Database/Emulsifying Surfactant/PEG-15 Stearate
Mostly petroleum · ISO 16128

Is PEG-15 Stearate natural?

Mostly not. Oleochemical stearic acid esterified with 15 petrochemical ethylene-oxide units; only the fatty-acid part counts natural.

INCI namePEG-15 Stearate
CAS9004-99-3
FunctionEmulsifying Surfactant
FeedstockMade from oleochemical stearic acid reacted with about…

How we scored it

Stearoyl (natural, 267 Da) + PEG-15 chain (petrochemical, ~678 Da); description's 15 mol EO used over the mismatched formula. 267/945 = 0.28.
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 from oleochemical stearic acid reacted with about 15 units of petrochemical ethylene oxide. The supplied one-EO formula/MW contradicts the '15 mol EO' description, so the description is treated as authoritative.

In plain English

An emulsifier that helps blend oil and water in cosmetics. It combines a natural fatty acid with a longer petroleum-derived ethylene oxide chain than PEG-9 Stearate.

CosIng definition: Poly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl), .alpha.-(1-oxooctadecyl)-.omega.-hydroxy- (15 mol EO average molar ratio)

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. 2PEG-15 STEARATE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  3. 3PEG-15 STEARATE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=PEG-15%20STEARATE