The Beauty & Personal Care Brand Builder Series

Ingredient Deep Dive

Isopropyl Palmitate

The Beauty & Personal Care Brand Builder Series

Ingredient Deep Dive

Isopropyl Palmitate

The Light, Fast-Spreading Emollient

Isopropyl Palmitate is a light emollient ester that softens skin and gives formulas a smooth, fast-spreading, non-greasy feel.

It conditions and lubricates, boosts slip and playtime, and helps dissolve oil-soluble ingredients — a versatile texture enhancer.

Quick Insights

Ingredient Rating:

GOOD

Type of Ingredient:

Emollient

Intended Function:

A light emollient ester used to soften skin and improve slip, spread and texture.

Common Applications:

Used across moisturizers, serums and lotions and treatment formulas.

Target Audience:

Brands wanting a fast-spreading emollient to lighten and refine texture.

Also Known As:

Isopropyl Palmitate, IPP

Benefits of Isopropyl Palmitate

A light emollient ester that softens skin and improves slip and spread.

Softening Emollient: Conditions and smooths the skin surface.
Fast Spread: Improves slip and playtime; glides on easily.
Reduced Greasiness: Lightens the feel of richer oil phases.
Solvent: Dissolves oil-soluble ingredients.
Versatile: Suits creams, lotions, makeup and cleansers.

How It Works

As an ester of isopropyl alcohol and palmitic acid, Isopropyl Palmitate is a low-viscosity, fast-spreading oil that deposits a smoothing, softening film and refines the feel of heavier lipids.

Formulating with Isopropyl Palmitate

Isopropyl Palmitate is used in the oil phase across a range of levels to soften, lighten feel and boost spread. Note it can be comedogenic for very acne-prone skin, so choose levels accordingly. Observe good manufacturing and preservation practice.

Safety Analysis

Isopropyl Palmitate is well tolerated; it can be comedogenic for very acne-prone skin, so match levels to the audience. As always, substantiate the finished product’s safety (e.g. patch / HRIPT testing) in line with MoCRA requirements.

References

https://incidecoder.com/ingredients/isopropyl-palmitate

https://cosmeticsinfo.org/ingredient/isopropyl-palmitate/

https://cosmeticanalysis.com/cosmetic-ingredients/isopropyl-palmitate

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