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Cosmetic ingredient dictionary

Glyceryl Stearate in cosmetics: what it is and what it does

Glyceryl Stearate is a cosmetic ingredient that softens and smooths the skin. Whether it is vegan depends on the make. Open Beauty Facts finds it in 1,714 products, most often body care.

By Bravoora teamUpdated Sources checked 2 sourcesHow we check

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What does Glyceryl Stearate do in a product?

In a cosmetic product, Glyceryl Stearate softens and smooths the skin, and keeps oil and water mixed. The EU’s CosIng database lists these jobs for it: emollient and emulsifying.

emollientemulsifying

What other names and numbers does Glyceryl Stearate have?

CAS number
31566-31-1
EC number
250-705-4, 286-490-9
CosIng reference
34103

Is Glyceryl Stearate vegan?

It depends on the make. Glyceryl Stearate 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 Glyceryl Stearate?

Open Beauty Facts finds Glyceryl Stearate in the ingredient lists of 1,714 of the 22,021 products it has a list for, most often body care, sunscreen and body creams.

  • Body care156
  • Sunscreen83
  • Body creams76
  • Hand creams74

Products with it, by country of sale: France 446 · Germany 229 · United States 205 · Spain 126.

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

On these listsEmollientsEmulsifiers

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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