Database/Cleansing Surfactant/PEG-75 Stearate
Mostly petroleum · ISO 16128

Is PEG-75 Stearate natural?

Mostly not. The stearic acid portion is oleochemical and natural, but it is vastly outweighed by the long petrochemical 75-unit ethylene oxide chain.

INCI namePEG-75 Stearate
CAS9004-99-3
FormulaC20H40O3 · 328.5 Da
FunctionCleansing Surfactant
FeedstockThe stearic acid comes from vegetable oil or…

How we scored it

Stearoyl group from stearic acid (natural, 267 Da) + PEG-75 chain (petrochemical, 75×44+18=3322 Da) - H2O = 3588 Da total; 267/3588 ≈ 0.07.
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

The stearic acid comes from vegetable oil or tallow and is esterified onto a long polyethylene glycol chain. That PEG chain is built from petrochemical ethylene oxide and dominates the molecule's total mass.

In plain English

A cleansing ingredient made by attaching a fatty acid, from plant oil or tallow, to a long synthetic chain of ethylene oxide units. Because the synthetic chain is so long, most of the ingredient's weight is petrochemical.

CosIng definition: Poly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl), .alpha.-(1-oxooctadecyl)-.omega.-hydroxy- (75 mol EO average molar ratio)

Natural alternatives with the same function

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 Behenic Acid 100% natural origin

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 C10-16 Alkyl Glucoside 100% natural origin

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 C12-20 Alkyl Glucoside 100% natural origin

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 C18-36 Acid 100% natural origin

A blend of long-chain plant fatty acids used as a mild cleanser and thickener, giving body and a…

Structure

2D structure of PEG-75 Stearate

2-hydroxyethyl octadecanoate

PubChem CID 24762 ↗

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-75 Stearate. PubChem CID 24762. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3PEG-75 STEARATE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4PEG-75 STEARATE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=PEG-75%20STEARATE