How we scored it
Where it comes from
Dominant feedstock is stearic acid from vegetable or tallow fat, esterified onto polyethylene glycol made from petrochemical ethylene oxide. No commercially significant natural alternative to the PEG backbone exists.
In plain English
An emulsifying wax that blends oil and water in creams. Made by attaching stearic acid, from vegetable or animal fat, to both ends of a polyethylene glycol chain derived from petroleum.
CosIng definition: PEG-40 Distearate is the polyethylene glycol diester of stearic acid
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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.
- 2PEG-40 DISTEARATE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
- 3PEG-40 DISTEARATE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=PEG-40%20DISTEARATE