Mink oil is an oil used in medical and cosmetic products. It is obtained by the rendering of mink fat which has been removed from pelts bound for the fur industry. [1]
In spite of the term on products labeled “mink oil“, many commercial versions of so-named leather conditioner contain no natural mink oil.
Mink oil is a source of palmitoleic acid, which possesses physical properties similar to human sebum. Because of this, mink oil is used in several medical and cosmetic products. Mink oil is also used for treating, conditioning and preserving nearly any type of leather.
Botanical alternatives to mink oil as a source of palmitoleic acid include macadamia oil (Macadamia integrifolia) and sea buckthorn oil (Hippophae rhamnoides), both of which contain as much or more palmitoleic acid (17% and 19–29% respectively) than does mink oil (17%). [2] [3]
Mink oil and its fatty acids are unique among animal-derived fats and oils.[ how? ] The unsaturated fatty acids in mink oil account for more than 75% of its fatty acid content, but the oil, nevertheless, has a greater oxidative stability (resistance to rancidity) than other animal or vegetable oils. [4] [5]
Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are oils extracted from seeds or from other parts of edible plants. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are mixtures of triglycerides. Soybean oil, grape seed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of seed oils, or fats from seeds. Olive oil, palm oil, and rice bran oil are examples of fats from other parts of plants. In common usage, vegetable oil may refer exclusively to vegetable fats which are liquid at room temperature. Vegetable oils are usually edible.
An unsaturated fat is a fat or fatty acid in which there is at least one double bond within the fatty acid chain. A fatty acid chain is monounsaturated if it contains one double bond, and polyunsaturated if it contains more than one double bond.
Oleic acid is a fatty acid that occurs naturally in various animal and vegetable fats and oils. It is an odorless, colorless oil, although commercial samples may be yellowish due to the presence of impurities. In chemical terms, oleic acid is classified as a monounsaturated omega-9 fatty acid, abbreviated with a lipid number of 18:1 cis-9, and a main product of Δ9-desaturase. It has the formula CH3−(CH2)7−CH=CH−(CH2)7−COOH. The name derives from the Latin word oleum, which means oil. It is the most common fatty acid in nature. The salts and esters of oleic acid are called oleates. It is a common component of oils, and thus occurs in many types of food, as well as in soap.
Hair conditioner is a hair care cosmetic product used to improve the feel, texture, appearance and manageability of hair. Its main purpose is to reduce friction between strands of hair to allow smoother brushing or combing, which might otherwise cause damage to the scalp. Various other benefits are often advertised, such as hair repair, strengthening, or a reduction in split ends.
Hippophae is the genus of sea buckthorns, deciduous shrubs in the family Elaeagnaceae. The name sea buckthorn may be hyphenated to avoid confusion with the unrelated true buckthorns. It is also referred to as sandthorn, sallowthorn, or seaberry. It produces orange-yellow berries, which have been used over centuries as food, traditional medicine, and skin treatment in Mongolia, Ladakh, Russia, Ukraine, and northern Europe, which are its origin regions.
In biochemistry and nutrition, a monounsaturated fat is a fat that contains a monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA), a subclass of fatty acid characterized by having a double bond in the fatty acid chain with all of the remaining carbon atoms being single-bonded. By contrast, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have more than one double bond.
Shea butter is a fat extracted from the nut of the African shea tree. It is ivory in color when raw and commonly dyed yellow with borututu root or palm oil. It is widely used in cosmetics as a moisturizer or lotion. It is edible and is used in food preparation in some African countries. It is occasionally mixed with other oils as a substitute for cocoa butter, although the taste is noticeably different.
Hippophae rhamnoides, also known as sea-buckthorn, sandthorn, sallowthorn or seaberry, is a species of flowering plant in the family Elaeagnaceae, native to the cold-temperate regions of Europe and Asia. It is a spiny deciduous shrub. The plant is used in the food and cosmetics industries, in traditional medicine, as animal fodder, in horticulture, and for ecological purposes.
Palmitoleic acid, or (9Z)-hexadec-9-enoic acid, is an omega-7 monounsaturated fatty acid (16:1n-7) with the formula CH3(CH2)5CH=CH(CH2)7COOH. It is a rare component of fats. It is a common constituent of the glycerides of human adipose tissue. It is present in all tissues but, in general, found in higher concentrations in the liver.
Macadamia oil, also known as macadamia nut oil, is a non-volatile oil extracted from the nuts of the macadamia tree, indigenous to Australia. This oil is used in culinary applications as a frying or salad oil, and in cosmetics for its emollient properties and as a fragrance fixative.
Rose hip seed oil is a pressed seed oil, extracted from the seeds of the wild rose bush Rosa rubiginosa in the southern Andes. Rosehip seed oil can also be extracted from Rosa canina, a wild rose species native to Europe, northwest Africa, and western Asia. The fruits of the rosehip have been used in folk medicine for a long time. Rosehips have prophylactic and therapeutic actions against the common cold, infectious diseases, gastrointestinal disorders, urinary tract diseases, and inflammatory diseases.
Sea buckthorn oil is a red-orange oil derived from sea buckthorn plants. The most commonly used species for this purpose is Hippophae rhamnoides. Species belonging to this genus accumulate lipids in the mesocarp, so the oil can be extracted from either the seeds or the pulp.
Vaccenic acid is a naturally occurring trans fatty acid and an omega-7 fatty acid. It is the predominant kind of trans-fatty acid found in human milk, in the fat of ruminants, and in dairy products such as milk, butter, and yogurt. Trans fat in human milk may depend on trans fat content in food. Vaccenic acid was discovered in 1928 in animal fats and butter. Mammals convert it into rumenic acid, a conjugated linoleic acid, where it shows anticarcinogenic properties. Cows milk had highest trans-vaccenic acid content in the first few days of the cows being milked, indicating that it is stockpiled similarly to omega-3 fatty acids.
Marula oil is extracted from the kernels (nuts) of the fruits of the Marula tree, from the family Anacardiaceae. There are two types of marula oil, the oil extracted from the seeds and the oil extracted from the nut's hard shell. Marula oil is traditionally used in cosmetics, in food as a cooking oil and meat preservative and to treat leather. Marula oil can also be used as body lotion. In Namibia Marula fruit is processed into a range of juices, jellies and jams.
Crocodile oil is extracted from the fatty tissues of crocodiles. Crocodile fat is a product of commercial farming, evident in Thailand. Historically, for centuries crocodile oil has been used by traditional practitioners across the globe, including Chinese Traditional Medicine, Southeast Asia, Ancient Egypt. Crocodile oil was found to be used since the 19th century for different purposes in different cultures. Due to the oil's components, its richness in monounsaturated and Polyunsaturated fats, it is today commonly used as ointment for treatment of skin conditions, skin structure enhancement, collagen deposition, and medicine for illnesses. In recent times, the use of crocodile oil has invited criticism from the use of crocodile oil as there is an increased demand for cruelty-free and vegan-friendly beauty products in consumers of today's society.
Omega−7 fatty acids are a class of unsaturated fatty acids in which the site of unsaturation is seven carbon atoms from the end of the carbon chain.
In chemistry, a fatty amine is loosely defined as any amine possessing a mostly linear hydrocarbon chain of eight or more carbon atoms. They are typically prepared from the more abundant fatty acids, with vegetable or seed-oils being the ultimate starting material. As such they are often mixtures of chain lengths, ranging up to about C22. They can be classified as oleochemicals. Commercially important members include coco amine, oleylamine, tallow amine, and soya amine. These compounds and their derivatives are used as fabric softeners, froth flotation agents, corrosion inhibitors, lubricants and friction modifiers. They are also the basis for a variety of cosmetic formulations.
Hair oil is an oil-based cosmetic product intended to improve the condition of hair. Various types of oils may be included in hair oil products. These often purport to aid with hair growth, dryness, or damage.
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