What is it?
An emulsifier made from sorbitol, a sugar alcohol, and fatty acids from olive oil. It helps oil and water blend into smooth, stable creams and lotions and is used in moisturizers, eye-area products such as mascara, and some baby products. Like other plain sorbitan esters, it is not made with ethylene oxide, so it is not a PEG ingredient.
Key information
- The CIR Expert Panel added it to its sorbitan esters safety review in 2002 and concluded again in a report published in 2019 that sorbitan esters are safe as used in cosmetics.
- The highest reported use in eye products was 7.7 percent, in mascara.
- No skin tests on sorbitan olivate itself were available in 2002; the panel relied on data for closely related sorbitan esters.
More information
Sorbitan olivate is the olive-oil member of the sorbitan ester family. According to the CIR, it is made by reacting sorbitan with a waxy material obtained by partially hydrogenating olive oil, which gives an ivory-colored, waxy solid. It is a processed derivative, not olive oil itself.
The Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) Expert Panel added sorbitan olivate to its review of sorbitan esters in 2002 and, in a re-review published in 2019, again concluded that the sorbitan esters are safe in present practices of use and concentration. As a group, these esters were generally minimal to mild skin irritants in clinical tests and did not sensitize, although sorbitan sesquioleate caused allergic reactions in fewer than 1 percent of patients with suspected contact dermatitis. The 2002 review had no skin irritation or sensitization tests on sorbitan olivate itself, so the conclusion rests on its close chemical similarity to better-studied sorbitan esters, which share the same sorbitan core. That review also weighed a mouse study in which two other sorbitan esters acted as cocarcinogens and concluded there was no such risk from cosmetic use.
We found no published comedogenicity testing of sorbitan olivate. If you avoid PEGs, note that the ethoxylated versions of these emulsifiers carry “PEG” or “polysorbate” in their names.
Sources: Cosmetic Ingredient Review: Safety assessment of sorbitan esters as used in cosmetics (panel report, 2014); International Journal of Toxicology (2002): Final report on the safety assessment of sorbitan olivate and nine other sorbitan esters; International Journal of Toxicology (2019): Safety assessment of sorbitan esters as used in cosmetics
