Soliance presented its renewable squalane for the first time in Europe at the Cosmetagora, which was held on the 19th and 20th of January 2011 in Paris.

Because of its stability and hydrating properties, squalane is known to be one of the most effective emollients of the market. However, it has progressively been neglected by formulators because of supply difficulties. Historically, squalane was sourced from shark liver. This very controversial source was abandoned in favour of plant-derived materials, mostly from the processing of olive oil. Unfortunately, the disadvantage of olive as a source is its price variability due to its interdependence with food oil.

Avoiding these issues, Soliance’s renewable squalane is sourced from sucrose derived from sugarcane thereby benefiting from high productivity rates (2 tons of squalane per hectare of sugarcane). "The production of a single farm is almost enough to meet the World’s annual needs," said Soliance.

According to the French supplier of cosmetic ingredients derived from natural resources, other advantages are: the full traceability of the ingredient, from the farmer to the market, and sustainability, thanks to sugarcane’s production cycle.

Regarding the sensory qualities of this renewable squalane, tests performed by Soliance show they are quite similar to those of olive squalane.

For the development of this alternative source, Soliance partnered with Amyris, an American specialist of biotechnology.