Pe
PEG-8 Stearate
PEG-8 Stearate
Keeps a cream’s oil and water from separating.
What it does
It’s stearic acid, a fatty acid, joined to a short PEG chain, so one end mixes with oil and the other with water. The EU also lists it as a cleanser. 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.
Browse all 1238 ingredients — grouped by what they do, each with whatever evidence we can cite.
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