Polyurethane-39 ●
TL;DR. This ingredient is primarily a film-former that creates flexible, water-resistant films on skin, hair, or lashes. It helps improve wear, transfer resistance, hold, and pigment adhesion in long-wear makeup, hair styling, sunscreen, and mascara formulas.
What does Polyurethane-39 do in a cosmetic formula?
This ingredient is primarily a film-former that creates flexible, water-resistant films on skin, hair, or lashes. It helps improve wear, transfer resistance, hold, and pigment adhesion in long-wear makeup, hair styling, sunscreen, and mascara formulas.
Is Polyurethane-39 clean?
From a clean-beauty perspective, this material has friction because it is a synthetic film-forming polymer rather than a readily biodegradable cosmetic building block. It is typically low in direct irritation once fully polymerized, but clean frameworks often flag the category for persistence and microplastic-style concerns.
Is Polyurethane-39 sustainable?
This material is generally made from petrochemical-derived monomers and is not expected to be readily biodegradable. Its sustainability profile is limited by environmental persistence and end-of-life concerns for rinse-off and leave-on products that enter wastewater streams.
Is Polyurethane-39 COSMOS-approved?
It is not permitted under COSMOS-natural or COSMOS-organic standards as a synthetic, persistent film-forming polymer. Its fit with Green Chemistry is weak because it relies on nonrenewable feedstocks and has limited biodegradability, even though water-dispersed versions can reduce solvent use in manufacturing.
How does Polyurethane-39 work chemically?
This is a high-molecular-weight segmented polymer made from polyols and diisocyanates, with alternating flexible and rigid domains that support elastic film formation. It is usually used as an aqueous dispersion, forms films as water evaporates, and is chosen when formulators need flexibility, adhesion, and water resistance without high levels of volatile solvent.
Last updated 2026-05-13