A question we often see is whether this product is “oil-free,” and the answer requires a bit more nuance than simply scanning the ingredient list... If you look at the formula, you won’t see any ingredients explicitly labeled as plant oils. At first glance, that might lead someone to assume the product is oil-free, but that conclusion isn’t necessarily accurate. In cosmetic chemistry, many ingredients are derived from plant oils or fatty acids, even though the word “oil” never appears in their name. For example, sodium cocoyl isethionate is a mild surfactant synthesized from fatty acids originally sourced from coconut oil. Botanical ingredients like rosemary leaf extract or sunflower extract can also contain trace lipids or use lipid carriers during the extraction process. Ingredients such as hydrogenated lecithin are similarly derived from oil-based raw materials. Beyond oil-derived ingredients, this formula also contains a variety of lipids, which are molecules that are insoluble in...