Polyurethane-100 ●
TL;DR. This ingredient is a synthetic film-forming resin used to add flexible hold, water resistance, and a smooth feel in hair styling, color cosmetics, and long-wear products.
What does Polyurethane-100 do in a cosmetic formula?
This ingredient is a synthetic film-forming resin used to add flexible hold, water resistance, and a smooth feel in hair styling, color cosmetics, and long-wear products.
Is Polyurethane-100 clean?
From a clean-beauty perspective, it has friction because it is a synthetic, non-readily biodegradable film former and may fall under microplastic-style screening policies depending on particle form and jurisdiction. It is not mainly used for skin activity, and irritation is generally more about the finished formula and any residual processing impurities than the finished resin itself.
Is Polyurethane-100 sustainable?
This material is typically made from fossil-derived feedstocks and is not expected to readily biodegrade after rinse-off use. Its main sustainability concern is environmental persistence rather than high use-level resource intensity.
Is Polyurethane-100 COSMOS-approved?
It is not aligned with COSMOS-natural or COSMOS-organic standards as a synthetic film-forming resin. Its Green Chemistry profile is limited by nonrenewable feedstocks and poor biodegradability, even when supplied in water-based dispersions.
How does Polyurethane-100 work chemically?
The molecule is a high-molecular-weight segmented resin built from diisocyanate and polyol chemistry, with harder and softer domains that create flexible, durable films. It is commonly supplied as a dispersion and used at low single-digit to about 10% active levels, with performance depending on particle size, neutralization system, and compatibility with surfactants, salts, and film plasticizers.
Last updated 2026-05-13