Hypromellose ●
TL;DR. This ingredient is primarily a water-soluble thickener, film-former, and texture stabilizer. It helps build viscosity, suspend particles, improve slip, and form a light flexible film on skin or hair.
What does Hypromellose do in a cosmetic formula?
This ingredient is primarily a water-soluble thickener, film-former, and texture stabilizer. It helps build viscosity, suspend particles, improve slip, and form a light flexible film on skin or hair.
Is Hypromellose clean?
It is generally well tolerated, non-sensitizing, and not a common clean-standard restricted-list concern. Clean-beauty scrutiny is usually about its chemical modification process rather than skin compatibility.
Is Hypromellose sustainable?
This material starts from plant-derived cellulose, then is chemically modified to improve water solubility and performance. It is generally considered biodegradable, with a lower persistence profile than many synthetic film-forming polymers.
Is Hypromellose COSMOS-approved?
It is permitted under COSMOS-natural and may be used in COSMOS-organic formulations, though it typically does not contribute organic content. From a Green Chemistry view, it has a renewable cellulose backbone and good biodegradability, balanced by the use of synthetic etherification reagents in processing.
How does Hypromellose work chemically?
The molecule is a nonionic cellulose derivative with methoxy and hydroxypropyl ether substituents, which make the polymer hydrate and thicken in water. It is commonly used around 0.1% to 2% depending on grade and target viscosity, and it is broadly stable across typical cosmetic pH ranges while requiring proper dispersion to prevent clumping.
Last updated 2026-05-13