Steareth-30 ●
TL;DR. This ingredient is primarily a nonionic emulsifier and solubilizer, helping water and oil phases stay evenly dispersed in creams, lotions, cleansers, and some hair products.
What does Steareth-30 do in a cosmetic formula?
This ingredient is primarily a nonionic emulsifier and solubilizer, helping water and oil phases stay evenly dispersed in creams, lotions, cleansers, and some hair products.
Is Steareth-30 clean?
From a clean-beauty perspective, it has friction because it is ethoxylated and may carry trace processing residues such as 1,4-dioxane if purification is not well controlled. It is generally low-irritation in finished formulas, but many stricter standards flag this chemistry because of how it is made.
Is Steareth-30 sustainable?
This material is made from a fatty alcohol combined with petrochemical-derived ethoxylation chemistry, so its sourcing can involve both palm or other plant oils and fossil inputs. Biodegradability is variable for highly ethoxylated surfactants, and the long water-soluble chain makes it less aligned with simple, renewable, readily biodegradable ingredient choices.
Is Steareth-30 COSMOS-approved?
It is not permitted under COSMOS-natural or COSMOS-organic standards because ethoxylation is not an allowed chemical process in that framework. Its Green Chemistry fit is limited by petrochemical input, processing-residue controls, and less favorable biodegradability compared with simpler plant-derived emulsifiers.
How does Steareth-30 work chemically?
This compound is a nonionic surfactant with a lipophilic fatty tail and a long polyether chain, giving it strong oil-in-water emulsifying and solubilizing behavior. It is typically used at low single-digit percentages, is broadly stable across common cosmetic pH ranges, and is often paired with fatty alcohols, oils, and co-emulsifiers to build viscosity and emulsion stability.
Last updated 2026-05-13