Clean Cosmetics: Savor Confronts Beauty’s Palm Oil Problem with Carbon-Derived Fats

US startup Savor has launched a beauty and personal care division, expanding its carbon-based fats beyond food to address the climate issues caused by the use of tropical oils in cosmetics.

The ubiquitous use of palm oil in cosmetics formulations is an affront to the planet, but one startup’s solution to curb the industry’s emissions is rooted in carbon dioxide.

California-based Savor employs a thermochemical process to transform point-captured carbon, green hydrogen, and methane into agriculture-free fats that can replace butter and palm oil.

It has already launched its carbon-derived butter, which is being used by some of San Francisco’s most renowned establishments. Now, though, the startup is expanding beyond food to introduce custom-designed lipids to usher in a “new era” for clean beauty.

Savor has launched a beauty and personal care division, beginning with four ingredients that reduce emissions by 90% compared to tropical oils. They’re designed to address applications across skincare, haircare, over-the-counter formulations, and therapeutic care.

“Food and personal care share the same upstream supply chains for good reason: the economics favour serving both,” explained Chiara Cecchini, VP of commercialisation at Savor. “By expanding into beauty with a complementary portfolio, we believe we’re building the kind of integrated platform that can scale.”

Savor bets on ‘ancient chemistry’ for future-facing fats

The beauty and personal care sector is heavily reliant on tropical fats like palm oil, which is linked to widespread deforestation, human rights abuses, and wildlife threats, and suffers from a lack of traceability and transparency in its supply chain.

Cosmetics companies have been seeking alternatives to oils with increasingly complex supply chains and climate challenges. It’s also a response to shifting consumer priorities – two-thirds of Gen Z Americans prioritise sustainability when purchasing personal care products, and 56% of consumers would pay more for eco-conscious options.

Savor’s technology recycles greenhouse gases by transforming them into carbon chains called alkanes, which are turned into fatty acids through a controlled combination of temperature and pressure. These are then purified and assembled to produce high-quality short-, medium- and long-chain triglycerides (SMLCT) that are “chemically identical” to conventional fats.

Through its beauty and personal care division, the company creates cosmetic-grade lipids with customisable fatty acid profiles, marking a shift from “extraction-based beauty to creation-based beauty”.

“Our breakthrough platform creates lipids with far less land and impact,” said co-founder and CEO Kathleen Alexander. “By recreating the ancient chemistry that first shaped life on Earth, we craft high‑performing lipids that nourish the body while helping protect some of our planet’s most precious ecosystems.”

An ‘impossible to ignore’ opportunity

Savor has introduced a core range of skincare products as part of its foray beyond food. Climate Conscious Triglycerides is a drop-in, palm-free replacement for emollients like caprylic/capric triglyceride (CCT), with superior oxidative stability and sensory glide.

Mimetic is composed of rare, “skin-mimicking” lipids – described as molecules that echo the skin’s own barrier structure and are abundant in Savor’s tech platform, but scarce in plant-based oils – to help restore what the skin inherently needs to thrive.

Its Vegan Tallow, on the other hand, is said to deliver the same luxurious feel and conditioning benefits as the cow-derived version, with 99% fewer emissions. And round out the launch is a petrolatum alternative, which mirrors the protective properties product developers expect without the environmental burden of petroleum.

“When we mapped our molecular output against market demand, the opportunity was impossible to ignore,” said Cecchini. “Our process generates lipids that cosmetic chemists have been searching for. They’re rare structures that are abundant in our system, yet scarce and expensive in nature.”

Lara Ramdin, a beauty industry veteran who has led innovation at Unilever and Estée Lauder and is now advising Savor, lauded the innovations. “I’ve spent my career building products where performance is non-negotiable, and I’ve seen too many ‘sustainable’ ingredients that often don’t meet the bar,” she said.

“This company is compelling because they are designing lipids with intent: structures that give formulators the feel and functionality they want, without relying on constrained or volatile supply sources. It’s not incremental reformulation – it’s a new feedstock-to-ingredient pathway for beauty.”

Savor advances regulatory process for alternative fats ahead of fundraise

Savor is already making moves in the beauty industry, showcasing its platform at last week’s Cosmoprof North America event, which it said “validated strong market interest” from contract manufacturers and formulators.

The Climate Conscious Triglycerides recently advanced into the regulatory process with the company’s first INCI (International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients) name, setting up a path for formulators to incorporate the carbon-derived fat into their products.

“Through our collaboration, I’ve been impressed by Savor’s ability to deliver a true, drop-in replacement for emollients like CCT,” said Ethan Alden-Danforth, VP of R&D at Autumn Harp, a contract manufacturer of personal care products that is supporting the startup on product development.

“It performs across all the same use cases formulators expect from CCT, while offering a far more compelling sourcing story. Brands increasingly want to avoid having to choose between environmental responsibility and ingredient performance, especially for workhorse ingredients like CCT. With Savor’s Climate Conscious Triglycerides, they get the best of both,” he outlined.

“Tallow is making a comeback among some independent beauty brands, and Savor’s Vegan Tallow is poised to help the big players innovate without making compromises,” added Alden-Danforth.

Savor is already engaging with personal care and beauty customers to incorporate its innovations into commercial formulations, and plans to keep expanding its lipid portfolio this year, with additional specialty ingredients designed for specific performance applications.

The company’s 25,000 sq ft production facility now produces tonnes of its carbon-based fats annually, and it’s currently raising a Series B round to build a 10,000-tonne facility. And last year, its butter alternative was named one of Time Magazine’s best inventions.

It is among a growing crop of startups using technology to create sustainable fats for the beauty and personal care spaces, including Äio, NoPalm Ingredients, Clean Food Group, C16 Biosciences, and Terra Oleo.