Polyurethane-35 ●
TL;DR. This ingredient is primarily a film-former, used to create flexible, water-resistant films that improve wear, hold, and rub resistance in products such as sunscreens, color cosmetics, and hair styling formulas.
What does Polyurethane-35 do in a cosmetic formula?
This ingredient is primarily a film-former, used to create flexible, water-resistant films that improve wear, hold, and rub resistance in products such as sunscreens, color cosmetics, and hair styling formulas.
Is Polyurethane-35 clean?
It has generally low irritation potential because it is a high-molecular-weight polymer, but it has clean-standard friction because many frameworks limit persistent synthetic polymers or microplastic-like materials. The main review points are polymer persistence, residual monomer controls, and the physical form used in the finished product.
Is Polyurethane-35 sustainable?
This material is typically petrochemical-derived and is not considered readily biodegradable, so environmental persistence is the central sustainability concern. Waterborne grades can reduce solvent use in manufacturing, but they do not resolve the end-of-life profile of the polymer film.
Is Polyurethane-35 COSMOS-approved?
This ingredient is not aligned with COSMOS-natural or COSMOS-organic certification because it is a synthetic petrochemical polymer rather than an allowed natural, mineral, or nature-identical material. Its Green Chemistry profile is limited by nonrenewable feedstocks and low biodegradability, despite the potential use of water-based dispersions.
How does Polyurethane-35 work chemically?
The molecule is a high-molecular-weight synthetic film-forming polymer built from repeating carbamate linkages with flexible hydrophobic segments that form a continuous film as water evaporates. It is commonly supplied as an aqueous dispersion and used around 1 to 10% as supplied, with compatibility influenced by pH, electrolytes, and cationic ingredients.
Last updated 2026-05-13