Dry skin and damaged hair are common issues that require careful attention and the use of properly formulated personal care products. Such products should contain beneficial ingredients that have the right degree of moisturizing and protective properties.

Using lanolin oil in your daily routine may help you achieve smoother, healthier-looking skin and hair naturally. This gentle waxy substance has been used for centuries as an effective moisturizing agent and in various hair care products as well.

Interested in learning more about this powerful lotion crafting ingredient?

The following guide will cover everything you need to know, including how lanolin is produced, how it works to promote healthier skin and hair, and how to incorporate it into your beauty routine with ease. We’ll also share some recipe guidance that will help you out if you intend on formulating your own products at home.

Where Does Lanolin Oil Come From?

To start, you’re probably a bit confused as to where lanolin comes from. Though it is an all-natural substance that is often used in hair care products and body lotions, it is not in fact plant-based.

Lanolin wax is actually derived from sheep wool. No worries, the sheep aren’t harmed in order to obtain it, because it only involves the wool and nothing related to the rest of the animal. Just as sheep are shorn for their wool yet are unharmed in the process, the same activity applies when extracting wool fat.

The process for extracting the oil from sheep wool is actually quite simple and merely involves boiling or heating the wool itself so that the fat actually separates and melts away from the wool.

What’s left after this process has concluded is a kind of buttery wax that holds powerful moisturizing properties. It is rich in fatty acids and other nutrients, making it effective for a wide range of applications, including hair care.

Recognized chiefly as an emollient, lanolin’s primary purpose when used in skincare products is to help these formulas provide a greater degree of softening. Not coincidentally, the natural way our skin regulates and softens itself is through sebum, a kind of oil that is closely related in purpose to lanolin.

Sheep depend on this oily substance to help keep their fleece smooth and silky. This substance also naturally moisturizes their skin and conditions their wool as well.

It makes sense why this natural substance would provide value for us as a beneficial skincare ingredient given how much it resembles our own natural means of moisturization and protection. Sebum plays a key role in the health of our skin and hair, and without it, our skin easily dries out and can become irritated. The question is, does lanolin offer a viable alternative that can be worked into your skincare regimen in order to protect the skin and properly moisturize it? Let’s take a closer look at how using lanolin oil can benefit your skin and hair.

How Does This Oil Work?

So how does lanolin oil actually work to help improve your skin and hair?

This natural wax is primarily composed of esters, organic compounds that come from carboxylic acids and that react in certain ways with alcohol. Lanolin also contains an array of hydroxy-esters, special lanolin alcohols, and lanolin acids. Essentially, these substances offer a variety of qualities that naturally benefit hair and skin in a relatively gentle way.

The same moisturizing and protective benefits that sheep enjoy can be found in this oil. The key property that lanolin offers is its natural ability to help the skin retain its moisture. What this means is that products containing lanolin generally act as a protective barrier for skin, helping it to lock in moisture while increasing softness.

Preventing water loss in skin and hair, while naturally softening and soothing as well, means that this oil works to curtail just about all common symptoms of dry skin and hair. This includes irritation, redness, sensitivity, cracking and peeling, roughness, and can even help mitigate tone issues and blemishes.

What is also notable about this ingredient is that for an oil, it is rather lightweight. You don’t have to concern yourself with it clogging your pores, as well, which makes it all the more effective for use in various face creams and facial moisturizers.

Rather than using pure wool wax in recipes, the oil is far more versatile and can be used in a great variety of different personal care products in order to provide a high degree of natural softness and moisture-locking.

It is worth noting that wool and lanolin both cause allergic reactions in a small number of people. If you already know you are allergic to wool, chances are you will be allergic to lanolin as well, since it is essentially the same allergens at work, the esters contained within the wax. Though these allergies aren’t common, it’s something to be aware of if you are searching for high-quality skincare ingredients to use in your daily routine.

Using Lanolin Oil in Your Skincare Regimen

So how do you actually use lanolin and lanolin-derived byproducts in your skincare routine?

You might actually be quite surprised at how many benefits there are to using lanolin oil:

●As a soothing lip balm for chapped lips.

●Can be used to create a body butter or moisturizing cream.

●As a facial moisturizer that won’t clog your pores.

●Soothing eye creams.

●Creams and ointments specifically for dry and cracked skin.

●Hydrating gels and creams.

●Anti-wrinkle cream.

●Facial sprays and body mists.

●Anti-aging facial serums.

●Can be used in place of petroleum jelly.

●Can be found in bath oil or shower gel.

●Use in place of mineral oil for deep moisturizing.

This is simply a sample of all of the skincare benefits of lanolin. It is a truly remarkable ingredient that naturally meshes well with a variety of other substances, which means that you likely won’t have trouble trying to find ways to formulate various lotions and serums with it. What’s more, the oil can be used by itself without any supporting ingredients, which only adds to its value as an all-purpose skincare product.

In terms of a useful ingredient that can help moisturize and prevent dry skin, lanolin oil truly stands out. If you are not allergic to wool, you can certainly include products that use lanolin in your daily routine and you are likely to derive some benefit.

If you intend on formulating your own products, you will find that this oil is easy to work with and offers wonderful softening properties that are perfect for various body butters and balms.

It’s also an all-natural product so you don’t have to worry about negatively impacting the environment or any toxic additives or anything like that. High-quality pure lanolin is safe even for sensitive skin and won’t pose any harm to the environment.

Using Lanolin on Hair Effectively

One of the great things about lanolin is that it doubles as a powerful hair care ingredient that offers deep conditioning and protective qualities.

Arguably, lanolin is actually more effective for strengthening hair rather than helping to moisturize skin, since that is the primary benefit of wool wax in the first place. Sheep depend on lanolin wax to help keep their fleece soft, fluffy, and healthy while preventing it from drying out.

If you are searching for a reliable conditioning and softening ingredient for hair that is natural and versatile, lanolin is a safe bet. Here are some of its benefits for hair:

●Works to lock in moisture so hair stays healthy and shiny.

●Promotes softness and strength.

●Great as a beard oil or in any kind of shaving cream.

●Helps to condition the scalp.

●Can be used in shampoos alongside cleansing agents.

●Won’t damage your ends or cause any other issues.

As far as natural hair care is concerned, lanolin offers simple and effective moisturizing and strengthening that can be adapted into a variety of different products both for men and women. While the obvious choice is to utilize a condition that contains lanolin, this ingredient can also be used for mustaches and beards, or as a shaving product.

Lanolin is known as wool grease, and while it isn’t a true fat, you may be wondering if it will give your hair a greasy look and texture. The answer is, surprisingly enough, it won’t. This is because, as mentioned above, this oil and the wax it is derived from specifically work to help keep sheep wool naturally moisturized and protected. If you have ever felt sheep wool, it is certainly not greasy. In fact, without this substance, sheep wouldn’t be able to maintain the quality of their wool and would wind up with dry skin and other issues as well. Upwards to a quarter of the weight of wool is entirely made up of lanolin wax, depending on the breed of sheep, so it’s clear how important this substance is for maintaining the appearance and texture of their fleece.

For our personal care purposes, and for hair care specifically, lanolin seems to be an effective ingredient for mitigating dry and damaged hair. You can apply it directly or use products that contain wool wax or oil in order to help improve the health of your hair.

Haircare and Skincare Recipe Advice

Although there is stiff competition in this space as far as skin care and hair care ingredients are concerned, lanolin oil is still a viable contender. Although ingredients such as shea butter, avocado oil, and other plant-based ingredients have plenty of benefits in their own right, lanolin is simply an all-natural and easy to utilize substance that is great for use in lotions, creams, balms, conditioners, and other products in order to increase its moisturizing capabilities.

If you intend on using lanolin in your recipes, there is a lot of room for experimentation. You can use pure lanolin as a thickening agent, or simply go with pure lanolin oil in recipes that need a bit of a moisturizing boost. Since this ingredient is so versatile, that makes it somewhat difficult to judge how much you may need when crafting a specific kind of product, however, so you may have to play around with certain formulas until they come out just right.

What is also interesting about lanolin is that you can use it as a primary ingredient or a supporting ingredient. For instance, you can create a body butter that is primarily created using mango butter and cocoa butter, with some other moisturizing ingredients such as almond oil or lanolin oil, as well as an essential oil or other botanicals in order to enhance the overall effectiveness of the product.

On the other hand, you are certainly free to use this oil as the main ingredient in various balms and hair oils, or as a moisturizing wash. If you would like to craft a thicker, denser product that has similar benefits, you can use lanolin wax instead.

The important thing to remember is to always make sure that your ingredients are of the highest quality possible. You want pure lanolin oil that will offer the most moisturizing and protective benefits for the items you are formulating. Even if you only intend to add a few drops to a product you already love, you still want to make sure that the quality is top-notch.

In that case, you will want to shop for all of your ingredients right here in our store. MakeYourOwn.buzz is proud to carry high-quality lanolin wax and oil that can be used in a great variety of formulas. If you are thinking of starting a DIY project and need a powerful all-natural moisturizing ingredient that has been a staple of the skincare world for generations, we have what you need.

Simply browse through our selection of products, and if you are stuck and aren’t sure about what you need specifically, you can always contact our team at (888) 583-7738 and we will be happy to help you find the right ingredients, no matter what you are creating!