COSMETICS & PERSONAL CARE
AAK Personal Care
Malmo, Sweden (AAK Group HQ) · Serving personal care since 1989 · Part of AAK AB, 150 years of history
Redefining natural to make better happen.
Since 1989, AAK Personal Care has driven change in how the industry sees natural emollients, opening new applications for plant-based lipids that were previously treated as commodity fats. Today it is one of the world's leading suppliers of sustainably sourced, technologically advanced plant-based ingredients for beauty and personal care.
Distinct from synthetic, animal, or fossil-based raw materials, AAK's ingredients are used primarily in skin care but extend into hair care, colour cosmetics, and specialist ranges such as baby care, serving customers from local niche start-ups to multinational brand leaders.
- Cosmetics & Personal Care
Over 400 mineral salts and more than 7,000 specifications. The specification count is the more meaningful number: it is the measure of how far a grade can be tailored.
ABOUT THIS PRINCIPAL
Three decades spent changing the reputation of natural emollients.
The premise AAK Personal Care was built on is that plant lipids can be engineered rather than merely refined. Crystallisation profile, oxidative stability, melting behaviour and polarity are all controllable variables, and controlling them is what turns a vegetable fat into a functional cosmetic ingredient that a formulator can specify with confidence.
The result is a portfolio spanning bioactive emollients, emollient esters, liquid butters, performance oils, solid and semi-solid butters, texturising oleogels, emulsifiers and surfactants, and structuring agents, sourced primarily from shea, canola and coconut.
AAK Personal Care draws on its parent group's infrastructure: roughly 3,900 employees, 25 regional sales offices, 15 Customer Innovation Centers, and more than 20 production facilities. For a formulator, the Customer Innovation Centers matter most, because they are where a lipid specification becomes a tested texture.
The traceability position is not a marketing overlay. Climate-compensated and fully traceable grades exist because the supply chain was built to make them possible, from the shea collection point onward.
ADCHEM distributes the AAK Personal Care range with formulation support from our own laboratories, covering lipid selection against a target sensory profile and the reformulation work that follows when a silicone or a fossil-derived emollient has to come out of a formula.
FEATURED TECHNOLOGY
Four capabilities that define the portfolio.
AAK's differentiation sits in processing and supply chain control rather than in novel molecules.
LIPID ENGINEERING
Crystallisation and stability control
Shea and other plant butters are fractionated and processed to defined crystallisation profiles and oxidative stability, which is what makes performance reproducible across batches and seasons.
TRACEABILITY
Segregated and traceable supply chains
Fully traceable and climate-compensated grades are available across parts of the range, including farmer-traceable, segregated coconut supply certified by the Rainforest Alliance.
ESTER CHEMISTRY
Plant-derived emollient esters
Esters engineered as alternatives to non-volatile silicones, giving formulators a route out of silicone without conceding the spreading and after-feel that silicones deliver.
STRUCTURING
Oleogels and texturising systems
Oxidative-stable oleogels offering petrolatum-like occlusion and structure from a vegetable base, plus structuring agents for anhydrous and stick formats.
Portfolio
The AAK Personal Care portfolio.
Selected products and families across the shea, canola and coconut platforms.
LIPEX Shea
What it is
Climate-compensated, high-stability semi-solid shea butter with a superior crystallisation profile
Primary Use
Rich creams, balms and butters requiring predictable texture and stability
LIPEX SheaLuxe TR
What it is
Climate-compensated, fully traceable shea emollient ester
Primary Use
Alternative to non-volatile silicones in skin and hair care
LIPEX PreAct
What it is
Non-GMO Swedish canola-based bioactive emollient, rich in tocopherols and phytosterols
Primary Use
Barrier support and bioactive emollience in treatment skin care
Akocare Coconut RA SG
What it is
Rainforest Alliance certified coconut oil from a fully segregated, farmer-traceable supply chain
Primary Use
Natural formulation where sourcing traceability is part of the brand claim
Akogel
What it is
Moisturising, oxidative-stable oleogel with petrolatum-like properties
Primary Use
Occlusive balms, lip care, and petrolatum replacement projects
LIPEX range
What it is
Shea-derived butters and esters across multiple grades, including traceable and climate-compensated options
Primary Use
The core emollient platform across skin, hair and colour
Akoline range
What it is
Emulsifiers and co-emulsifiers of plant origin
Primary Use
Emulsion building in natural and certified systems
Akofine range
What it is
Refined triglycerides and performance oils Light emollience, carrier phases, and sensory adjustment
Primary Use
Light emollience, carrier phases, and sensory adjustment
Akosun range
What it is
Lipids selected for sun care systems
Primary Use
Filter solubilisation, spreading and water resistance in sun formats
Akocare range
What it is
Traceable coconut and canola oils
Primary Use
Certified natural formulation with an auditable origin story
Liquid butters
What it is
Pourable butter systems combining butter character with liquid handling
Primary Use
Body care and hair formats needing richness without solid fat processing
Structuring agents
What it is
Traceable coconut and canola oilsVegetable-derived waxes and structurants
Primary Use
Sticks, balms and anhydrous formats requiring set structure
APPLICATION AREAS
Where AAK lipids perform.
Skin care
The core application: butters, esters and bioactive emollients across creams, lotions, balms and treatment formats.
LIPEX SHEA
LIPEX PREACT
Hair care
Conditioning lipids and esters for masks, leave-ins and oils, including silicone-alternative routes.
LIPEX SHEALUXE TR
Colour cosmetics
Structuring agents, esters and butters for sticks, balms and cream formats requiring set structure and payoff.
STRUCTURING AGENTS
AKOFINE
Baby care
Gentle, well-characterised plant lipids for a category where impurity control and mildness are the whole specification.
AKOCARE
LIPEX
Sun care
Lipid systems selected for filter compatibility, spreading and water resistance.
AKOSUN
Petrolatum and silicone replacement
Oleogels and emollient esters engineered specifically to take fossil-derived materials out of a formula without a sensory penalty.
AKOGEL
LIPEX SHEALUXE TR
DOCUMENTATION TO BE HELD
Documentation that supports your submission, not just your specification.
The documents below are the set a personal care principal should be able to supply. AAK is unusually strong on the certification and traceability group, where RSPO, Rainforest Alliance and segregated supply chain evidence support sourcing claims that are increasingly scrutinised.
Technical and quality
- Technical Data Sheet (TDS)
- Product specification sheet with agreed release limits
- Certificate of Analysis (CoA), batch specific
- Safety Data Sheet (SDS / MSDS) in the language of the destination market
- Stability data and formulation compatibility guidance
- Recommended use levels, incorporation and processing instructions
- Physical characterisation data: appearance, pH, viscosity, particle size where relevant
Composition and safety
- Full INCI declaration with composition breakdown and percentage ranges
- Toxicological summary and safety data suitable for the CPSR safety assessment
- Allergen declaration covering the EU listed fragrance allergens
- Heavy metals and trace impurity statement
- Nanomaterial status statement
- Microbiological specification, and preservative efficacy data where applicable
- 1,4-dioxane, nitrosamine and other process impurity statements where the chemistry requires it
Efficacy and claim support
- In vitro study reports
- Ex vivo and in vivo study reports for actives
- Claim substantiation package mapped to the claims the brand intends to make
- Mechanism of action summary
- Marketing concept and formulation starter material
Certification and origin
- COSMOS and Ecocert certificates for certified grades
- NATRUE certificate where held
- Vegan declaration
- Halal certificate
- Kosher certificate where required by the market
- RSPO certification for palm-derived material
- ISO 16128 natural origin index calculation
- Country of origin declaration
- GMO-free statement
- BSE / TSE-free declaration
Regulatory and market access
- ISO 22716 cosmetic GMP certificate for the manufacturing site
- REACH registration status statement
- China compliance and IECIC listing statement
- Compliance statement against the restricted and prohibited substance annexes of the destination market
- Microplastic-free statement
- Animal testing position statement
- Change notification and supply continuity commitment
WORKING WITH ADCHEM
What ADCHEM adds to the AAK relationship.
TEXTURE-FIRST
Sensory-led lipid selection
Lipid selection is a sensory decision before it is a specification decision. We build and test the emollient system against your target texture in our own laboratories.
REFORMULATION SUPPORT
Silicone and petrolatum replacement projects
Removing a fossil-derived material usually breaks the after-feel. We run the substitution work and present the comparison rather than handing over a datasheet.
CLAIM-READY SOURCING
Sourcing claim substantiation
Traceability, RSPO and Rainforest Alliance documentation assembled and interpreted for the specific claim your marketing team intends to make.
AUTO-ATTACHED VIA COSMO
Full documentation with every sample
TDS, SDS, CoA, INCI statement and applicable certificates dispatched with the sample as standard, via COSMO, our digital platform.
On this page
Quick facts
GROUP HEADQUARTERS
Malmo, Sweden
PERSONAL CARE SINCE
1989
PARENT
AAK AB, listed on Nasdaq Stockholm, 150 years of history
SEGMENT
Plant-based emollients, butters and actives for beauty and personal care
SCALE
Approximately 3,900 employees; 25 regional sales offices; 15 Customer Innovation Centers; more than 20 production facilities
PRIMARY FEEDSTOCKS
Shea, canola and coconut
CERTIFICATIONS
COSMOS, Ecocert, RSPO, Rainforest Alliance, Vegan Society, Halal, Kosher, NATRUE, China-compliant grades
Plant lipids, engineered rather than merely refined.
Three ways to start: a sample, a technical data sheet, or a conversation with a specialist who will ask about your target texture first.
Request a Sample
Any product in the portfolio
Download a TDS
Full technical library
Talk to Our Specialist
Someone who knows the chemistry first
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