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Cosmetic ingredient dictionary

Glycerin in cosmetics: what it is and what it does

Glycerin is a cosmetic ingredient that holds water in the skin or the product. Whether it is vegan depends on the make. Open Beauty Facts finds it in 10,261 products, most often shampoos.

By Bravoora teamUpdated Sources checked 2 sourcesHow we check

Heads up

for a vegan profile

What does Glycerin do in a product?

In a cosmetic product, Glycerin holds water in the skin or the product, makes hair easier to comb, softer or shinier and makes the product thicker or thinner. The EU’s CosIng database lists these jobs for it: humectant, hair conditioning, viscosity controlling, perfuming, denaturant, oral care and skin protecting.

humectanthair conditioningviscosity controllingperfumingdenaturantoral careskin protecting

What other names and numbers does Glycerin have?

CAS number
56-81-5
EC number
200-289-5
CosIng reference
34040

Is Glycerin vegan?

It depends on the make. Glycerin 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 Glycerin?

Open Beauty Facts finds Glycerin in the ingredient lists of 10,261 of the 22,021 products it has a list for, most often shampoos, hair care and bath and shower.

  • Shampoos477
  • Hair care446
  • Bath and shower428

Products with it, by country of sale: France 3,215 · Germany 1,464 · United States 1,173 · Spain 536.

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

On these listsHumectants

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

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