The Secret Behind LOLO Products: Naturally Gentle Ingredients

Glycerin, polyglycerol, potassium hydroxide: Does anyone really know what ingredients are in their children’s shampoos and soaps? Ingredient names included in our hygiene products are so complicated that we are thrown for a loop!

To help you make informed choices about products for your children, let’s look at ingredients found in your favourite products. Ready? Let’s go!

Glycerin, Polyglycerol, Hydroxide: The Most Complicated First

While some ingredients may have names that seem like a different language, they were carefully chosen by our team for their gentleness.

What is Glycerin?

Glycerin is a moisturizer and humectant. It attracts water and traps moisture into your skin, thus improving its moisture and appearance, making it supple and smooth. It also protects your hair from dehydration. Its most widely used variant is derived from animal fat. The LOLO line uses vegetable glycerin to ensure the product’s softness and keep it as plant based as possible.

Beeswax Derivative

As it is a hydrophile derivative of beeswax, polyglycerol-3 makes creams and balms that are soft and silky to the touch. This natural product acts as a stabilizer by preventing crystallization in balms and oils, thus allowing homogeneous blending.

The LOLO products below have polyglycerol-3 and are therefore the only LOLO products not to be entirely vegan:

- Diaper rash balm and cream

- Cheek balm

- Oleo-calcareous liniment 

Potassium Hydroxide 

Also called caustic potash, potassium hydroxide allows a chemical reaction to take place, the saponification of fatty substances. This combination then makes a traditional soap. It can produce soft or liquid soap. Soap made the proper way has no traces of KOH once saponification is complete. Simply said, a product that is pure!

Natural Oils for Delicate Skin

LOLO products are all made from our LA BELLE EXCUSE olive oil, pressed on our land in Greece and naturally decanted.

Why olive oil in soap?

With its high oleic acid content, olive oil deeply moisturizes, softens, and gently protects the skin. Its concentration of vitamins E, A, D and K makes it a very interesting ingredient for body care. 

Aside from olive oil, many other vegetable oils can be used to ensure unique skin hydration and regeneration: 

- Avocado oil: Extracted from the pulp of the fruit, avocado oil is rich in proteins, minerals and vitamins A, C, D and E. Its richness provides an extraordinary penetrating capacity, making it the perfect oil to deeply moisturize and condition delicate and fragile skin.

- Jojoba oil: Like human sebum that is the thin oil layer that protects our skin and keeps it supple, jojoba oil is filled with minerals and proteins. Highly suitable for all skin types since it is not greasy and quickly absorbed. It won’t block pores as it is hypoallergenic and non-comedogenic.

- Apricot kernel oil: This non-greasy oil is found at the centre of the apricot kernel. It is very emollient, rich in vitamin A, E, F, and oleic acid and is extremely nourishing as it moisturizes, softens and conditions the skin. Apricot kernel oil is especially beneficial for sensitive, dry, and irritated skin.

- Virgin coconut oil: Its delightful freshly picked coconut aroma and high levels of lauric acid and vitamin E make virgin coconut oil the perfect ingredient for creams and balms. It softens even the roughest, driest, and most sensitive body parts.

- Grapeseed oil: Made from vineyard grape seeds, this light, almost odourless oil is rich in linoleic acid, vitamins, minerals, and proteins. Its skin compatibility works wonders to leave it silky and shiny.

- Meadowfoam seed oil: Meadowfoam is an annual plant with white flowers, usually found in the western United States. The oil from its seeds has unique benefits with more than 90% fatty acids. Its exceptional emollient properties make it a choice ingredient for baby products. It softens, protects, and helps your skin lock in moisture. Suitable for all skin types, especially dry skin, meadowfoam seed oil glides on effortlessly without leaving a greasy feeling behind.

Flower Extracts with Healing Properties

Flowers have many healing properties, which is a great reason to add them to soaps and shampoos.

Take calendula or lavender for instance, their antiseptic, antioxidant, regenerative and healing properties help protect the skin from infections such as acne, psoriasis, or rosacea. As a bonus, they also smell good!

Essential Oils: Soothing Plant Extracts

Essential oils taken from plants and flowers come with their own fragrance and many benefits for babies and children’s sensitive skin. LOLO products make full use of the freshness provided by plants and flowers for naturally scented products.

Lolo’s signature scent everyone loves is essentially made from the Bulgarian lavender essential oil. Known to heal and regenerate skin, this essential oil is used to fight skin infections such as acne, psoriasis, and mycoses. It is also used for its relaxing and soothing qualities.

Watch Out for Allergens

Certain ingredients are singled out by Public Health as being allergens. None of them are found in LOLO products, but if you see names such as benzyl alcohol, linalool, or geraniol, please be aware that these are among the most allergenic products in cosmetics.

Mainly used to perfume products, they can usually be found in “cheap” skin care products, used to lower production costs. This does not reflect LOLO’s philosophy.

Be that as it may, all skin types are different and change with age. One person may have a reaction to lavender, another to grapeseed oil, even though they are not considered as allergens.

Testing any product on a small part of the skin should always be done before applying it everywhere, especially when it comes to our little ones, as their skin is more fragile at that young age.

Whether you get your products from the pharmacy or favourite manufacturer, you will now be better equipped to understand what lies beneath your child’s favourite products.

If you want to know more about ingredients found in most body products, this comprehensive article from Passeport Santé will answer some of your questions:

Click on the link for all LOLO Products