Database/Emollient/Glycereth-8
Mostly petroleum · ISO 16128

Is Glycereth-8 natural?

Mostly not. Natural glycerin backbone heavily diluted by eight petrochemical ethylene-oxide units added by ring-opening ethoxylation.

INCI nameGlycereth-8
FunctionEmollient · Humectant
FeedstockMade by ethoxylating plant-derived glycerin with eight moles…

How we scored it

Glycerin core (natural, 92 Da) + 8 ethylene oxide units (petrochemical addition, ~352 Da) of ~444.5 Da total -> 92/444.5 = 0.21.
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 ethoxylating plant-derived glycerin with eight moles of petrochemical ethylene oxide. No natural-origin alternative to ethylene oxide is used commercially.

In plain English

A moisturising ingredient made from natural glycerin that has been extended with petroleum-derived ethylene oxide chains. Most of its final weight comes from the synthetic portion.

CosIng definition: Glycereth-8 is the polyethylene glycol ether of Glycerin with an average ethoxylation value of 8

Natural alternatives with the same function

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. 2GLYCERETH-8. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  3. 3GLYCERETH-8. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=GLYCERETH-8