CASTOR OIL ●
TL;DR. This ingredient primarily functions as a rich emollient and conditioning lipid, adding slip, gloss, cushion, and moisture retention to skin, hair, and lip products. It also helps disperse pigments and can increase the viscosity of anhydrous formulas.
What does CASTOR OIL do in a cosmetic formula?
This ingredient primarily functions as a rich emollient and conditioning lipid, adding slip, gloss, cushion, and moisture retention to skin, hair, and lip products. It also helps disperse pigments and can increase the viscosity of anhydrous formulas.
Is CASTOR OIL clean?
This ingredient is generally well tolerated, not a common fragrance allergen, and has little friction with clean-beauty restricted lists. Its main practical caveat is sensory, since it can feel heavy or tacky in leave-on formulas at higher levels.
Is CASTOR OIL sustainable?
This material is plant-derived, renewable, and readily biodegradable. Sustainability depends on agricultural practices and sourcing traceability, especially around labor conditions and responsible farming in the supply chain.
Is CASTOR OIL COSMOS-approved?
It is permitted under COSMOS-natural and COSMOS-organic when sourced and processed according to the standard. It aligns well with Green Chemistry because it comes from renewable feedstock, needs relatively simple mechanical or low-impact processing, and biodegrades readily.
How does CASTOR OIL work chemically?
This ingredient is a triglyceride mixture dominated by hydroxylated C18:1 fatty-acid chains, which gives it unusually high polarity and viscosity compared with many plant lipids. It is typically used from about 1 to 20 percent in creams, balms, hair products, and lip color, with higher levels possible in anhydrous formats, and it is more stable in low-water systems but can slowly oxidize like other unsaturated lipids.
Last updated 2026-05-13