Database/Emollient/Polyamide-4
Mostly natural · ISO 16128

Is Polyamide-4 natural?

Mostly. The dimer-diacid backbone traces to vegetable oil; the diamine chain extenders and PEG/PPG end-cap are petrochemical.

INCI namePolyamide-4
FunctionEmollient · Skin Conditioning
FeedstockA vegetable-oil-derived dimer (dilinoleic) diacid is chain-extended with…

How we scored it

Estimate: dimer (dilinoleic) diacid ~565 Da (vegetable-oil, natural) dominates repeat-unit mass; diluted by petrochemical ethylenediamine/PPG-diamine chain extenders and a PEG/PPG end-cap in an unspecified ratio. Rough estimate ~0.70.
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

A vegetable-oil-derived dimer (dilinoleic) diacid is chain-extended with petrochemical ethylenediamine and polypropylene glycol diamine, then end-capped with a PEG/PPG ether. Exact monomer ratios are not specified by CosIng.

In plain English

A conditioning and thickening ingredient used in products like lipstick and nail polish. Made mostly from a vegetable-oil-derived dimer acid, combined with smaller amounts of petrochemical amine building blocks.

CosIng definition: Polyamide-4 is a polymer formed by the condensation of Dilinoleic Acid, ethylenediamine, polypropylene glycol diamine end-capped with PEG/PPG-32/10 aminopropyl methyl ether

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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. 2POLYAMIDE-4. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  3. 3POLYAMIDE-4. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=POLYAMIDE-4