Cera Microcristallina ●
TL;DR. This ingredient primarily acts as a solid structuring agent and thickener, giving sticks, balms, ointments, and creams body, slip, and water-resistant occlusion. It also helps stabilize oil phases and raise melt point.
What does Cera Microcristallina do in a cosmetic formula?
This ingredient primarily acts as a solid structuring agent and thickener, giving sticks, balms, ointments, and creams body, slip, and water-resistant occlusion. It also helps stabilize oil phases and raise melt point.
Is Cera Microcristallina clean?
From a clean-beauty lens, it has low skin-sensitization potential when highly refined, but it has friction because it is fossil-derived and quality depends on purification that limits polycyclic aromatic residues. Many clean frameworks prefer renewable structuring agents, and COSMOS-style standards do not align with it.
Is Cera Microcristallina sustainable?
This material is made from refining petroleum fractions, so it relies on nonrenewable feedstocks. It is not readily biodegradable, and its environmental profile is weaker than renewable structuring materials.
Is Cera Microcristallina COSMOS-approved?
It is generally not permitted under COSMOS-organic or COSMOS-natural because it is petrochemical-derived. Green Chemistry alignment is limited, since the feedstock is nonrenewable and the material is environmentally persistent, although cosmetic-grade refining can produce a chemically stable, low-reactivity ingredient.
How does Cera Microcristallina work chemically?
Chemically, it is a complex mixture of saturated branched and cyclic hydrocarbons with a high melting range, typically about 60 to 90 °C, which makes it useful for firmness and thermal stability. It is anhydrous, pH-independent, oxidation-resistant compared with unsaturated lipids, and is often used around 1 to 30% depending on whether the formula is a cream, balm, or stick.
Last updated 2026-05-13