Article: Cetyl alcohol

Mar 17, 2020ingredients

Cetyl alcohol

Derived from: coconut palm tree
Pronunciation: (\ˈsē-təl-\ ˈal-kə-ˌhȯl\)
Type: Naturally-derived
Other names: 1-hexadecanol and n-hexadecyl alcohol

What Is Cetyl alcohol?

Cetyl alcohol is a flaky, waxy, white solid often derived from coconut, palm, or vegetable oil. These oils typically come from coconut palm trees, palm trees, corn plants, sugar beets, or soy plants.^[1,2]Cetyl alcohol is used in hundreds of personal care, cosmetic, and household products, such as makeup, bath soap, detergents, shaving cream, lotions, shampoo and other products.^[3,4]

What Does Cetyl alcohol Do in Our products?

Cetyl alcohol acts as a moisturizer in our products by helping bind moisture to the skin. It is a fatty alcohol and can also act as an emulsifier, giving proper texture to our products. It can be an emollient, keep things from separating, control how thick or runny a product is, act as a coupling agent, and even stabilize foams.^[5,6]It doesn’t dissolve in water, but it dissolves in alcohol and oils.^[7]Cetyl alcohol is often combined with stearyl alcohol to make cetearyl alcohol, which is also a moisturizer in our products.

Why Puracy Uses Cetyl alcohol

We use cetyl alcohol in our products as a moisturizer. The Cosmetic Ingredient Review has deemed cetyl alcohol safe in cosmetic ingredients, and the Food and Drug Administration has deemed it safe for use in food.^[10,11]Whole Foods has deemed the ingredient acceptable in its body care quality standards.^[12]A series of studies also show cetyl alcohol generally does not irritate or sensitize human skin.^[13]

How Cetyl alcohol Is Made

Cetyl alcohol is manufactured by reducing ethyl palmitate with metallic sodium and alcohol or by using lithium aluminum hydride as a catalyst under acidic conditions.^[8]The final product melts at a temperature higher than that of the human body, which makes it useful for makeup and other things that are warmed by the skin.^[9]