Coconut Alkanes

As part of a cohesive Geologie regimen featuring silky emollients and gentle surfactants, we chose to formulate with Coconut Alkanes. But what are they? And what are emollients?

Formulators enjoy the luxury of options when it comes to emollients; there are at least as many emollients out there as there are plant and seed oils. In fact, any oil of vegetable, animal, or mineral origin may act as an emollient, an ingredient responsible in most products for a smooth and silky spread, and known for moisture-retention properties. (Oils repel water. Oils spread over the surface of your skin slow the evaporation of water out, keeping moisture in. Hence the seemingly counterintuitive idea that oils can “hydrate” skin.)

Usually these oils, or their synthetic equivalents, are chosen primarily for their ability to stabilize or thicken a formula; the inherent “emollient” properties are just built in, and thought of secondarily. But a good formulator doesn’t add an ingredient in for emollience. Instead the clever combination of thickeners, surfactants, and humectants together create an emollience (aka texture), to which long saturated hydrocarbon chains—such as Coconut Alkanes!—contribute the most. 

In the Geologie products Coconut Alkanes are present in both the Nourishing Eye Cream, as an emollient in perfect coordination with Coco-Caprylate/Caprate and Coconut Oil, and in the Everyday Face Wash, as a functional group attached to Cocamidopropyl Dimethylamine, a gentle surfactant. While the Coconut Alkanes aid in de-puffing under eye bags over the course of the night, they’re gently removed with compatible Cocamidopropyl Dimethylamine during your morning cleanse.

We didn’t choose Coconut Alkanes just for their superior emollience in the eye cream, we formulated with them as part of our goal to make you a well-rounded, cohesive skincare regimen.

How did we do?

Aloe Leaf Juice

How to Read Ingredients

Contact Us