Jojoba Isn’t an Oil. (Seriously, this wax will blow your mind)
Jojoba is possibly one of the most famous "oils" in natural skincare. It’s in so many formulations, everyone’s heard of it, and it has an awesome safety and usage profile.
But (I just love a good PLOT TWIST) it's actually...truly not even an oil at all!
Jojoba is a liquid wax ester. This means it's a different molecule than a true oil (like some of our other faves : argan, avocado, olive) and that's what makes it so popular.
Okay, so what’s a wax ester?
True oils are triglycerides which means each molecule dude has three fatty acids attached to a glycerol backbone. Wax esters are simpler and that dude has one long fatty acid bonded to one long fatty alcohol, in a straight chain.
Well, that's some deep nerd chemistry right there but stick with me because it does matter : Your skin makes sebum and that sebum is made up of a lot of these wax esters. Your skin knows what's up and Jojoba is insanely close, structurally, to what your skin naturally produces. More than almost any plant oil out there.
So when you put it on your skin, it feels good. Not like a gross oily coating, but soft and it blends in nicely.
That’s why it never feels greasy
That skin-similar shape is why jojoba blends in and absorbs the way it does. It's smooth and cushiony without that heavy, sitting-on-top feeling some oils like to leave. It spreads beautifully, works in a huge range of formulations from face oils to lip balm, and works across skin types, even reactive and sensitive types.
Fun fact from the desert
The jojoba shrub grows in the deserts of the American Southwest and Mexico, and those wax esters are how the plant protects its own seeds from the desert dry heat. The exact wax that keeps a seed alive in the desert is the one keeping your skin soft and happy too (and it’s also why jojoba basically refuses to go rancid but more on that in the formulator note below).
You’ll find jojoba throughout our line - it’s one of my fave ingredients and I find myself formulating with it and infusing in it often.
Find it in everything from Triple Whipped Body Butter, Lip Balm, Face Oils - shop here!
A note from the formulator:
If you’re formulating with jojoba, this wax is lovely to infuse into and doesn't oxidize like other oils and go rancid. It can last a very long time.
For my soapmaker friends : jojoba wax esters barely saponify so most of jojoba in a bar makes it through the lye process untouched. That makes it lovely as a conditioning addition, but keep it to 5–10% of your oils max. And don't forget to use a SoapCalc for your final recipe so you are using the right amount of lye for your oils.
-Andrea, Founder & Formulator, Lavish Earth