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Cosmetic ingredient dictionary

Stearyl Alcohol in cosmetics: what it is and what it does

Stearyl Alcohol is a cosmetic ingredient that softens and smooths the skin. Whether it is vegan depends on the make. Open Beauty Facts finds it in 769 products, most often hair care.

By Bravoora teamUpdated Sources checked 2 sourcesHow we check

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What does Stearyl Alcohol do in a product?

In a cosmetic product, Stearyl Alcohol softens and smooths the skin, lets oil and water mix, so the product can wash dirt away, and keeps oil and water mixed. The EU’s CosIng database lists these jobs for it: emollient, surfactant, emulsifying, viscosity controlling, masking, emulsion stabilising, foam boosting, opacifying and refatting.

emollientsurfactantemulsifyingviscosity controllingmaskingemulsion stabilisingfoam boostingopacifyingrefatting

What other names and numbers does Stearyl Alcohol have?

CAS number
112-92-5
EC number
204-017-6
CosIng reference
38319

Is Stearyl Alcohol vegan?

It depends on the make. Stearyl Alcohol 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 Stearyl Alcohol?

Open Beauty Facts finds Stearyl Alcohol in the ingredient lists of 769 of the 22,021 products it has a list for, most often hair care, body care and hair conditioners.

  • Hair care58
  • Body care48
  • Hair conditioners39
  • Deodorants30

Products with it, by country of sale: France 166 · United States 151 · Australia 118 · Germany 71.

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

On these listsSurfactants and cleansersEmollientsEmulsifiers

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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