How we scored it
Cetyl alcohol (C16, natural) esterified with stearic acid (C18, natural); condensation water only; 1.0.
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
Cetyl Stearate is made by esterifying coconut/palm-derived cetyl alcohol with vegetable-oil or tallow-derived stearic acid. No petrochemical route is used for either fragment.
In plain English
A waxy emollient that thickens creams and gives skin a soft, smooth feel. It's made entirely from plant-derived fatty alcohol and fatty acid.
Structure
hexadecyl octadecanoate
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 Stearate. PubChem CID 70924. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
- 3CETYL STEARATE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
- 4CETYL STEARATE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=CETYL%20STEARATE