Build my profileBuild my profile

Cosmetic ingredient dictionary

Cetyl Alcohol in cosmetics: what it is and what it does

Cetyl Alcohol is a cosmetic ingredient that softens and smooths the skin. Whether it is vegan depends on the make. Open Beauty Facts finds it in 1,538 products, most often hair care.

By Bravoora teamUpdated Sources checked 2 sourcesHow we check

Heads up

for a vegan profile

What does Cetyl Alcohol do in a product?

In a cosmetic product, Cetyl Alcohol softens and smooths the skin, lets oil and water mix, so the product can wash dirt away, and keeps oil and water mixed. The EU’s CosIng database lists these jobs for it: emollient, surfactant, emulsifying, viscosity controlling, masking, emulsion stabilising, foam boosting and opacifying.

emollientsurfactantemulsifyingviscosity controllingmaskingemulsion stabilisingfoam boostingopacifying

What other names and numbers does Cetyl Alcohol have?

CAS number
36653-82-4
EC number
253-149-0
CosIng reference
32596

Is Cetyl Alcohol vegan?

It depends on the make. Cetyl Alcohol can be made from plants or from animals, and a label rarely says which, so a vegan profile gets Heads up.

VeganHeads upIt can be made from plants or from animals, and a label rarely says which.
VegetarianHeads upIt can be made from an animal source, and a label rarely says which.

Which products contain Cetyl Alcohol?

Open Beauty Facts finds Cetyl Alcohol in the ingredient lists of 1,538 of the 22,021 products it has a list for, most often hair care, body care and hair conditioners.

  • Hair care103
  • Body care96
  • Hair conditioners62

Products with it, by country of sale: France 321 · United States 311 · Australia 175 · Germany 121.

Counted on 13 October 2026 from Open Beauty Facts, which volunteers fill from real packs: it shows where Cetyl Alcohol turns up, not how much of the market it is.

On these listsSurfactants and cleansersEmollientsEmulsifiers

Bravoora reads this ingredient for everyone you shop for: an allergy or intolerance, a vegan or vegetarian diet, a calorie or protein goal, and the labels on supplements and skincare too. Build a profile · For dermatologists, dietitians and doctors

Sources

The job, the description and the EU annex entry are CosIng’s; the fragrance allergens are the EU Annex III names Bravoora’s label checker reads; the product counts are Open Beauty Facts’.

  1. European Commission: CosIng cosmetic ingredient database (functions, description, EU annex entry)
  2. Open Beauty Facts: product database, 77,506 products, read 13 October 2026, ODbL

Contains information from Open Beauty Facts, which is made available here under the Open Database License (ODbL). Read the licence · Download this dictionary’s data · How we check

Create a website profile with the things you avoid and the people you check for.

Build my profile

Save and edit your profile on this website. App transfer is not available yet.