Diisostearylmalate ●
TL;DR. It is an emollient ester that adds cushion, slip, gloss, and pigment adhesion, especially in lip, color, and balm formats. It also helps bind powders and disperse colorants in oil phases.
What does Diisostearylmalate do in a cosmetic formula?
It is an emollient ester that adds cushion, slip, gloss, and pigment adhesion, especially in lip, color, and balm formats. It also helps bind powders and disperse colorants in oil phases.
Is Diisostearylmalate clean?
Clean frameworks generally treat it as low-concern, with no common allergen label issue and low irritation in normal use. The main caveat is source transparency, since the fatty portion can be plant-derived or petro-derived depending on supplier.
Is Diisostearylmalate sustainable?
This material may be made from plant-derived fatty alcohols or petrochemical inputs, so its sustainability profile depends heavily on supplier sourcing. Its hydrolyzable ester bonds support biodegradation, but its large branched oily structure is less water-dispersible than smaller simple esters.
Is Diisostearylmalate COSMOS-approved?
It can fit COSMOS-natural when the fatty alcohol feedstock is natural-origin and the esterification route meets permitted-process rules, but it is not inherently COSMOS-organic by name alone. From a Green Chemistry lens, it scores best when made from renewable feedstocks using solvent-light processing, with biodegradability supported by ester bonds.
How does Diisostearylmalate work chemically?
The molecule is a high-molecular-weight, branched diester built on a hydroxy-dicarboxylic acid core, which gives it strong affinity for oils, waxes, and pigments. It is commonly used around 1–20%, with higher levels possible in anhydrous lip formats, and it is generally stable across typical cosmetic pH when not exposed to strong acid or base hydrolysis.
Last updated 2026-05-15