ECOHANCE® Soft BOL is a highly sustainable ester oil that delivers exceptional silky sensorial benefits. It is an ideal choice for brands seeking luxurious sensation while meeting eco-conscious values, perfectly suitable for skin care, sun care, and color cosmetic applications. It features a unique DUAL sustainability concept combining responsible sourcing with an eco-friendly production process. The product is derived from 3 types of next-generation feedstocks, all sourced from side or waste streams. Additionally, the product is manufactured using a green chemistry process, significantly reducing CO₂ emissions.
Benefits at a glance
- Fully based on next-generation feedstock from industrial residues and food waste streams
- Produced using Evonik’s unique, sustainable, and eco‑efficient enzymatic process, powered by 100% renewable electricity and delivering a significantly reduced global‑warming impact
- A perfect sensorial alternative to conventional/synthetic silicone emollients
- The multifunctional emollient shows good pigment wetting and UV filter solubility properties which make it a great silkiness booster in suncare and color cosmetics
- Clinically proven to deliver effective moisturization while maintaining non‑comedogenic properties
Product Details & Documents
Product Information
Markets & Applications
ECOHANCE® Program
Being An Inventor On Sustainability
From nature's bounty to beauty: unveiling the power of alternative next-generation feedstocks in cosmetics.
“Feel” is Redefining Skin Care
Skin care originally started with a clear function – protection and hydration. Today, skin care is much more than just function, it is an experience – and silkiness elevates everyday care into indulgence.
“Feel” matters: In consumer preference ranking across categories, “feeling on skin” appears as a top driver.
Which of the following attributes are important to you when choosing personal care products?
| Ranking | Facial Skin care | Sun care | Make-up | Body & Hand care |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Feeling on skin | Feeling on skin | Texture | Feeling on skin |
| 2 | Texture | Texture | Feeling on skin | Scent/Fragrance |
| 3 | Scent/Fragrance | Scent/Fragrance | Visual appeal | Texture |
Source: Mintel consumer data book- Global Consumer - September 2025 - Beauty, Personal Care & Household: Asked of internet users aged 16+ in 13 markets, internet users aged 18+ in 23 markets; Available choices: 1. Feeling on skin; 2. Texture 3. Visual appeal 4. Scent/Fragrance 5. Sound experiences 6. None of these
Why Silky Sensation Has Been a Compromise
Achieving silky sensation has historically meant relying on silicones and fossil-based esters.
However, traditional choices come with several disadvantages: regulatory pressure, environmental persistence, low or no biodegradability, and a high CO₂ footprint. In addition, some "natural" or "partially natural" alternatives still utilize conventional processes and compete with food feedstocks.
Formulator pain points:
- Need silicone-like sensory without the typical trade-offs
- Desire for credible sustainability (feedstock + process)
- Avoiding sticky residue especially in high SPF formats
Meet ECOHANCE® Soft BOL: An Emollient Uniting Sensation + Sustainability
ECOHANCE® Soft BOL is based on next‑generation feedstock and produced by enzymatic ester technology. This dual sustainability leads to a negative product carbon footprint. Besides sustainability, another important pillar of the ECOHANCE® program is performance. ECOHANCE® Soft BOL delivers exceptional silky sensorial benefits comparable to silicones and natural ester alternatives – turning residues into value and touch into silky indulgence.
A Game-Changing Emollient
Outstanding Silky Performance, Credible Sustainable Promise
- Premium Silky Experience
- Negative Product Carbon Footprint
- Next-generation Feedstock1
1Next-generation feedstock: Next-generation feedstocks are sustainable, non-food-competing resources like agricultural waste, and even captured CO2, used to create chemicals and materials, moving beyond first-gen (food crops) and second-gen (lignocellulosic biomass) sources to build a circular bioeconomy and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
Product Overview
- Premium silky skin feel
- Silkiness shown superior vs silicones and vs natural oils in sensory profiling
- Helps minimize “sticky residue effect” in high SPF formulations
- Good UV filter solubility, comparable to isoamyl esters
- Very high pigment wetting/dispersion capability
- Non‑comedogenic (clinical evaluation) + moisturizing (in vivo hydration study)
- Negative product carbon footprint
How It Works: Dual Sustainability – Feedstock + Process
Next‑generation feedstock: from waste to worth
ECOHANCE® Soft BOL is built on upcycling industrial residues and food waste/side streams.
- Olive acid oil (acidic residue from olive oil refining; source for oleic acid)
- Rejected potatoes and whisky pot ale (used for butanol production)
Traceability & responsible sourcing
- Oleic acid is 100% olive‑based
- No tropical oils involved and no competition to food feedstock
- Olives sourced from the Mediterranean region of the EU
- Butanol is produced from locally sourced Scottish food waste streams
- No competition to food feedstock and no land use change
Eco-friendly process: low energy enzymatic esterification
A low temperature enzymatic esterification process (T < 90°C) is used, contributing to the low product carbon footprint.
Holistic approach for enhancing eco-friendly practices
General production process flow diagram
Proven Performance: The Sensorial + Functional Proof
Silky sensory performance
Sensory profiling (trained panel; attributes scored and analyzed via factor analysis) is used to describe:
- “Liquid silk sensation” (silkiness + slipperiness) and
- “Sticky residue effect” (waxiness + stickiness)
ECOHANCE® Soft BOL is presented as showing:
- Liquid silk sensation superior to silicones
- Liquid silk sensation superior to natural oils
- Reduced sticky residue effect in high SPF sun care
High product quality (process-enabled)
The low‑temperature enzymatic process is presented as enabling better odor, oxidation stability, and color versus a conventional process comparison.
Consumer-perceived benefits (self-assessment)
In a self‑assessment questionnaire on a silky W/O formulation containing ECOHANCE® Soft BOL, results include:
- 82% agree skin feels immediately nourished and hydrated
- 86% say skin feels cared for and comfortable even 1h after application
- 82% agree skin feels softer and smoother
- 78% feel like they treated themselves (self‑care moment)
Multifunctional Care: One Emollient, Many Formats
- Creams, lotions, serums - O/W and W/O
- High and pure oil formulations
- Color cosmetics
- Sun care
- Hair care
- Skin cleansing
Sustainability Beyond the Label: Dual Sustainability in Practice
ECOHANCE® Soft BOL is a top sustainable level emollient through both origin & process, including:
- “From waste to worth” (feedstock based on food waste and side streams)
- Traceability and regional sourcing, production in Europe
- No competition to food, no land use change, and circularity (bio‑based + biodegradability)
- Low‑energy enzymatic esterification
Guideline Formulations to Get Started
Get inspired by one of our guideline formulations:
Premium Face Care
Good Night Silk Touch Elixir — low viscous W/O, caring/hydrating feel; semi‑cold process
| Ingredients | Function | w/w% | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | ISOLAN® GPS (Polyglyceryl-4 Diisostearate/Polyhydroxystearate/Sebacate) | W/O emulsifier | 5.00 |
| TEGOSOFT® DC MB (Decyl Cocoate) | Emollient | 16.00 | |
| ECOHANCE® Soft BOL (Butyl Oleate) | Emollient | 8.00 | |
| TEGOSOFT® CT MB (Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride) | Emollient | 2.00 | |
| Babassu Oil (Orbignya Oleifera seed Oil) | Natural oil | 1.50 | |
| Aloe Vera (Aloe Barbadensis) | Natural extract | 2.00 | |
| dermofeel® Toco 70 non GMO (Tocopherol; Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil) | Antioxidant | 0.20 | |
| Kahlwax 2225 Phyto (Shorea Robusta Resin (and) Rhus Verniciflua Peel Wax (and) Olea Europaea (Olive) Oil Unsaponifiables (and) Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Wax) | Wax | 0.60 | |
| Kahlwax 6684 Jasmine (Jasminum Grandiflorum (Jasmine) Flower Wax) | Wax | 1.00 | |
| B | Water (Aqua) | 54.20 | |
| Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate | Stabilizer | 1.50 | |
| Glycerin | Humectant | 5.00 | |
| C | Verstatil® TBG MB (Triethyl Citrate; Glyceryl Caprylate; Benzoic Acid) | Antimicrobial protection | 1.00 |
| Water/Aqua, Glycerin, Lecithin, Ubiquinone | Active | 2.00 | |
| Z | Perfume | q.s. |
See our presentation for preparation steps, and other inspiring formulations such as Double Care Concentrate and Smooth Sun Lotion SPF 50. Download the complete presentation below!
Ready to Deliver “Liquid Silk” With Credible Sustainability?
ECOHANCE® Soft BOL enhances formulation silkiness—powered by dual sustainability and suitable for a variety of applications.
FAQ - ECOHANCE® Soft BOL explained
ECOHANCE® Soft BOL delivers silicone‑like glide and premium silky sensory, with sensory profiling showing silkiness superior to silicones.
Yes - ECOHANCE® Soft BOL shows good UV filter solubility (comparable to isoamyl esters) and helps minimize sticky residue effect in high SPF formulations.
Yes - ECOHANCE® Soft BOL has very high pigment wetting capability and it is recommended for color cosmetics.
A clinical evaluation concluded that an ECOHANCE® Soft BOL formulation can be considered non‑comedogenic.
An in vivo Corneometer study reported a +30.3% hydration increase after 3 weeks with a formulation containing 12% ECOHANCE® Soft BOL.
Yes - It is readily biodegradable (OECD 301 F).
The next‑generation feedstocks combined with low‑energy enzymatic esterification results in an exceptionally low product carbon footprint for ECOHANCE® Soft BOL.