WaterAqua/Eau ●
TL;DR. This ingredient is the primary solvent, diluent, and carrier in many beauty and personal care formulas. It dissolves compatible actives, hydrators, salts, gums, and surfactants, and often forms the continuous phase of emulsions and gels.
What does WaterAqua/Eau do in a cosmetic formula?
This ingredient is the primary solvent, diluent, and carrier in many beauty and personal care formulas. It dissolves compatible actives, hydrators, salts, gums, and surfactants, and often forms the continuous phase of emulsions and gels.
Is WaterAqua/Eau clean?
This ingredient is well accepted across clean-beauty frameworks and is generally unproblematic when purified and preserved correctly. Quality control focuses on microbial limits, dissolved minerals, and compatibility with the formula’s preservative system.
Is WaterAqua/Eau sustainable?
This ingredient is widely available, but its footprint depends on local sourcing, purification, heating, and manufacturing efficiency. It does not create synthetic persistence concerns, though responsible production still manages consumption and effluent quality.
Is WaterAqua/Eau COSMOS-approved?
It is permitted in both COSMOS-natural and COSMOS-organic formulations, although it does not contribute to organic percentage calculations. From a Green Chemistry view, it is a preferred benign solvent with low material concern, but process efficiency and conservation still matter.
How does WaterAqua/Eau work chemically?
The molecule is small and highly polar, with strong hydrogen bonding and a high dielectric constant, which makes it effective for dissolving electrolytes, polyols, acids, bases, and many extractive materials. It is often used from about 10% to more than 90% of a formula, and it requires preservation, pH control, and sometimes chelation because it supports microbial growth and can participate in hydrolysis-sensitive systems.
Last updated 2026-05-13