General Details

Product Name: AHCOHOL 1618 (Cetyl Stearyl/Cetearyl Alcohol)
INCI Name: Cetearyl Alcohol
Chemical Name: Fatty Alcohols C16-C18 or Cetearyl Alcohol or Cetostearyl Alcohol
CAS#: 67762-27-0

Product description

Cetyl stearyl is a mixture of fatty alcohols with 16 (cetyl alcohol) and 18 (stearyl alcohol) carbon atoms forming a waxy, white mixture to be used in cosmetics. It is often sold as cetostearyl alcohol, C16-C18 alcohol, cetearyl alcohol and various other names.

Cetyl stearyl is used to bring smoothness and thickness to the products while also providing hydrating properties. While most alcohols are drying for the skin, cetearyl alcohol traps water and treats skin dryness.

Cetearyl alcohol is usually known as an inactive ingredient because it does not extend help to the therapeutic purposes of a cosmetic product, but mostly just to keep everything together. It binds the products together and prevents them from separating. Uses of cetearyl alcohol extend further in providing thickness and much-needed bulk to cosmetic and personal care products.

• Skin care: It is used in a range of moisturizers and skin lotions because it imparts few moisturizing properties apart from binding the cream together. Further, it heals dry skin – making cetearyl alcohol skincare quite popular
• Hair care: It treats hair to make them soft while trapping in water to hydrate them. It is commonly found in shampoos and anti-frizz hair creams.

The benefits of Cetearyl alcohol in a formulation include bulking, skin conditioning, smoothing, surfactant, viscosity controlling.

Industry-specific attributes