Cetostearyl Alcohol

About This Product

Cetostearyl alcohol, also called cetearyl alcohol, is a mixture of two saturated fatty alcohols: cetyl alcohol at sixteen carbons and stearyl alcohol at eighteen. It carries CAS number 67762-27-0 and the INCI name Cetearyl Alcohol, and is supplied as white flakes, pastilles or pellets with a faint waxy odour. Ratios of 30:70, 50:50 and 70:30 cetyl to stearyl are all traded, and the ratio is a specification point rather than a detail.

Despite the name it is not an alcohol in the everyday sense; it is a waxy solid with no solvent or drying behaviour. Its role is structural. Each molecule has a long hydrocarbon chain and a small hydroxyl head, so it sits at the boundary between oil and water phases, where it packs alongside the primary emulsifier and stiffens that interfacial layer. That is what thickens a lotion and stops the oil droplets from coalescing. It cannot form a stable emulsion on its own and is therefore described as a co-emulsifier or consistency factor. The cetyl to stearyl ratio controls the result: more stearyl gives a firmer, waxier product, more cetyl a lighter, more slippery feel.

It is used in creams, lotions, hair conditioners and masks, where it also provides the substantive slip conditioners rely on, and in ointments, suppositories and tablet coatings.

Bio Green Oleo supplies cetostearyl alcohol to specification on cetyl to stearyl ratio, hydroxyl value, melting range, acid value, iodine value and colour.