oil does not "nourish" the skin in the way plant oils do. Mineral oil doesnot give the skin any extra goodness, it is simply a non-irritating moisturizer working mainly by occlusivity.
The myths around mineral oil
Badmouthing mineral oil is a favorite sport of many, it is a cheap material and being connected to petrolatum makes it fairly easy to demonize.
While it is true that industrial grade mineral oil contains carcinogenic components (so-calledpolycyclic compounds), these are completely removed from cosmetic and food grade mineral oil and there is no scientific data showing that the pure, cosmetic grade version is carcinogenic.
What is more, in terms of the general health effects of mineral oils used in cosmetics, a 2017study reviewed the data on their skin penetration and concluded that "the cosmetic use of mineral oils and waxes does not present a risk to consumers due to a lack of systemic exposure."
Another super common myth surrounding mineral oil is that it is comedogenic. A 2005 study titled"Is mineral oil comedogenic?" examined this very question and guess what happened? The study concluded that "based on the animal and human data reported, along with the AAD recommendation, it would appear reasonable to conclude that mineral oil is noncomedogenic in humans."
Overall, we feel that the scaremongering around mineral oil is not justified. For dry and super-sensitive skin types it is a great option. However, if you do not like its origin or its heavy feeling or anything else about it, avoiding it has never been easier. Mineral oil has such a bad reputation nowadays that cosmetic companies hardly dare to use it anymore.
Ceresin
What-it-does: viscosity controlling, emulsion stabilising | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0
A hydrocarbon waxproduced by the purification of another hydrocarbon wax, ozokerite. Similar to ozokerite, it is mostly used in stick type products to keep them nice and solid.
Lanolin Alcohol
What-it-does: emollient, emulsifying, viscosity controlling | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0-2
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Phenoxyethanol
What-it-does: preservative
It’s pretty much the current IT-preservative. It’s safe and gentle, but even more importantly, it’s not a feared-by-everyone-mostly-without-scientific-reason paraben.
It’s not something new: it was introduced around 1950 and today it can be used up to 1% worldwide. It can be found in nature - in green tea - but the version used in cosmetics is synthetic.
Other than having a good safety profile and being quite gentle to the skin it has some other advantages too. It can be used in many types of formulations as it has great thermal stability (can be heated up to 85°C) and works on a wide range of pH levels (ph 3-10).
It’s often used together with ethylhexylglycerin as it nicely improves the preservative activity of phenoxyethanol.
Piroctone Olamine
What-it-does: preservative
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
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Normal (well kind of - it's purified and deionized) water. Usually the main solvent in cosmetic products. [more] The famous Vaseline orPetroleum Jelly. Just like mineral oil, it is also a by-product of refining crude oil, aka petroleum, and it is also a mixture ofhydrocarbons but with bigger (C18-90+) carbon chain length.The unique thing about petrolatum is that it is the most effective occlusive agent known today. [more] A clear, oily liquid that comes from refining crude oil. Even though it is a highly controversial ingredient, the scientific consensus is that it is a safe, non-irritating and effective emollient and moisturizer working mainly by occlusivity. [more] A hydrocarbon waxproduced by the purification of another hydrocarbon wax, ozokerite. Similar to ozokerite, it is mostly used in stick type products to keep them nice and solid. [more] Pretty much the current IT-preservative. It’s safe and gentle, and can be used up to 1% worldwide. [more] what‑it‑does solvent what‑it‑does emollient what‑it‑does emollient | solvent irritancy,com. 0, 0-2 what‑it‑does viscosity controlling irritancy,com. 0, 0 what‑it‑does emollient | emulsifying | viscosity controlling irritancy,com. 0, 0-2 what‑it‑does preservative what‑it‑does preservative
