Pentaerythrityl Tetra-di-t-butyl Hydroxyhydrocinamate ●
TL;DR. This ingredient is used as an antioxidant stabilizer, mainly to slow oxidation in oils, waxes, fragrances, colorants, and other oxidation-prone formula components. It helps protect product odor, color, and texture rather than acting as a skin active.
What does Pentaerythrityl Tetra-di-t-butyl Hydroxyhydrocinamate do in a cosmetic formula?
This ingredient is used as an antioxidant stabilizer, mainly to slow oxidation in oils, waxes, fragrances, colorants, and other oxidation-prone formula components. It helps protect product odor, color, and texture rather than acting as a skin active.
Is Pentaerythrityl Tetra-di-t-butyl Hydroxyhydrocinamate clean?
From a clean-beauty perspective, this ingredient has friction because it is a synthetic hindered phenolic antioxidant and may appear on stricter brand exclusion lists, even though it is used at very low levels. Skin irritation and sensitization are generally expected to be low at cosmetic stabilizer concentrations.
Is Pentaerythrityl Tetra-di-t-butyl Hydroxyhydrocinamate sustainable?
This material is synthetic and typically made from petrochemical feedstocks. Its high molecular weight, very low water solubility, and hindered phenol structure point to slow biodegradation and environmental persistence, although cosmetic use levels are usually very low.
Is Pentaerythrityl Tetra-di-t-butyl Hydroxyhydrocinamate COSMOS-approved?
This ingredient is not generally permitted under COSMOS-organic or COSMOS-natural standards because it is a petrochemical-derived synthetic antioxidant outside the allowed material set. Its Green Chemistry fit is limited: it can extend formula shelf life at low dose, but it is not renewable and is not readily biodegradable.
How does Pentaerythrityl Tetra-di-t-butyl Hydroxyhydrocinamate work chemically?
The molecule is a large tetrafunctional ester built around a polyol core, with four sterically hindered phenolic groups that donate hydrogen to interrupt free-radical oxidation chains. It is typically used around 0.01% to 0.1% as an oil-phase stabilizer, with good heat stability, very low water solubility, and best performance when evenly dispersed in lipids or melted phases.
Last updated 2026-05-13