Cosmetic ingredient dictionary

Oleic Acid in cosmetics: what it is and what it does

Oleic Acid is a cosmetic ingredient that softens and smooths the skin. Whether it is vegan depends on the make. Open Beauty Facts finds it in 134 products, most often hair dyes.

By Bravoora teamUpdated Sources checked 2 sourcesHow we check

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What does Oleic Acid do in a product?

In a cosmetic product, Oleic Acid 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 Oleic Acid have?

CAS number
112-80-1
EC number
204-007-1
CosIng reference
77906

Is Oleic Acid vegan?

It depends on the make. Oleic Acid 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 Oleic Acid?

Open Beauty Facts finds Oleic Acid in the ingredient lists of 134 of the 22,021 products it has a list for, most often hair dyes, hair care and body care.

  • Hair dyes10
  • Hair care9
  • Body care9
  • Body creams9

Products with it, by country of sale: France 30 · Germany 16 · United States 15 · Turkey 12.

Counted on 13 October 2026 from Open Beauty Facts, which volunteers fill from real packs: it shows where Oleic Acid 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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