ISOPROPYL ISOSTEARATE
Isopropyl Isostearate is a fatty-acid ester that may appear on an ingredient list under that exact name. Its reference structure links an isostearyl chain to isopropyl alcohol, so it is not a plant oil or a butter in its own right, but a derivative made by joining those two chemical parts.
ISOPROPYL ISOSTEARATE: what it is
Isopropyl Isostearate is a fatty-acid ester that may appear on an ingredient list under that exact name. Its reference structure links an isostearyl chain to isopropyl alcohol, so it is not a plant oil or a butter in its own right, but a derivative made by joining those two chemical parts.
The isostearyl portion is a branched fatty chain, which distinguishes this ingredient from esters based on palmitic or myristic acid. That origin helps explain its place among the oil-loving components of a formula: it blends with the oil phase rather than the water phase and can influence the feel left on the skin.
ISOPROPYL ISOSTEARATE: what it does in cosmetics
Isopropyl Isostearate is used as an emollient and skin-conditioning ingredient. In everyday terms, an emollient helps a product spread and can leave the skin feeling softer and less rough at the surface; it is not an active treatment for a disease or a guarantee of a clinical outcome.
In a laboratory study using reconstructed human skin, the ingredient was tested as a non-occlusive lipophilic moisturizer and increased water in the central part of the stratum corneum compared with an untreated control. This was not a trial in people and did not test every finished cosmetic that may contain the ingredient, so the finding provides context for its emollient role rather than predicting the result of any particular product.
Products containing this ingredient
See which products include it and the name used in each composition.
