Database/Cleansing/Sodium Palmitate
100% natural origin · ISO 16128

Is Sodium Palmitate natural?

Yes. Palmitic acid comes from vegetable oil feedstocks; sodium is a natural mineral counter-ion.

INCI nameSodium Palmitate
CAS408-35-5
FormulaC16H31NaO2 · 278.41 Da
FunctionCleansing · Emulsifying Surfactant
FeedstockMade by saponifying vegetable-oil-derived palmitic acid with sodium…

How we scored it

Palmitic acid C16H32O2 (natural, oleochemical) neutralised with Na (natural mineral counter-ion) - whole salt natural, no petrochemical fragment.
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

Made by saponifying vegetable-oil-derived palmitic acid with sodium hydroxide. No petrochemical route is commercially used for this fatty acid salt.

In plain English

The sodium salt of palmitic acid, a fatty acid from vegetable oils, used as a cleansing and thickening ingredient.

CosIng definition: Sodium palmitate

Structure

2D structure of Sodium Palmitate

sodium hexadecanoate

PubChem CID 2735111 ↗

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. 2Sodium Palmitate. PubChem CID 2735111. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3SODIUM PALMITATE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4SODIUM PALMITATE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=SODIUM%20PALMITATE