No Lanolin

Unity Cosmetics' products do not contain any form of wool fat/lanoline.

Wool fat or Lanolin

Wool fat is also called Lanolin Alcohol (or Lanolin). It is obtained from the fleece of sheep, sheep have sebaceous glands which secrete a yellowish sebum. You can clearly see this sebum in a sheep's fleece; it is made up of small yellow balls. By washing the shorn woolly fleece after sheep shaving, these sebaceous balls are loosened from the wool. The water then evaporates and a yellowish substance called wool grease or lanolin remains. It has a wax-like structure; it is a hard, solid type of fat. It is often added to cosmetics, especially to skin products such as creams, because it is easily absorbed into the skin and retains water. This makes it hydrating and softening.

Although wool fat is often called lanolin in popular speech, there is a small difference in these two words. Wool fat consists entirely of the fat of the sheepskin, whereas lanolin is often a mixture of wool fat and another ingredient (e.g. petroleum jelly).

A very small proportion of people with an allergy are allergic to wool fat and therefore also to lanolin (because lanolin partly consists of wool fat). In most cases, this is unpurified wool fat. You can recognise unpurified wool fat by its yellowish colour. Unrefined wool fat can seal off the skin and clog pores. This can result in inflammations. If wool fat has been purified the colour has changed from yellowish to white. The structure of purified wool grease is different from that of unpurified wool grease, which is why purified wool grease does not seal off the skin. In general, purified wool fat is well tolerated by the skin. Unfortunately, you cannot tell from the list of ingredients whether the lanolin/woolfat present has been purified or not.

Both wool fat and lanolin are recognisable in the list of ingredients as Lanolin. However, because it is impossible to see whether or not wool fat / lanolin is purified (this can only be done by asking the supplier / manufacturer) Unity Cosmetics does not use wool fat / lanolin in its products.