Polyoxyl 40 Stearate ●
TL;DR. This ingredient is a nonionic emulsifier and solubilizer, helping oil and water phases stay evenly dispersed in creams, lotions, cleansers, and ointment-style formulas.
What does Polyoxyl 40 Stearate do in a cosmetic formula?
This ingredient is a nonionic emulsifier and solubilizer, helping oil and water phases stay evenly dispersed in creams, lotions, cleansers, and ointment-style formulas.
Is Polyoxyl 40 Stearate clean?
It has low direct irritation potential for most users, but clean-beauty frameworks often flag it because it is ethoxylated and may carry trace processing residues such as 1,4-dioxane if purification is not well controlled.
Is Polyoxyl 40 Stearate sustainable?
It is typically made from a fatty feedstock combined with petrochemical ethylene oxide, so its sourcing profile is only partly bio-based. It is generally expected to biodegrade, but its manufacture has more Green Chemistry friction than simpler plant-derived emulsifiers.
Is Polyoxyl 40 Stearate COSMOS-approved?
It is not permitted under COSMOS-natural or COSMOS-organic standards because ethoxylated materials are excluded. From a Green Chemistry view, the main concerns are petrochemical input, ethoxylation chemistry, and residue-control requirements, even though the finished material is widely used and typically well tolerated.
How does Polyoxyl 40 Stearate work chemically?
The molecule is a nonionic surfactant built from a C18 fatty ester backbone with an average of about 40 oxyethylene units, giving it strong water dispersibility and oil-solubilizing capacity. It is commonly used at low single-digit percentages, is broadly stable across typical cosmetic pH ranges, and can be paired with fatty alcohols, waxes, or other emulsifiers to tune viscosity and emulsion structure.
Last updated 2026-05-14