Laureth-9 ●
TL;DR. This ingredient is a nonionic surfactant and solubilizer used to help oils, fragrance components, and other hydrophobic materials disperse into water-based formulas. It can also support emulsions and contribute mild cleansing or wetting performance.
What does Laureth-9 do in a cosmetic formula?
This ingredient is a nonionic surfactant and solubilizer used to help oils, fragrance components, and other hydrophobic materials disperse into water-based formulas. It can also support emulsions and contribute mild cleansing or wetting performance.
Is Laureth-9 clean?
Clean-beauty frameworks often flag it because it is ethoxylated and may carry trace ethylene oxide or 1,4-dioxane if purification is not well controlled. In finished products it is generally well tolerated, but its processing route creates more scrutiny than simpler plant-derived surfactants.
Is Laureth-9 sustainable?
This material is made from a fatty alcohol backbone that may come from coconut, palm, or petrochemical sources, combined with a petrochemical-derived ethoxylation step. The class is generally biodegradable, but sourcing transparency and wastewater profile matter.
Is Laureth-9 COSMOS-approved?
It is not permitted under COSMOS-natural or COSMOS-organic standards because ethoxylation is not an allowed processing route. From a Green Chemistry lens, it has useful efficiency in small amounts, but it is weakened by petrochemical input and residue-control requirements.
How does Laureth-9 work chemically?
The molecule is an ethoxylated fatty alcohol, with a water-loving chain length that makes it effective as an oil-in-water solubilizer and wetting agent. It is typically stable across common cosmetic pH ranges and is often used at low single-digit levels, with performance depending on the oil load, electrolytes, and companion surfactants.
Last updated 2026-05-13