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Cosmetic ingredient dictionary

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

Stearic Acid is a cosmetic ingredient that lets oil and water mix, so the product can wash dirt away. Whether it is vegan depends on the make. Open Beauty Facts finds it in 1,347 products, most often body care.

By Bravoora teamUpdated Sources checked 2 sourcesHow we check

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What does Stearic Acid do in a product?

In a cosmetic product, Stearic Acid lets oil and water mix, so the product can wash dirt away, cleans the skin, hair or teeth, and keeps oil and water mixed. The EU’s CosIng database lists these jobs for it: surfactant, cleansing, emulsifying, masking, emulsion stabilising and refatting.

surfactantcleansingemulsifyingmaskingemulsion stabilisingrefatting

What other names and numbers does Stearic Acid have?

CAS number
57-11-4
EC number
200-313-4
CosIng reference
79070

Is Stearic Acid vegan?

It depends on the make. Stearic 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 Stearic Acid?

Open Beauty Facts finds Stearic Acid in the ingredient lists of 1,347 of the 22,021 products it has a list for, most often body care, hand creams and body creams.

  • Body care97
  • Hand creams63
  • Body creams47

Products with it, by country of sale: France 341 · United States 241 · Germany 130 · Spain 73.

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

On these listsSurfactants and cleansersEmulsifiers

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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