If shea, jojoba, avocado and soy are the dream of cosmetologists and ecological fans of beauty and health, it is necessary to go through soap before arriving at these products so praised for their benefits. The process of making soap is called saponification. The products which derive from it are the unsaponifiables.

This word comes from Latin: in private, sapo for soap and abilis for able. So it is a product which is incapable of turning into soap. To understand unsaponification, one must already understand what saponification is, that is, the history of soap making.

Until the 19th century, we washed, detached and discolored (the hair for example) with a soap obtained with animal fats (often pork) that we reacted with potash (a base present in the ashes). Then, we used vegetable fats that were reacted with soda (base obtained from sea water.

For better profitability, the hot saponification industry has gradually replaced cold saponification, artisanal but which is making a comeback because it keeps the qualities of fats (destroyed by heat).

To summarize :

• The unsaponifiable matter is the residual fraction (insoluble in water but soluble in organic solvents) obtained after saponification;
• In one equation: oils or fatty substances + soda = soap + glycerin + non-saponifiable non-glyceridic fraction;
• The unsaponifiable fraction of vegetable fats finds applications in cosmetology for its biological properties.

To understand the interest of unsaponifiables, we must go through the box: aging and skin oxidation. The body produces free radicals whose function is to cleanse skin cells. They self-eliminate. But in case of overproduction (pollution, tobacco, UV, etc.), they attack the cells and their content (elastin, collagen). This is called “oxidative stress” responsible for aging of the skin. And this is where the unsaponifiables show their benefits.

The list is long. As we have understood, it is the vegetable oils that are used. Each product or “active” has its own properties. They are treasures for the skin.

• Polyphenols have very important antioxidant properties (among them, tannins are antibacterial, flavonoids are anti-inflammatory and lignans are seboregulators);
• Phytosterols (vegetable cholesterol) are healing, repairing and have anti-inflammatory properties. They improve the “barrier” function of the skin and the microcirculation. They slow down skin aging;
• Carotenoids give “good looks.” They are the ones that color the oils. They are powerful natural antioxidants that regenerate and repair the skin. They stimulate the synthesis of collagen and photoprotectors.

The list also contains many vitamins:

• B vitamins protect and regenerate cells;
• Vitamin C accelerates healing;
• Vitamin D regulates and facilitates the absorption of calcium. It maintains the hydration of the skin;
• Vitamin E protects against aging through its antioxidant and anti-toxic action;
• Vitamin K limits redness.

To this list is added:

• Enzymes: protect against aging;
• Resinous esters: protective and healing;
• Squalenes: antioxidants.

Most oils and other fats contain 2% or less unsaponifiable matter. But some others contain more:

• Shea butter contains 15%. Shea or “butter tree” or “women’s gold” grows in West Africa. It produces nuts whose pressed almonds give butter. This butter is used to hydrate and soften the skin;
• Beeswax and Jojoba oil contain 50%. Jojoba is native to the southern United States and northern Mexico, but plantations are now found in many countries. It is its seeds (called beans or almonds) that contain the magic oil;
• Avocado and soybean oils are known in medicine for their anti-arthritis properties: a drug is used in rheumatology (osteoarthritis of the knee and hip) and in stomatology but their SMR (actual benefit) is considered insufficient or even dangerous. These are the ISAs: unsaponifiables of soya and avocado which have undesirable effects but without dangers in their cosmetic use.
• It should be noted that surgras soaps are soaps in which unsaponifiables have been introduced which have been dissolved in organic solvents.