Database/Antistatic/TEA-Lauroyl Sarcosinate
Mostly petroleum · ISO 16128

Is TEA-Lauroyl Sarcosinate natural?

Mostly not. Only the coconut-derived lauroyl fragment is natural; triethanolamine and the sarcosine portion are both synthetic, petrochemical-derived fragments.

INCI nameTEA-Lauroyl Sarcosinate
CAS16693-53-1
FormulaC21H44N2O6 · 420.6 Da
FunctionAntistatic · Cleansing
FeedstockTEA-Lauroyl Sarcosinate is the triethanolamine salt of N-lauroyl…

How we scored it

Lauroyl C12H23O=183 natural; TEA C6H15NO3=149 synthetic + sarcosine remainder ≈88 synthetic; total 421 → 183/421=0.44.
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

TEA-Lauroyl Sarcosinate is the triethanolamine salt of N-lauroyl sarcosine. The lauroyl group comes from coconut fatty acid; triethanolamine and sarcosine are manufactured synthetically.

In plain English

A cleansing surfactant made from coconut-derived fatty acid combined with a lab-made amino-acid-like ingredient (sarcosine) and neutralised with triethanolamine, a synthetic amine. Used as a foaming cleanser in shampoos and washes.

CosIng definition: N-Methyl-N-(1-oxododecyl)glycine, compound with 2,2',2''-nitrilotri(ethanol) (1:1)

Natural alternatives with the same function

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 Alanine 100% natural origin

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 Arginine 100% natural origin

An amino acid found in skin and hair proteins, used for conditioning and moisture-binding. Made by fermenting plant…

 Asparagine 100% natural origin

An amino acid made by fermenting plant sugars, similar to other food-fermentation processes. Helps condition hair and skin…

 Aspartic Acid 100% natural origin

An amino acid used for skin conditioning and moisture retention. Usually produced by fermentation or by an enzyme…

 Capryloyl Hydrolyzed Collagen 100% natural origin

Collagen broken into small protein fragments and attached to caprylic acid, an eight-carbon fatty acid from coconut or…

Structure

2D structure of TEA-Lauroyl Sarcosinate

2-[bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amino]ethanol;2-[dodecanoyl(methyl)amino]acetic acid

PubChem CID 167562 ↗

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. 2TEA-Lauroyl Sarcosinate. PubChem CID 167562. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3TEA-LAUROYL SARCOSINATE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4TEA-LAUROYL SARCOSINATE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=TEA-LAUROYL%20SARCOSINATE