Sodium Stearate ●
TL;DR. It primarily acts as an anionic surfactant and structuring agent, helping build solid cleansing bars, deodorant sticks, shaving products, and opaque gels. It also contributes foam, slip, and viscosity in alkaline formulas.
What does Sodium Stearate do in a cosmetic formula?
It primarily acts as an anionic surfactant and structuring agent, helping build solid cleansing bars, deodorant sticks, shaving products, and opaque gels. It also contributes foam, slip, and viscosity in alkaline formulas.
Is Sodium Stearate clean?
Clean-beauty frameworks usually view it as a straightforward, well-characterized ingredient with no common restricted-list issue. The main skin consideration is formula pH, since highly alkaline systems can feel drying or irritating, especially in leave-on products.
Is Sodium Stearate sustainable?
This material is made from fatty-acid feedstocks that may be plant-derived or animal-derived, with palm-based supply common unless specified. It is readily biodegradable, but its sustainability profile depends on traceable sourcing and responsible palm certification where relevant.
Is Sodium Stearate COSMOS-approved?
It is generally permitted under COSMOS when made by allowed saponification or neutralization routes from compliant fatty-acid feedstocks. It fits Green Chemistry well through simple processing, high biodegradability, and the potential use of renewable feedstocks.
How does Sodium Stearate work chemically?
The molecule is an anionic amphiphile, with a sodium carboxylate head attached to an 18-carbon saturated hydrocarbon tail. Typical use ranges from about 1 to 10% as a structurant in sticks and gels and higher in cleansing bars, and it performs best at alkaline pH while losing solubility with acids or hard-water ions.
Last updated 2026-05-13