A four-piece organic body care box from Comptoir des Huiles: body milk 100 ml, relaxation massage oil 100 ml, moringa scrub soap 100 g and ximenia oil 50 ml. Certified Cosmos Organic by ECOCERT Greenlife.
What COSMOS ORGANIC actually requires
Worth knowing, because it is one of the stricter cosmetic standards and it is often confused with a general "natural" label.
COSMOS was created jointly by five European certifiers — including ECOCERT, Soil Association and BDIH — to replace a patchwork of national organic cosmetic standards with one.
For the ORGANIC grade specifically: at least 95% of the physically processed agro-ingredients must be organic, and at least 20% of the total product must be organic (10% for rinse-off products, since they are mostly water). Petrochemical ingredients are excluded, GMOs are excluded, and there are requirements on packaging and manufacturing.
The distinction matters: COSMOS NATURAL is the lower grade and has no minimum organic content at all. Both marks look similar on a bottle. Only ORGANIC carries the percentage requirement.
Ximenia oil — the unusual one
The ingredient worth buying the box for, and one almost nobody has heard of.
Ximenia americana is a thorny shrub of African and other dry tropical regions, and the oil is pressed from its kernels. It has been used in southern Africa for generations, particularly by Ovambo and San communities in Namibia and Angola, where it is traditionally used to soften leather as well as skin.
What makes it interesting chemically is an unusually high content of long-chain fatty acids — including ximenynic acid, which is essentially unique to it. It is a rich, slow-absorbing oil, and it keeps unusually well.
Moringa
Moringa oleifera, the drumstick tree. Its seeds yield ben oil, which is remarkable for one reason: it is extraordinarily resistant to going rancid. Ben oil was used by watchmakers and perfumers for centuries precisely because it did not spoil, and it was the standard carrier for enfleurage before modern solvents.
A word about the massage oil
Practical rather than promotional. Plant oils on skin make surfaces slippery — a massage oil on a bathroom floor or in a bath is a genuine fall hazard, and it stains fabric. Put a towel down.
Patch test first
Four new products at once means four new possible reactions with no way to tell which. Test each on the inner forearm for 48 hours before using them together — particularly if you have sensitive skin.