Database/Bulking/Nylon-12
100% petroleum · ISO 16128

Is Nylon-12 natural?

No. Nylon-12's monomer laurolactam is produced from petrochemical butadiene, unlike bio-based Nylon-11, which comes from castor oil.

INCI nameNylon-12
CAS25038-74-8
FunctionBulking · Opacifying
FeedstockNylon-12 is a synthetic polyamide made by polymerizing…

How we scored it

Polyamide from laurolactam, industrially produced from petrochemical butadiene, not the castor-oil route used for Nylon-11 → 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

Nylon-12 is a synthetic polyamide made by polymerizing laurolactam, which is manufactured from petrochemical butadiene. It should not be confused with Nylon-11, which does have a castor-oil-based commercial route.

In plain English

A fine powder used to smooth skin feel and add slip to makeup and powders. It is a synthetic plastic, chemically related to nylon fabric, made from petroleum-based building blocks.

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. 2NYLON-12. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  3. 3NYLON-12. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=NYLON-12