Paraffin Wax ●
TL;DR. This ingredient is an occlusive emollient and structuring agent that adds firmness, slip, water resistance, and barrier feel to balms, sticks, creams, and color cosmetics.
What does Paraffin Wax do in a cosmetic formula?
This ingredient is an occlusive emollient and structuring agent that adds firmness, slip, water resistance, and barrier feel to balms, sticks, creams, and color cosmetics.
Is Paraffin Wax clean?
It is generally low-sensitizing and inert when highly refined, but clean-beauty frameworks often flag it because it is petro-derived and quality depends on tight control of polycyclic aromatic impurities.
Is Paraffin Wax sustainable?
This material is derived from fossil feedstocks and is not readily biodegradable. Its environmental profile is limited by nonrenewable sourcing and persistence rather than by acute skin compatibility concerns.
Is Paraffin Wax COSMOS-approved?
It is not permitted under COSMOS-natural or COSMOS-organic because it is a petro-derived hydrocarbon material. From a Green Chemistry view, it scores poorly on renewable sourcing and biodegradability, though it is chemically stable and typically needs little reactive processing in finished formulas.
How does Paraffin Wax work chemically?
This compound is a purified mixture of long-chain saturated hydrocarbons, mainly straight and branched alkanes, with melting behavior commonly in the about 46 to 68 °C range. It is water-insoluble, largely pH-independent, oxidation-stable, and often used around 1 to 10% for texture or 10 to 30% in solid formats.
Last updated 2026-05-15