Castor ●
TL;DR. This ingredient functions mainly as an emollient and conditioning lipid, adding slip, gloss, and a richer skin or hair feel.
What does Castor do in a cosmetic formula?
This ingredient functions mainly as an emollient and conditioning lipid, adding slip, gloss, and a richer skin or hair feel.
Is Castor clean?
It is generally well tolerated in rinse-off and leave-on products, with low sensitization potential and few clean-standard concerns when cosmetic-grade and properly refined.
Is Castor sustainable?
It is plant-derived from a non-food crop that can grow in semi-arid regions, and the material is readily biodegradable. Supply quality depends on responsible farming and careful handling during seed processing, because the raw seed contains naturally occurring proteins that are removed during refined cosmetic production.
Is Castor COSMOS-approved?
It is permitted under COSMOS-natural and COSMOS-organic when produced and processed according to standard requirements. Its renewable origin, biodegradability, and relatively simple processing fit Green Chemistry well, with stronger alignment when certified organic or responsibly sourced.
How does Castor work chemically?
This material is a triglyceride mixture dominated by hydroxylated C18:1 fatty-acid chains, which gives it high viscosity, polarity, and strong gloss compared with many plant lipids. It is stable across typical cosmetic pH ranges because it is not water-soluble, but like other unsaturated lipids it can oxidize over time and is often paired with antioxidants; use levels vary from under 1% for slip to much higher levels in balms and anhydrous products.
Last updated 2026-05-15