Gl
Glycol Distearate
Glycol DistearateBarrier
The pearly look in many cleansers — tiny crystals give an opaque, shimmery finish and a soft, creamy feel.
What it does
Made from stearic acid and glycol. As a product cools it forms tiny crystals that catch the light, giving a pearly, opaque look, and it adds a soft, creamy feel, so it’s common in cleansers and washes.
The evidence, graded
expert consensusUS safety reviewers (final report, 2017) assessed 28 glycol esters, used mostly to condition skin. They made glycol distearate the group’s stand-in because it had the most data. In a patch test on 125 people at 50%, it caused no irritation or allergy. They judged it safe as used, and asked makers to limit 1,4-dioxane and ethylene oxide impurities.Becker 2017 · Cosmetic Ingredient Review ↗
Graded per the methodology: strong · moderate · emerging · expert consensus. A weak source on a strong claim gets the weaker label.
Browse all 1238 ingredients — grouped by what they do, each with whatever evidence we can cite.
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