C12-15 Alketh-2 ●
TL;DR. This ingredient is a nonionic surfactant and emulsifying aid, used to help oil and water mix and to improve wetting, spreading, and rinse-off in cleansing or emulsion formulas.
What does C12-15 Alketh-2 do in a cosmetic formula?
This ingredient is a nonionic surfactant and emulsifying aid, used to help oil and water mix and to improve wetting, spreading, and rinse-off in cleansing or emulsion formulas.
Is C12-15 Alketh-2 clean?
Clean-beauty frameworks often flag it because it is made through ethoxylation, which can leave trace processing residues if not well purified. Skin tolerance is usually acceptable in finished formulas, but its manufacturing route creates more clean-standard friction than simpler plant-derived emulsifiers.
Is C12-15 Alketh-2 sustainable?
This material is typically made from it fatty alcohols that may come from petrochemical, palm, coconut, or mixed feedstocks, then chemically modified. It is expected to biodegrade more readily than silicone or fluorinated materials, but sourcing transparency and ethoxylation chemistry are the main sustainability caveats.
Is C12-15 Alketh-2 COSMOS-approved?
It is not aligned with COSMOS-natural or COSMOS-organic standards because ethoxylated materials are generally not permitted. From a Green Chemistry view, it has a useful performance profile and likely biodegradability, but the synthetic modification step and residue-control requirements weaken its fit.
How does C12-15 Alketh-2 work chemically?
The molecule is a blend of C12-C15 alkyl chains carrying a short polyoxyethylene segment with an average of about 2 ethylene oxide units, making it relatively low-HLB and more oil-compatible than longer-chain analogs. It is generally stable across typical cosmetic pH ranges and is used with other surfactants or emulsifiers to tune foam, wetting, solubilization, and emulsion structure.
Last updated 2026-05-13