SPF Scout · Ingredient

Cetyl Alcohol

Emollient (softens and smooths skin)Emulsion stabiliser (keeps oil and water mixed)Foam boosting (increases foam from other ingredients)Fragrance ingredient (scent)Opacifier (makes the formula less see-through)Skin conditioning (CosIng functional class)Surfactant (cleanses or mixes oil and water)Viscosity control (thickens or thins the formula)

CAS 36653-82-4

What this ingredient generally does

A multitasking fatty alcohol that helps oil and water mix and keeps the blend stable, while softening skin. It also thickens the formula and makes it more opaque, and can boost foam and cleansing.

Reviewed before publication. This note describes function in a formulation — nothing else.

Published formulations that list this ingredient

These are the formulations currently published in the SPF Scout catalog whose stored ingredient declaration includes this ingredient. It is not a list of every product on the market, and the order carries no meaning.

Checking this against your own list

You can select this ingredient in the SPF Scout app as one to flag. The app compares your selections against a product's stored declaration on your device; your list never reaches this website.

This comparison does not predict whether your skin will react.

Where this information comes from

Ingredient names, CAS numbers and recorded functions come from SPF Scout’s curated ingredient dictionary, grounded in CosIng, the European Commission’s Cosmetic Ingredient Database. Content © European Union, reused with acknowledgement.

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