Thickening a face-cream

LuisJavier

Do you prefer to use cetyl or cetearyl alcohol as a face-cream thickener, or something else?

ngarayeva001

Both. Cetearyl is more draggy and contributes to less elegant feel, but it acts as a coemulsifier and thus adds to stability. As fas as I am aware, cetyl doesn’t have those benefits. It’s much smoother though, so I combine them. I noticed this approach in many commercial products.

ngarayeva001

There’s also behenyl alcohol which provides dryer and slightly powdery feel. It’s a nice material for oilier types of skin. I mix it with cetyl.