Cetearyl Alcohol
A waxy fatty alcohol that thickens conditioners and leaves hair soft and easier to detangle. Despite the name, it is not drying.
About Cetearyl Alcohol
Cetearyl alcohol is a blend of two fatty alcohols, cetyl alcohol (16 carbons) and stearyl alcohol (18 carbons), usually made from coconut or palm oil. At room temperature it is a white, waxy solid. It is one of the most common ingredients in rinse-out conditioners, deep conditioners, leave-ins and creams.
It does several jobs at once. It thickens the formula and gives it a rich, creamy texture. It works with cationic conditioning agents such as behentrimonium chloride to form the structured base that makes a conditioner feel slippery and coat strands evenly. On the hair it acts as an emollient: it smooths the surface, reduces friction and helps with detangling, which is especially helpful for coily hair that knots easily.
The word 'alcohol' worries a lot of people, but fatty alcohols behave nothing like drying alcohols such as alcohol denat. or isopropyl alcohol. They are long-chain, oily-waxy molecules that do not evaporate and do not pull moisture out of the hair. The Curly Girl Method approves them.
Almost everyone can use cetearyl alcohol. A small number of people with very fine, low porosity hair find conditioners rich in fatty alcohols a little heavy, and a few people have contact sensitivity to it, which is uncommon. It is often paired with ceteareth-20 or other emulsifiers in an 'emulsifying wax' that holds oil and water together.
How our checker rates it
| Mode | Rating | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Curly Girl | Good | Fatty alcohol — softening, not drying. |
| Relaxed hair | Good | Fatty alcohol — softening, not drying. |
| Low porosity | OK | No concerns for this mode. |
| Protein-sensitive | OK | No concerns for this mode. |
Ratings assume it is listed near the top of the label. After the first preservative or fragrance (likely 1% or less) most cautions soften.
What fatty alcohol ingredients do
Long-chain alcohols that soften hair and thicken creams. Despite the name they are not drying — they behave more like waxy emollients.
Also listed as
- cetostearyl alcohol
- cetyl stearyl alcohol
- c16-18 alcohols
Similar ingredients
Sources
Last data update:
- Robbins CR. Chemical and Physical Behavior of Human Hair. 5th ed. Springer; 2012. Reference text on hair structure, surfactants, conditioning agents, protein, heat and chemical treatments.
- Massey L, Chiu M. Curly Girl: The Handbook. Workman Publishing; 2011. Origin of the Curly Girl Method rules (no sulfates, no non-soluble silicones, no drying alcohols).
- Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR). Ingredient safety assessments. Safety assessments for cosmetic ingredients cited on ingredient pages.
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