The quiet ingredients in CROWN Plus: the ones you never notice doing their job

When people read the CROWN Plus box, the questions are always about the coolants and the herbs. Nobody asks about bisabolol. Nobody has ever emailed us about tocopherol. Fair enough, because those are not why you buy a maximum-cooling roller. But they are a big part of why you can keep using one.

A formula built on four TRPM8 coolants, three botanical oils and a penetration enhancer is a lot of activity on a small patch of skin. Without a soft landing it would be harsh, it would oxidize, and it would smell like a dental office. As with the main CROWN Plus science article, we say exactly how strong the evidence is for each one, including where it is negative.

MCT oil: the carrier that does the quiet heavy lifting

The first ingredient on the box, meaning the one there is most of, is caprylic/capric triglyceride: the fractionated part of coconut or palm kernel oil made of the 8- and 10-carbon fatty acids, better known as MCT oil. Everything else dissolves in it.

It dissolves lipophilic molecules like menthol, borneol and the WS coolants cleanly; in one comparison it carried five times more ibuprofen than mineral oil.¹ It is saturated, so unlike olive, almond or plain coconut oil it does not go rancid, and it does not solidify in a cold car the way coconut oil does at around 24 degrees Celsius. It is nearly odorless, light on skin, and was non-irritating and non-sensitizing in the human patch testing reviewed by the Cosmetic Ingredient Review panel.² Pharmaceutical formulators use the same material, as Miglyol 812, for menthol oleogels.³

Its job is to hold the coolants against the skin and release them over a longer window, where CROWN's alcohol base is built for a fast, dry finish instead. Much of the "lasts longer" in CROWN Plus is the carrier, working quietly.

Why there is no water in the bottle

CROWN Plus is anhydrous. There is no water phase and no alcohol. That single decision removes a whole category of ingredients.

Water is what microbes need. A product with a water phase needs a preservative system, which is why most lotions carry phenoxyethanol or parabens. An oil with no water is low microbiological risk under the cosmetics standard (ISO 29621) and can be made without preservatives at all. CROWN Plus needs no preservatives because there is nothing in the bottle for a preservative to protect. CROWN gets there a different way, through its alcohol base, and both rollers are paraben-free.

Leaving alcohol out changes the feel. CROWN is hydroethanolic: ethanol flashes off fast,⁴ which gives it the fast, dry finish that suits everyday use. It is also not just about the cold: menthol and camphor bring the cooling, and magnesium, Bing Pian, Chuan Xiong and German chamomile round it out, which is why CROWN is the everyday roller. CROWN Plus stays on the skin as an oil, which suits the hard days when you want the cold to hold. An oil also cannot carry magnesium chloride, which does not dissolve in it, so magnesium is in CROWN and not CROWN Plus; see the CROWN vs CROWN Plus comparison.

Bisabolol

Alpha-bisabolol is a sesquiterpene alcohol from German chamomile and candeia wood, and one of the most common skin-conditioning agents in cosmetics. It is in CROWN Plus because it makes a terpene-heavy oil feel smoother on skin, and because it has an interesting, if early, preclinical record around the nerves that coolants excite.

In order of strength: the Cosmetic Ingredient Review panel found bisabolol safe as used in cosmetics.⁵ In rodents it reduced nociceptive behavior in several models, including one close to our interests: applied topically or given orally, it reduced orofacial nociception triggered by cinnamaldehyde, a TRPA1 agonist, in mice,⁶ and a later study found effects in a trigeminal central sensitization model.⁷ TRPA1 is the receptor high-dose menthol overspills onto, so an ingredient that quiets TRPA1-driven responses in the trigeminal territory is a sensible companion for a coolant stack. In human skin in vitro it is also a mild penetration enhancer.⁸

Roman chamomile, and why it is not German chamomile

Roman chamomile (Anthemis nobilis, also Chamaemelum nobile) is the last ingredient on the box, so it is present at the lowest level. It is there for the nose. Its oil is 75 to 85 percent angelate and tiglate esters, which give a soft, apple-like note that rounds off the sharp edge of menthol and eucalyptus.¹⁰ With it, the blend smells like mint and herbs, not a dentist's office. That is the entire job.

CROWN contains German chamomile, and people reasonably ask whether the two are interchangeable. They are not. German chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla) is a different plant, rich in bisabolol and chamazulene. The one randomized topical chamomile trial in migraine, a 2018 crossover study in which a chamomile oleogel reduced pain, nausea and photophobia at 30 minutes versus placebo, used German chamomile.¹¹ Roman chamomile has nothing comparable; its evidence is aromatherapy and tradition, including as a minor component of an inhaled blend studied in intensive care patients.¹² We cite the German chamomile trial only so you know it exists and know it does not apply here.

One practical note: Roman chamomile is in the daisy family (Asteraceae). If you react to ragweed, daisies or marigolds, patch test on your inner forearm first.

Spearmint

Spearmint (Mentha viridis, also Mentha spicata) is the mint in gum and toothpaste. Unlike peppermint it contains very little menthol; its main constituent is carvone. It contributes essentially no cooling and has no headache evidence. It is here because peppermint and eucalyptus together can read as sharp and camphoraceous, and a little spearmint softens the blend into something closer to fresh mint. For people who often cannot stand strong smells during an attack, getting the aroma right is a real design requirement. We will not dress it up as an active.

Tocopherol (vitamin E)

Tocopherol is a chain-breaking antioxidant: it interrupts the free-radical reactions that turn fresh oils into oxidized ones. In a roller full of terpenes, that is the difference between a product that is the same in month 20 as in month 1 and one that is not.

Oxidation matters for two reasons. The phthalides in Chuan Xiong oil oxidize readily, which is why the roller is in amber glass and should be stored cool and out of the light. And common terpenes such as limonene and linalool are not allergenic when fresh but become contact allergens once oxidized; in a European patch-test series of roughly 2,900 patients they were among the more frequent positive reactions.¹³ Tocopherol helps keep the oils fresh. It does not prevent sensitization, and we do not claim it does. The Cosmetic Ingredient Review panel has assessed tocopherols as safe in cosmetics.¹⁴

Why a strong formula needs a soft landing

A maximum-cooling roller puts a lot of receptor activity on a small area of thin skin, several times a day, in someone whose nervous system is already having a bad time. Every design decision after "make it colder" has to answer to that.

The carrier decides how long the coolants stay and how the skin feels afterward. No water decides whether you need preservatives. Bisabolol decides how a terpene oil feels going on. Spearmint and Roman chamomile decide whether you can stand the smell at 3 a.m. Tocopherol decides whether the bottle you open in year two is the product you bought. None of these is why anyone buys CROWN Plus. All of them are why someone keeps using it.

Everything in this article is printed on the box in descending order of concentration. CROWN Plus is lavender-free, water-free, paraben-free, vegan and cruelty-free, and it is made for Cerebral Torque, which is based in New Jersey, at an ISO 9001 and GMPC certified facility.

Related reading: The science behind CROWN Plus · CROWN vs CROWN Plus · Strongest migraine roll-on: a buyer's guide · The science behind CROWN

These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. For external use only. Avoid contact with eyes and mucous membranes. Not for use on children under 2. If you are pregnant, nursing, or have a medical condition, talk to your healthcare provider before use. Study descriptions summarize published research on individual ingredients and are not claims about what CROWN Plus does. This article is for general information and is not medical advice.