What is Cetyl Alcohol?

Cetyl Alcohol is a fatty alcohol with a chain length of sixteen carbon atoms (C16). You get it as white, odorless pastilles that melt around 49°C. In a formula it does three things at once: it thickens, it stabilizes the emulsion and it softens the skin. This makes it one of the most commonly used base ingredients in creams, lotions and conditioners.

Our Cetyl Alcohol is plant-based, consists of at least 98% of the C16 fraction and is RSPO Mass Balance certified. Fatty alcohols with this chain length come from the palm chain, because palm oil is naturally rich in palmitic acid (C16). We therefore deliberately choose RSPO-certified suppliers. Further down we explain what exactly that entails.

Not to be confused with regular alcohol

The name is confusing. Fatty alcohol has nothing to do with the alcohol found in cleaning products or perfume. That is ethanol: volatile, drying and irritating. Fatty alcohols are solid, waxy substances that occur in plants and protect the plant against drying out. On your skin they work exactly the same way: softening, protective and moisture-retaining.

What are the benefits of Cetyl Alcohol?

Thickens and stabilizes your formula
Cetyl Alcohol gives creams and lotions body and keeps the emulsion together, so your product doesn't separate. Batch after batch the same structure.

Soft, smooth skin feel
Of the fatty alcohols, C16 gives the lightest and most smooth feel. Your product spreads smoothly and doesn't feel heavy or sticky.

Supports the skin barrier
It forms a thin, breathable layer that helps limit transepidermal water loss. Pleasant for dry or quickly tightened skin.

Completely odorless
A neutral base that doesn't affect your scent profile. Ideal in fragrance-free formulas or when you want essential oils to take center stage.

Mild for the skin
Fatty alcohols are well tolerated by almost every skin type, including sensitive skin.

How do you use Cetyl Alcohol?

Add to the oil phase. Cetyl Alcohol must melt completely before you emulsify. Heat the fat phase to 60 to 70°C. You cannot add it to a cold mixture.

Recommended dosage: 1 to 3%. Within that range: the more you use, the thicker and firmer your end product. For a light lotion you're around 1%, for a rich cream or body butter towards 3%.

Always combine with a primary emulsifier such as Olivem 1000 or Vegetal / Montanov 68. Cetyl Alcohol is a co-emulsifier and structure builder, not a standalone emulsifier.

Tip: let your emulsion cool down slowly. Cooling too quickly can cause slight graininess or white specks.

What's so special about it?

Transparent about the origin
On an INCI list you never see where a fatty alcohol comes from. Cetyl Alcohol is called Cetyl Alcohol, whether it comes from palm, coconut or petrochemistry. We think you should be able to know that. Our Cetyl Alcohol comes from the palm chain and is RSPO Mass Balance certified. Mass Balance means that certified sustainable palm and non-certified palm can be mixed in the chain, but never more certified material is sold than is actually produced sustainably. For this chain length, that is currently the most responsible route that is actually available.

The difference with the other fatty alcohols
C16 is the lightest of the three. Stearyl Alcohol (C18) gives a firmer, more waxy result and Cetearyl Alcohol is a blend of both, with which you take the middle ground. If you want a light, quickly absorbing cream, then Cetyl is your choice.

A name with a past
Cetyl comes from the Latin cetus, which means whale. Fatty alcohols were indeed formerly obtained from spermaceti, whale oil. That is long gone. Nowadays all cosmetic Cetyl Alcohol is plant-based or synthetic.