Abstract: A fatty acid ester of pentaerythritol, a pentaerythritol oligomer, or mixtures thereof, where the fatty acid has 6 to 22 carbon atoms, and the ester contains less than 0.3% by weight C17 fatty acid acyl groups and has a melting point of at least 30° C. is provided. A process for the production of a C16/C18 fatty acid pentaerythritol ester including (A) providing about 1.8 to about 2.2 mol of a fatty acid mixture per mol of pentaerythritol; (B) esterifying component (A) at temperatures ranging from about 180° C. to about 250° C. in an inert gas atmosphere in the absence of solvent to form a reaction mixture; (C) stirring the reaction mixture in vacuo until it has an acid value of less than 1 and an OH value of 145 to 158 is provided. A cosmetic and/or pharmaceutical composition including the above-described ester is also provided.

Abstract: An oil in water gel composition including (a) from about 0.05% to about 5% by weight of at least one polymeric gel former selected from the group consisting of acrylic acid, acrylamide, homopolymers and copolymers of acrylic acid, homopolymers and copolymers of acrylamide, derivatives thereof, and mixtures thereof; (b) from about 0.1% to about 10% by weight of at least one wax component with a melting point of at least 30° C.; (c) from about 1% to about 30% by weight of an oil component which is liquid at 25° C.; and (d) from about 60% to about 95% by weight of water, with the proviso that the composition is free from anionic and cationic emulsifiers and surfactants is provided. Processes for producing the compositions and incorporation of the compositions into a cosmetic formulation are also provided.