How we scored it
Where it comes from
Made by esterifying 12-hydroxystearic acid, produced from castor oil, with ethylene glycol, made from petrochemical ethylene oxide. No commercially significant bio-based ethylene glycol route is assumed.
In plain English
An emollient and emulsifier made by combining a hydroxy fatty acid from castor oil with ethylene glycol. It softens skin and helps oil and water mix in formulas.
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Structure
1-hydroxyethyl 2-hydroxyoctadecanoate
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.
- 2Glycol Hydroxystearate. PubChem CID 118116. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
- 3GLYCOL HYDROXYSTEARATE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
- 4GLYCOL HYDROXYSTEARATE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=GLYCOL%20HYDROXYSTEARATE