Database/Hair Conditioning/Biotin
100% petroleum · ISO 16128

Is Biotin natural?

No. Unlike most B-vitamins, biotin is produced by multi-step organic synthesis from petrochemical starting materials rather than fermentation.

INCI nameBiotin
CAS58-85-5
FormulaC10H16N2O3S · 244.31 Da
FunctionHair Conditioning · Skin Conditioning
FeedstockManufactured almost entirely by total chemical synthesis (e.g.…

How we scored it

Vitamin B7; commercial supply is total chemical synthesis from petrochemical intermediates, not fermentation or extraction. 0.0.
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

Manufactured almost entirely by total chemical synthesis (e.g. from fumaric-acid- or cyclopentadiene-derived intermediates), not by fermentation. Natural extraction from foods is not commercially viable at cosmetic-ingredient scale.

In plain English

A B-vitamin (vitamin B7) added to hair and skin products. Unlike many other vitamins used in cosmetics, it is made almost entirely by chemical synthesis rather than fermentation or plant extraction.

CosIng definition: Biotin is the organic compound that conforms to the formula

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Structure

2D structure of Biotin

5-[(3aS,4S,6aR)-2-oxo-1,3,3a,4,6,6a-hexahydrothieno[3,4-d]imidazol-4-yl]pentanoic acid

PubChem CID 171548 ↗

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. 2Biotin. PubChem CID 171548. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3BIOTIN. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4BIOTIN. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=BIOTIN