How we scored it
Where it comes from
Made by esterifying cetyl alcohol, coconut/palm-derived, with isononanoic acid, a branched C9 acid manufactured from petrochemical diisobutylene via hydroformylation. No natural route to isononanoic acid is used commercially.
In plain English
A light, silky emollient used in skincare and makeup, made by combining a coconut or palm-derived fatty alcohol with a branched synthetic acid from petrochemical feedstock.
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Structure
hexadecyl 3,5,5-trimethylhexanoate
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.
- 2Cetyl Isononanoate. PubChem CID 72941612. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
- 3CETYL ISONONANOATE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
- 4CETYL ISONONANOATE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=CETYL%20ISONONANOATE