Database/Skin Conditioning/Propylene Glycol Oleate
Mostly natural · ISO 16128

Is Propylene Glycol Oleate natural?

Mostly. Ester of natural vegetable-derived oleic acid and petrochemical propylene glycol; only the fatty-acid portion is natural.

INCI namePropylene Glycol Oleate
CAS1330-80-9
FunctionSkin Conditioning · Cleansing Surfactant
FeedstockOleic acid comes from vegetable oils (sunflower, olive,…

How we scored it

Oleic acid C18H34O2 (282.5, minus OH = 265.5 retained) natural (vegetable oil); propylene glycol C3H8O2 (76.1, minus H = 75.1 retained) petrochemical. 265.5/340.5 = 0.78.
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

Oleic acid comes from vegetable oils (sunflower, olive, canola); propylene glycol is made from petrochemical propylene oxide. No natural PG route in commercial use.

In plain English

An ester of a synthetic glycol and natural oleic acid from vegetable oil, used as a skin-conditioning cleansing ingredient.

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