Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating Stearyl Alcohol vs Stearic Acid in Cetearyl Alcohol?

  • Stearyl Alcohol vs Stearic Acid in Cetearyl Alcohol?

    Posted by katefmakeup on August 13, 2020 at 2:47 pm

    Hello! I am looking to replace stearic acid in a formula (it is causing crystallization) and think cetearyl alcohol would be a good substitute, but I wanted to clarify something. When I was looking for places to purchase cetearyl alcohol, one retailer said that the cetearyl alcohol was a 70/30 blend of cetyl alcohol and STEARIC ACID? cetearyl alcohol is supposed to be a blend of cetyl alcohol and stearyl alcohol. So I got concerned and started researching the relationship between stearic acid and stearyl alcohol, and found a number of sites using the terms interchangeably. So I just wanted to confirm, that stearyl alcohol and stearic acid are in fact different, stearic acid is an acid and stearyl alcohol is a fatty alcohol, and cetearyl alcohol does NOT contain stearic acid, correct? And also get a recommendation for a reputable retailer that I can purchase actual cetearyl alcohol from.

    ngarayeva001 replied 4 years, 3 months ago 2 Members · 1 Reply
  • 1 Reply
  • ngarayeva001

    Member
    August 13, 2020 at 3:51 pm

    Those are chemically different and there shouldn’t be stearic acid in cetearyl alcohol. Your supplier is probably confused. Cetearyl Alcohol is sold in many places. Where are you based?

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