Olive Tree People

Olive Tree People claims to offer “waterless” beauty products. On its website, the company says that while conventional skincare products are made of 70% distilled water, its formulas largely contain olive-derived hydroxytyrosol, which it touts as a “globally unique holistic beauty molecule and elixir.”

According to Olive Tree People, eliminating water from its formulas “ensure[s] maximum potency, improved stability, and reduced environmental impact.” The cosmetics company further explains that:

Water can be a problem for the skin because it can disrupt the essential substances in the skin’s surface layers that keep it intact, smooth, and vibrant-looking.

There’s just one problem TINA.org discovered after receiving a tip from a reader: Many of the products on Olive Tree People’s website contain water or ingredients that were obtained using water.

Take, for example, the “Oliveda Corrective Serum Face” product, a small 1-ounce bottle of which costs $63. Despite having “no water” advertised on the front label and being touted on the company’s homepage as “waterless” (see first image above), water is the second most predominant ingredient in the serum:

Additionally, the first – and therefore most predominant – ingredient in the company’s “001 internal HT Beauty Molecule” product is aqueous extract of olive extract – which means the olive ingredient was extracted using water.

But wait, there’s more.

Of the dozens of beauty products we found being sold on Olive Tree People’s website, over half included water – or an “aqueous extract” – on the ingredients list.

So what’s the deal? According to Olive Tree People’s ingredients library, water “may appear lower” on the ingredients list as “simply a breakdown from other ingredients.”

But being the second most predominant ingredient – as water is for multiple products on the website – doesn’t exactly sound like “lower” on the ingredients list. This explanation also doesn’t account for the “waterless” cosmetics company’s use of aqueous extraction.

Olive Tree People did not respond to a request for comment.

The bottom line

If you’re looking for skincare or beauty products that are truly waterless, make sure to carefully read the ingredients before making a purchase.

Find more of our coverage on ingredient claims.