Mineral oil and petrolatum: names, purity grades, vegan question

Few ingredients divide opinion like mineral oil. To some it is the safest moisturizer ever made; to others it is "petroleum on your skin". Both camps are reacting to the same four label names. This post explains what they are, where they appear in the products we have checked, what the EU requires of them, and why they pass a vegan check even though they come from the ground.

The four names

All four are hydrocarbons refined from crude oil. They differ only in how heavy they are:

• Paraffinum Liquidum, called Mineral Oil on US labels: a clear liquid. In 420 of our products under the INCI name, 592 by label text once the English name is included.
• Petrolatum, the semi-solid jelly: 319 products under the INCI name, 342 by label text. Vaseline is a brand of it.
• Cera Microcristallina, microcrystalline wax: 139 products. A fine-grained wax used to thicken creams and balms.
• Paraffin, the harder paraffin wax: 216 products.

Paraffinum Liquidum and Paraffin are not the same ingredient, even though the names look alike: the first is the liquid oil, the second is the solid wax, and a cream can contain both. Together, some version of the family appears in 1,200 of our 14,065 products, most of all in body moisturizers (125), face creams (51), lip balms (49) and hand creams (48). Nivea Creme, Vaseline, Bi-Oil and most cold creams are built on them.

Why formulators use them

Mineral oil and petrolatum are occlusive: they sit on the skin and slow water loss better than almost any plant oil. They do not oxidize, so they do not go rancid, and they do not need antioxidants. They are cheap, colourless and odourless, and they contain nothing a skin can react to, which is why dermatology has used petrolatum as the standard barrier ointment for a century. That last point is also why they turn up so often in products labelled for sensitive skin.

The trade-off is feel. They can be heavy and shiny, they do not absorb, and they do nothing for the skin beyond holding water in. Whether that is a plus or a minus depends on what you want from a cream.

The purity question

The concern people raise is contamination: crude oil contains aromatic compounds that are not something you want on skin. Cosmetic grades are refined to remove them. The EU sets this as a condition of use: Annex II of the Cosmetics Regulation prohibits petrolatum and mineral oils unless the full refining history is known and it can be shown that the starting material is not a carcinogen. In practice, what goes into a European cream is pharmaceutical-grade material meeting pharmacopoeia purity standards, which is the same grade used in medical ointments.

So "petroleum on your skin" is true in origin and misleading in substance. The ingredient in the jar is a highly purified fraction, not crude oil, and the EU rule exists precisely to make sure of that.

Are they vegan?

Yes. Mineral oil, petrolatum and the two waxes are refined from petroleum, which is a fossil material. No animal is involved. Our vegan check does not flag any of them.

This surprises people, because a product like Nivea Creme is built on mineral oil and still fails the vegan check. The fail comes from a different ingredient, lanolin alcohol; the mineral oil is not the problem. Of the 1,200 mineral-oil products in our data, 376 fail the vegan check, always because of something else on the list, 786 come back not sure because of dual-source ingredients such as glycerin, and 38 pass outright. Vaseline Lip Therapy is one of the ones that pass.

Some vegan and "natural" brands avoid mineral oil because it is a fossil product, which is an environmental choice rather than an animal one. A vegan mark and a mineral-oil-free claim are separate things.

Lip balms: where petrolatum does its best work

Petrolatum's strongest case is the lip balm. Lips have no oil glands of their own, so an occlusive layer is exactly what they need, and petrolatum provides it without fragrance or plant allergens. Vaseline Lip Therapy Cocoa Butter passes our vegan check. Carmex Classic is built on petrolatum too but fails, because it adds lanolin. Same base, different verdict, and the difference is one ingredient.

Reading the label

• Position matters here more than usual. Paraffinum Liquidum in second place means an oil-based cream; in tenth place it is a minor emollient.
• Mineral Oil and Paraffinum Liquidum are the same ingredient under US and EU naming. Petrolatum sometimes appears as Petroleum Jelly or Vaseline on older labels.
• "Mineral oil free" claims usually mean plant oils or esters such as isopropyl myristate took its place. Neither is better by default.
• Products that use the family: Nivea Creme, Bi-Oil, Mussvital body milk.

FAQ

Is mineral oil comedogenic?

Cosmetic-grade mineral oil is one of the least likely ingredients to clog pores in standardized tests, despite its reputation. The heavy feel is real; the pore-blocking is mostly myth.

Is petrolatum the same as Vaseline?

Vaseline is a brand name for petroleum jelly, which is petrolatum. On an ingredient list the INCI name is always Petrolatum.

Is mineral oil natural?

It is refined from a natural raw material, crude oil, but it is not a plant ingredient and does not qualify for most natural or organic certifications.

Does mineral oil fail your vegan check?

No. Nothing in this family comes from an animal. If a mineral-oil product fails, another ingredient caused it, and the product page names which one.