Database/Emollient/Glycol Distearate
Mostly natural · ISO 16128

Is Glycol Distearate natural?

Mostly. Two oleochemical stearic-acid chains dominate the mass, with only the small ethylene glycol backbone being petrochemical.

INCI nameGlycol Distearate
CAS627-83-8
FormulaC38H74O4 · 595.0 Da
FunctionEmollient · Emulsifying Surfactant
FeedstockGlycol Distearate is the diester of oleochemical stearic…

How we scored it

2x stearic acid C18H36O2 284 Da each (natural) + ethylene glycol C2H6O2 62 Da (petrochemical) - 2 H2O = 535/595 = 0.90.
What counts. ISO 16128-2 scores the atoms that remain in the final ingredient. Reagents, solvents, catalysts and protecting groups used during manufacture leave no mass behind and are not counted.

Where it comes from

Glycol Distearate is the diester of oleochemical stearic acid with petrochemical ethylene glycol. No natural route exists for the ethylene glycol portion.

In plain English

A pearlescent wax that gives shampoos and body washes a pearly shimmer and helps thicken and stabilize them. It's made mostly from vegetable-oil fatty acid, joined by a small petrochemical linker.

Natural alternatives with the same function

Structure

2D structure of Glycol Distearate

2-octadecanoyloxyethyl octadecanoate

PubChem CID 61174 ↗

References

  1. 1ISO 16128-1:2016 and ISO 16128-2:2017 — Guidelines on technical definitions and criteria for natural and organic cosmetic ingredients and products. ISO, Geneva.
  2. 2Glycol Distearate. PubChem CID 61174. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3GLYCOL DISTEARATE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4GLYCOL DISTEARATE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=GLYCOL%20DISTEARATE