Pe
PEG-32 Stearate
PEG-32 Stearate
Keeps oil and water mixed and helps a product cleanse.
What it does
It’s stearic acid, a fatty acid, joined to a PEG chain, so one end mixes with oil and the other with water. It’s there for texture, not to change your skin.
The evidence, graded
expert consensusUS safety reviewers’ 1983 report covered 10 PEG stearates, PEG-6, -8, -32 and -150 stearate among them, which products use mainly to help oil and water blend and to soften skin, at up to 25%. In studies on people, PEG stearates didn’t irritate or cause allergy at 25% or more, and the reviewers judged all 10 safe as used. Their 2025 second look kept that verdict for 30 PEG stearates, these four included.Cosmetic 1983 · Journal of the American College of Toxicology 2(7):17-34 ↗
Graded per the methodology: strong · moderate · emerging · expert consensus. A weak source on a strong claim gets the weaker label.
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