How we scored it
Single C18 fatty alcohol; cosmetic-grade assumed oleochemical (hydrogenated natural fatty acid) → 1.00.
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
Made by hydrogenating stearic acid derived from vegetable oils such as palm, or from tallow. Petrochemical Ziegler/oxo-process stearyl alcohol exists but is uncommon in cosmetic supply chains.
In plain English
A fatty alcohol used to thicken lotions and stabilise creams. It is typically made by hydrogenating natural vegetable oil, though a small share of the market comes from synthetic petrochemical processes.
Structure
octadecan-1-ol
References
- 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.
- 2Stearyl Alcohol. PubChem CID 8221. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
- 3STEARYL ALCOHOL. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
- 4STEARYL ALCOHOL. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=STEARYL%20ALCOHOL