How we scored it
Where it comes from
Manufactured by radical polymerisation of petrochemical acrylic acid crosslinked with pentaerythritol allyl ether, then neutralised with sodium hydroxide. No bio-based acrylic acid route is commercially significant.
In plain English
A synthetic thickening gel-former related to Carbomer, pre-neutralised with sodium. The polymer backbone is made from petrochemical acrylic acid; only the sodium portion counts as naturally derived.
CosIng definition: 2-Propenoic acid, polymer with 2,2-bis(hydroxymethyl)propane-1,3-diol 2-propenyl ether, sodium salts
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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.
- 2SODIUM CARBOMER. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
- 3SODIUM CARBOMER. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=SODIUM%20CARBOMER