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Stearic Acid
Stearic AcidBarrier
18-carbon fatty acid. Cream thickener; also one of the natural fatty acids in skin barrier lipids.
What it does
Stearic acid is both a workhorse cosmetic thickener (often combined with triethanolamine to form a self-emulsifying base) and a real skin-barrier component. Topical stearic-rich creams help replenish the fatty acid side of the lipid matrix that ceramides and cholesterol round out. Generally well tolerated; common in classic 'cold cream' style emulsions.
The evidence, graded
strongThe skin's barrier is built from ceramides, cholesterol, and free fatty acids in a roughly 1:1:1 to 3:1:1 ratio. Moisturizers formulated to mimic that ratio support barrier repair more than any one lipid alone.Man 1996 · Journal of Investigative Dermatology ↗
Graded per the methodology: strong · moderate · emerging · expert consensus. A weak source on a strong claim gets the weaker label.
Pairs worth knowing
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