Cholesterol
What Is It?
Cholesterol is a naturally waxy fat-like substance. In cosmetics and personal care products, Cholesterol is used in the formulation of eye and face makeup, shaving preparations, and skin and hair care products.
Why Is It Used?
Cholesterol helps prevent the separation of the oil and liquid components in cosmetics and personal care products. It is also a skin-conditioning agent and viscosity increasing agent in cosmetics and personal care products.
Scientific Facts
Cholesterol is found in all tissues of the animal body and has also been isolated from plants. It is synthesized by the body but is also obtained from dietary sources. Cholesterol is required to build and maintain cellThe basic structural and functional unit of all organisms; cells may exist as independent units of life or may form colonies or tissues as in higher plants and animals. membranes and is an important building block for hormones and vitamins.
Safety Information
The safety of Cholesterol has been assessed by the Cosmetic Ingredient ReviewThe Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) was established in 1976 as an independent safety review program for cosmetic ingredients. The CIR Expert Panel consists of independent experts in dermatology, toxicology, pharmacolgy and veterinary medicine. The CIR includes participation by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration and the Consumer Federation of America. (CIR) Expert Panel. The CIR Expert Panel evaluated the scientific data and concluded that Cholesterol was safe as presently used in cosmetic products. In 2004, as part of the scheduled re-review of ingredients, the CIR Expert Panel considered available new data on this ingredient and reaffirmed the above conclusion.
CIR Safety Review: Cholesterol is one of the most widely studied naturally occurring organic compounds. Due to the variety and abundance of literature on Cholesterol, the CIR review was, for the most part, limited to current published literature from 1978 to the present. The normal metabolism and excretion of Cholesterol is well documented in man and animals. Cholesterol is not a significant dermal or ocular irritant.
Cholesterol does not appear to have any genotoxic activity in bacterial or mammalian cells in vitroExperiments performed in a test tube or another artificial, controlled environment, rather than in a whole animal. mutagenic and transformation assays. High doses of Cholesterol were teratogenic in tests. Cholesterol is not a promoter, cocarcinogen, or carcinogen. Clinical studies to evaluate the safety of topically applied Cholesterol were conducted with products formulated with the ingredient. The Cholesterol-containing products were minimal to mild primary and cumulative skin irritants but not sensitizers or photosensitizers.
Cholesterol may be used in cosmetics and personal care products marketed in Europe according to the general provisions of the Cosmetics Regulation of the European UnionUnder the general provisions of the cosmetics regulation of the EU, ingredients appearing on the following function-specific annexes must comply with the listed restrictions and/or specifications: colorants (Annex IV), preservatives (Annex V), UV filters (Annex VI) and other ingredients with specific concentration limits and/or other restrictions (Annex III). Ingredients specifically prohibited from use in cosmetic products are listed in Annex II. Other ingredients listed in the EU cosmetic ingredient database (CosIng) may be used without restrictions.. Ingredients of animal origin must comply with European Union animal by-products regulations.
More Scientific Information
Cholesterol is a monounsaturated secondary alcoholAlcohols are a large class of important cosmetic ingredients but only ethanol needs to be denatured to prevent it from being redirected from cosmetic applications to alcoholic beverages. of the cyclopentenophenanthrene system. Excess Cholesterol, insufficient Cholesterol, and defects in Cholesterol metabolism have all been associated with various pathological conditions. In cosmetic products, Cholesterol is used as an emulsion stabilizerIngredients that help to keep an emulsion from separating into its oil and liquid components.. EmulsionA mixture of two liquids that normally cannot be mixed, in which one liquid is dispersed in the other liquid as very fine droplets. Emulsifying agents are often used to help form the emulsion and stabilizing agents are used to keep the resulting emulsion from separating. The most common emulsions are oil-in-water emulsions (where oil droplets are dispersed in water) and water-in-oil emulsions (where water droplets are dispersed in oil). stabilizers are cosmetic ingredients that assist in the formation and the stabilization of emulsions.Emulsifiers are required for the formation of emulsions, but their activity is materially enhanced whenever an emulsion stabilizer is included in the system. Emulsion stabilizers do not act as primary emulsifiers but prevent or reduce the coalescence of emulsified droplets by modifying the continuous or the disperse phase of the emulsion. This stabilization may result from electrical repulsion, from changes in viscosity, or from film formation on the droplet surface.