Ethyl Stearate ●
TL;DR. This ingredient is primarily an emollient ester, used to soften skin feel, add slip, and reduce greasiness in oils, creams, lotions, and color cosmetics.
What does Ethyl Stearate do in a cosmetic formula?
This ingredient is primarily an emollient ester, used to soften skin feel, add slip, and reduce greasiness in oils, creams, lotions, and color cosmetics.
Is Ethyl Stearate clean?
This ingredient is generally well tolerated, with low sensitization concern and little clean-standard friction. The main watchpoint is source transparency, since the fatty component can come from palm, other vegetable oils, animal fat, or petrochemical routes.
Is Ethyl Stearate sustainable?
This material can be made from renewable feedstocks when the fatty acid source is plant or animal derived, and the alcohol source is fermentation based. Its linear fatty ester structure is generally biodegradable, with lower persistence concern than silicone or fluorinated materials.
Is Ethyl Stearate COSMOS-approved?
It is compatible with COSMOS-natural when made from allowed natural-origin feedstocks and produced through permitted esterification chemistry. From a Green Chemistry view, it fits best when sourced from renewable inputs with traceable palm or non-palm supply and made without problematic solvent residues.
How does Ethyl Stearate work chemically?
The molecule is a simple ester built from a C18 saturated fatty chain and a small alcohol group, giving it a waxy, oil-soluble profile with good spread and cushion. It is typically stable across the mildly acidic to neutral pH range used in emulsions, but like most esters it can slowly hydrolyze under strongly acidic or alkaline conditions.
Last updated 2026-05-13