Caprylic Capric Triglyceride

Caprylic-capric-triglceride
Coconuts are a good source of caprylic capric triglycerides

The names of cosmetic ingredients, and food ingredients, often make them sound a lot more complicated than they really are.  Caprylic capric triglyceride is a name that often appears on ingredient lists and I doubt that many people take much notice of it or wonder where it comes from.  But it is, usually, simply a very purified form of coconut oil.  It is defined by its composition, so it is possible to make it from similar oils such as palm oil as well.

It was originally developed as a medical food supplement, being the fraction of the oil that is most easily digested.  I suppose that is why it has such an odd name.  But it was soon picked up by cosmetic chemists.  We appreciate it for its lack of odour, its resistance to oxidation and the fact that being highly purified you are unlikely to have many components in it that give rise to allergies.   As such it is a good substitute for mineral oil if you want to formulate without petrochemicals.  It isn’t quite as good as a skin barrier builder as mineral oil, but it is usually good enough.  It has a better skin feel than mineral oil, so it works well in formulations that need a high oil content  like oil based cleansers.

You will see this material in most cosmetic labs.  It is usually referred to as medium chain triglyerides or sometimes as fractionated coconut oil – though that name is a bit ambiguous.

So all in all a nice safe product that performs its job well.   It would be better if it had a name that sounded more natural to keep the chemophobes happy, but aside from that a handy and useful raw material.

 

2 thoughts on “Caprylic Capric Triglyceride”

  1. This is very informative! Indeed, Coconut has so many health benefits and often use as a beauty ingredient. Also, Virgin coconut oil is very popular nowadays.

  2. Pingback: Oil Based Cleanser Reviews -

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