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Cosmetic ingredient dictionary

Squalene in cosmetics: what it is and what it does

Squalene is a cosmetic ingredient that softens and smooths the skin. Whether it is vegan depends on the make. Open Beauty Facts finds it in 64 products, most often body care.

By Bravoora teamUpdated Sources checked 2 sourcesHow we check

Heads up

for a vegan profile

What does Squalene do in a product?

In a cosmetic product, Squalene softens and smooths the skin, keeps the skin in good condition, and makes hair easier to comb, softer or shinier. The EU’s CosIng database lists these jobs for it: emollient, skin conditioning, hair conditioning, antistatic and refatting.

emollientskin conditioninghair conditioningantistaticrefatting

What other names and numbers does Squalene have?

CAS number
111-02-4
EC number
203-826-1
CosIng reference
78861

Is Squalene vegan?

It depends on the make. Squalene 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 Squalene?

Open Beauty Facts finds Squalene in the ingredient lists of 64 of the 22,021 products it has a list for, most often body care, face care and facial creams.

  • Body care8
  • Face care7
  • Facial creams7

Products with it, by country of sale: France 17 · Italy 10 · Spain 7 · United States 7.

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

On these listsEmollients

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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