This light yellow liquid with a slight, pleasant odor is essentially devoid of tars, resins, alkaloids, phosphatides, chlorophyll and other impurities. It is also available in grades that have been bleached or in grades that have been bleached and deodorized. All grades have the highest oxidative stability of any natural emollient and are multifunctional. Onvax® Jojoba + extra vit. C oxidative stability, thermal stability and lack of support for microbial growth can add shelf life and decrease a product's dependence on antioxidants, preservatives and stabilizers.

Onvax® Jojoba + extra vit. C has the highest oxidative stability of any natural emollient. Its extreme oxidative stability not only adds shelf life to products while reducing the need for anti-oxidants, preservatives and stabilizers, but can increase safety by avoiding "free radicals" on the skin.

Onvax® Jojoba + extra vit. C liquid esters are used in a plethora of cosmetic preparations to stabilize oxidatively sensitive natural and synthetic active ingredients. For example, one major cosmetic company patented a cosmetic system which utilizes jojoba to stablize linoleic and linolenic acids that are very susceptable to oxidation. This has been a top selling product for more than a decade.
 

Jojoba can also help avoid free radicals, the powerful atomic forces that are closely associated with aging of our skin and many disease processes. Free radicals from chain reactions of oxidation significantly increase on and in the skin with aging, exposure to UV light and use of unstable lipid ingredients. The accompanying chart shows some of the free radical effects. Cross-linkage of collagen and increases in soluble collagen cause inflexible, wrinkled skin. Break down of hyaluronic acid diminishes the skin's water holding capacity. Free radicals also attack the vulnerable phospholipids of the cell membranes, to gain access to DNA, increasing the risk of cancer and mutations. Free radical chain reactions also damage hair by weakening the tensile strength and breaking cross-linkages of keratin as well as causing alteration in melanin pigments.

Jojoba's oxidative stability avoids free radicals, but when less stable ingredients are used, the risk of these reactions is increased.

Protection against free radical excesses can come from antioxidants like Vitamins A, C, and E that interrupt the peroxidation or from using the extremely stable Onvax® Jojoba + extra vit. C in place of the less stable lipid ingredients like triacylglycerols. Synthetic antioxidants like BHA and BHT have been widely used, but are now under attack from governmental regulatory agencies for safety reasons. One alternative way to avoid excessive free radicals is to use more stable ingredients.

When less stable lipids are exposed to sunlight in the presence of oxygen the free radical chain reaction that results causes product rancidity and many kinds of skin damage. (see text)