Cosmetic ingredient dictionary
Polyethylene in cosmetics: what it is and what it does
Polyethylene is a cosmetic ingredient that makes the product thicker or thinner. Open Beauty Facts finds it in 195 products, most often lip makeup.
By Bravoora teamUpdated Sources checked 2 sourcesHow we check
What does Polyethylene do in a product?
In a cosmetic product, Polyethylene makes the product thicker or thinner, leaves a thin film on skin, hair or nails and scrubs or polishes. The EU’s CosIng database lists these jobs for it: viscosity controlling, film forming and abrasive.
What other names and numbers does Polyethylene have?
- CAS number
- 9002-88-4
- CosIng reference
- 78649
Which products contain Polyethylene?
Open Beauty Facts finds Polyethylene in the ingredient lists of 195 of the 22,021 products it has a list for, most often lip makeup, makeup and lip balms.
Products with it, by country of sale: France 66 · United States 34 · Norway 20 · Germany 11.
Counted on 13 October 2026 from Open Beauty Facts, which volunteers fill from real packs: it shows where Polyethylene turns up, not how much of the market it is.
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’.
- European Commission: CosIng cosmetic ingredient database (functions, description, EU annex entry)
- 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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