Water ●
TL;DR. This ingredient is the primary solvent and diluent in many beauty and personal care formulas. It dissolves polar ingredients, helps control viscosity, and forms the continuous phase in many emulsions, gels, cleansers, and sprays.
What does Water do in a cosmetic formula?
This ingredient is the primary solvent and diluent in many beauty and personal care formulas. It dissolves polar ingredients, helps control viscosity, and forms the continuous phase in many emulsions, gels, cleansers, and sprays.
Is Water clean?
From a clean-beauty perspective, it is well-tolerated, non-sensitizing, and not a restricted-list concern. The main quality issue is purity, since cosmetic-grade material is purified to reduce minerals, microbes, and trace contaminants.
Is Water sustainable?
This material is a renewable natural resource when responsibly managed, but its footprint depends on purification, heating, transport, and local scarcity. It is readily returned to natural cycles and is not environmentally persistent.
Is Water COSMOS-approved?
It is permitted under COSMOS-natural and COSMOS-organic standards, although it does not count toward organic content. It fits Green Chemistry well as a benign solvent with no persistence concern, especially when processing energy and sourcing are managed efficiently.
How does Water work chemically?
The molecule is small, polar, and highly hydrogen-bonding, which makes it an effective carrier for salts, humectants, acids, bases, and many botanical extracts. In emulsions, cleansers, and gels it often forms the largest phase, commonly 50 to over 90 percent, and formulas containing it generally require preservation when they can support microbial growth.
Last updated 2026-05-13