Ceteth-5 ●
TL;DR. This ingredient is a nonionic surfactant and emulsifier used to help blend oil and water phases, improve wetting, and stabilize creams, lotions, and hair-care systems. With a low ethoxylation level, it leans more lipophilic and often supports richer emulsions rather than acting as a primary cleanser.
What does Ceteth-5 do in a cosmetic formula?
This ingredient is a nonionic surfactant and emulsifier used to help blend oil and water phases, improve wetting, and stabilize creams, lotions, and hair-care systems. With a low ethoxylation level, it leans more lipophilic and often supports richer emulsions rather than acting as a primary cleanser.
Is Ceteth-5 clean?
From a clean-beauty perspective, this ingredient has friction because it is made through ethoxylation, a process associated with ethylene oxide and possible 1,4-dioxane residues if purification is not well controlled. It is generally considered low in skin irritation at typical use levels, but many stricter clean standards flag or restrict ethoxylated materials.
Is Ceteth-5 sustainable?
This material is typically derived from a fatty alcohol source plus petrochemical ethylene oxide, so its sourcing can involve palm, coconut, or petroleum inputs depending on the supplier. Fatty alcohol ethoxylates are generally biodegradable, but the petrochemical processing step and aquatic-impact profile keep the sustainability story mixed.
Is Ceteth-5 COSMOS-approved?
It is not permitted under COSMOS-natural or COSMOS-organic standards because ethoxylated ingredients fall outside the allowed processing framework. From a Green Chemistry view, it has useful performance and expected biodegradability, but reliance on ethoxylation and nonrenewable input streams weakens alignment.
How does Ceteth-5 work chemically?
The molecule is a nonionic ether built from a C16 fatty-chain alcohol backbone with an average of about five ethylene oxide units, giving it a relatively low HLB profile for water-in-oil support or co-emulsification. It is typically stable across common cosmetic pH ranges, can be used alongside fatty alcohols and higher-HLB emulsifiers, and requires supplier controls for residual ethylene oxide and 1,4-dioxane.
Last updated 2026-08-17