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macadamia nut oil (Macadamia integrifolia) is a carrier and an emollient with excellent spreadability, lubrication, and penetration properties. It is moisturizing, leaves a good, smooth, non-greasy afterfeel, and is very gentle to the skin. Its fatty acid composition is similar to the major fatty acid composition of skin sebum, including some of the acids that are crucial to maintaining the skin’s water-barrier functions. Macadamia nut oil is beneficial in skin-softening and nourishing preparations. It is also useful in products for mature and/or dry skin given its palmitoleic acid content (up to 20 percent). Palmitoleic acid is a naturally occurring fatty acid produced by the sebaceous glands, the production of which decreases with age. The nut’s weight is 70 to 80 percent oil, specifically triglyceride oil and palmitoleic oil. It is very cosmetically stable with low rancidity, and naturally contains tocopherols. The macadamia (nut) tree is grown primarily in Australia and the Hawaiian Islands.