LANOLIN & DERIVATIVES

Stella,
pure lanolin
a secure supply

A natural product
extracted from sheep's wool

Lanolin,
A 3-in-1 ingredient

Lanolin has been used since ancient times for skin care.

THE ORIGINS OF LANOLINE

Today, sheep are sheared once or twice a year. Wool harvested from live sheep contains a fat that helps protect the sheep’s skin from adverse environmental conditions.

This shearing is essential for the well-being of the animal..

The sheep from which this fat is derived are generally raised on free-range farms in Australia, Argentina, South Africa or on the green hills and meadows of New Zealand.

Once shorn, the wool is washed. During the washing process, the wool is separated from this protective fat, which then becomes a wool grease .

Composition of wool grease

The quality and quantity of wool grease collected varies according to the breed of sheep, climatic conditions, type of feed and wool washing. But what identifies them all is the absence of glycerol, (meaning it is not a fat as such but a wax), the presence of cholesterols and an exceptional affinity for water. The difference between the wool greases and most other fats is :

A relatively low saponification value (about 100),
A very high proportion of unsaponifiable matter (nearly 50%)
A very low iodine value (28 to 38 according to Wijs).

Wool grease is therefore a wax composed essentially of a mixture of esters of fatty alcohols (cholesterol, lanosterol, agnosterol, cetyl alcohol, ceryl alcohol, lano octadecyl alcohol and carnaubyl alcohol) and fatty acids (palmitic, myristic and lognoceric, capric, arachidic and cerotic acids) accompanied by a small percentage of these alcohols and acids in the free state.

Refining

The next step is to refine the wool grease to obtain an anhydrous pharmaceutical lanolin: adeps lanae.

Our new refining techniques remove unwanted materials such as detergents, pesticides and other impurities, but also deodorize it and give it a light honey colour.

This ultra purification respects the standards established by the European pharmacopoeia and goes even further.

Properties

Lanolin is a natural and unique wax that is the comparable to human skin lipids.

Lanolin is a unique natural wax that most closely resembles human skin lipids.

Lanolin thus acts in bio-mimetic way with the skin and is positioned as an additional lipidic film on the stratum corneum of the epidermis. It acts as a complement or replacement for human epidermal lipids that may be insufficient and/or deficient (skin dryness, etc.).

It therefore helps with reconstituting a natural barrier against external aggressions and skin dryness. Just like a bandage, it prevents water from evaporating but still lets the skin breath.

A natural reservoir, lanolin can retain at least twice its weight in water. When emulsified and applied to the skin, it is moisturising. When combined with active agents, it becomes a vector for greater efficiency. The skin quickly regains its natural moisture level making it supple and restored.

Features

It is a 3-in-1 ingredient :

EMULSIFIER by its capacity to absorb water,

EMOLLIENT by its capacity to replace and/or reinforce the natural lipidic barrier,

MICROBIO BARRIER by its capacity to form a homogeneous film and thus allows to fight against the external aggressions.

It is interesting to note that in recent years, despite competition from a host of new products, where most of them are of chemical origin, lanolin manufactured by STELLA and which is 100% natural and traceable has become increasingly important in a wide variety of fields, including pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.

Benefits :

There are two manufacturing sectors that in particular appreciate it :

Because it is INALTERABLE : as it is well refined and stabilised, it does not go rancid or dry out.

Because it has GREAT EMULSION POWER WITH WATER to form a "water-in-oil" type emulsion.

Because it has a COMPLETE COMPATIBILITY WITH SKIN..