There's been some conversation elsewhere about using Extra Virgin Olive Oil as a cleanser. In that context, there's been mention of it being "water soluble." This puzzled me, because of the old saying "oil & water don't mix" and my own experiences with making home made salad dressings.

So I decided to do some digging. I Googled "olive oil" and "water soluble." Most of the hits I made referenced olive oil as containing water soluble components, but did not say it was water soluble.

One site said: www.bulkoil.com/chemistry.htm

QUOTE:
Olive Oil is a complex compound made of fatty acids, vitamins, volatile components, water soluble components and microscopic bits of olive. Primary fatty acids are Oleic and linoleic acid.

* Oleic acid is monosaturated and makes up 55-85% of olive oil
(C17H35COOH) or CH3-(CH2)7-CH=CH-(CH2)7-COOH also known as oleate.
The IUPAC name would be cis-9-octadecenoate
* Linoleic is polyunsaturated and makes up about 9%
(C17H29COOH) or CH3-(CH2)4-CH=CH-CH2-CH=CH-(CH2)7-COOH
* Linolenic, which is polyunsaturated, makes up 0-1.5%
* Vitamins are Vitamin E and carotene

.... Olive oil and other oils are not water soluble so their acidity cannot be measured in pH.
ENDQUOTE

I also tried "olive oil" and solubility. I found this:

"Immiscible liquids will not produce a homogenous solution in any proportions (eg. water and olive oil)." (at pharmlabs.unc.edu/solubility/text.htm)

For what its worth...