EMOLLIENT
Glycol Stearate
- emollient
A wax that makes shampoo look pearly and adds a slightly richer feel.
- products in our library
- 68
- of researched products
- 2%
- on the label, in our shampoos
- usually #8
- most common in
- Shampoo
- in water
- Water-dispersible
At a glance
Four named levels, read from this ingredient’s chemical class, its charge, its solubility, or where it sits on the labels we have. More dots means more of the property named — never “better”.
How much of it is left on hair between washes.
What it takes to get it off the hair again.
Where the class sits between an ester and a butter.
How much it slows water leaving the strand.
| Property | Level | Out of |
|---|---|---|
| Buildup risk | Low | 2 of 5 |
| Rinse-out behaviour | Rinses with shampoo | 4 of 5 |
| Weight | Light | 2 of 5 |
| Sealing | Light | 2 of 5 |
What it does for a formula
What Glycol Stearate does
The general function first, then how the role changes by product type where we have researched it.
Smooths the feel of the strand without adding hold or cleaning.
Purely how the product looks in the bottle.
It does not truly dissolve, and ordinary shampooing removes it.
Hair neither pulls it in nor pushes it away.
Charge
Carries no charge, so it neither clings to hair nor is pushed away by it. Nonionic ingredients are the mild, pH-tolerant workhorses of a formula.
Solubility
Spreads through water without truly dissolving, and normal shampooing removes it.
Where it appears
Where it appears
One row per product category in our library: how many products list it, what share of that category that is, and where it typically sits on the label.
| Product type | How common | Typical position on label ? |
|---|---|---|
Shampoo
50 products
|
supporting · #8 | |
Conditioner
5 products
|
supporting · #8 | |
Mask / treatment
5 products
|
secondary · #16 | |
Styler: paste
3 products
|
supporting · #6 | |
Styler: smoothing cream
2 products
|
secondary · #10 | |
Leave-in
1 product
|
secondary · #17 | |
Styler: curl cream
1 product
|
leading · #3 | |
Styler: volumizer
1 product
|
leading · #3 |
| Product type | Products | Share of category | Median position | Earliest position | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shampoo | 50 | 6% | 8 | 3 | supporting |
| Conditioner | 5 | 1% | 8 | 7 | supporting |
| Mask / treatment | 5 | 1% | 16 | 4 | secondary |
| Styler: paste | 3 | 3% | 6 | 6 | supporting |
| Styler: smoothing cream | 2 | 4% | 10 | 10 | secondary |
| Leave-in | 1 | 0% | 17 | 17 | secondary |
| Styler: curl cream | 1 | 1% | 3 | 3 | leading |
| Styler: volumizer | 1 | 2% | 3 | 3 | leading |
No product-type differences have been researched yet — the reading below is computed from where it sits on the labels in our library.
Position footprint
Every listing in our library, by position on the label.
| Positions | Zone | Listings |
|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | Leading | 4 |
| 4-8 | Supporting | 39 |
| 9-15 | Secondary | 25 |
| 16-25 | Lower | 12 |
| 26+ | Trace | 3 |
How to read this
US labelling rules put ingredients above 1% in descending order of amount; below 1% they may be listed in any order.
So position tells you about relative amount only above that line, and we never convert a position into a percentage.
Who should pay attention
Conditional formulation guidance, scoped to a hair condition and to the positions where it is meaningful. It is not a conclusion about any finished product, and not a conclusion about you.
Emollients fill and smooth the surface of the strand, which lowers the friction that lifts the cuticle and reads as roughness.
Read from this ingredient’s chemical class. Where we have researched the ingredient itself, that reading replaces the class one.
Why it matters to shoppers
What this ingredient is evidence of, what it is not evidence of, and what our own method can and cannot tell you.
- a softer feel
- a creamy-looking product
- a product ordinary shampooing removes
- less frizz and easier combing
- an exact safety score — we do not publish one, for any ingredient
- how a finished product performs by itself — that is the whole formula, not one line of it
- the exact percentage in a bottle — label position never converts into a number
- a supporting emollient alongside the main ingredients in our shampoos
- it was on the label of every product we counted — we read printed ingredient lists, not marketing copy
- that a product is right or wrong for you
We do not publish safety scores or hazard grades. Where a regulator has published a restriction or a use condition, we state it and cite it; otherwise we describe what the ingredient does and stop.
Commonly paired with
Ingredients that appear alongside this one most often in our library. Near-universal ingredients are excluded — they pair with everything and tell you nothing.
- Cocamidopropyl Betaine · 40
- Sodium Chloride · 32
- Polyquaternium-10 · 27
- Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate · 23
- Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride · 22
- Disodium EDTA · 21
- Cocamide MIPA · 19
- Sodium Hydroxide · 19
- Polyquaternium-7 · 18
- Glycol Distearate · 17
The number beside a name is how many products in our library list both.
These ingredients tend to appear together to clean and build foam, keep the formula stable, and improve feel after rinsing.
Found in these products
The most prominent placements first. The badge is the position on that product’s own ingredient list.
Moroccanoil · Styler
Curl Defining Cream
#3 on the label · $3.06/oz
Nick Stenson Beauty · Styler
Volume Créme
#3 on the label · $6.00/oz
OGX · Styler
Quenching + Coconut Curls Frizz Defying Curl Styling Milk
#3 on the label · $1.67/oz
SheaMoisture · Shampoo
Coconut & Hibiscus Curl & Shine Shampoo
#3 on the label · $1.05/oz
African Pride · Shampoo
Feel It Formula Strengthening Shampoo
#4 on the label · $0.58/oz
Curls · Shampoo
Blueberry Bliss Reparative Hair Wash
#4 on the label · $2.50/oz
Hask · Styler
Curls + Argan Oil Coconut Oil Vitamin E Defining Cream
#4 on the label · $1.33/oz
Joico · Mask / treatment
K-PAK Deep-Penetrating Reconstructor
#4 on the label · $2.56/oz
Aunt Jackie's · Shampoo
Heads Up Moisturizing & Softening Shampoo
#5 on the label
IGK Hair · Shampoo
Extra Love Shampoo
#5 on the label · $4.00/oz
Kristin Ess · Shampoo
Strengthening Shampoo
#5 on the label · $1.20/oz
ORS · Shampoo
Curlshow Opening Act Curl Shampoo
#5 on the label · $0.46/oz
See all 68 products in the library that list Glycol Stearate
Identity
What this entry is, and what our references call it.
Glycol Stearate
- CAS 111-60-4
- PubChem 24762
- opacifier
- glycol stearate
For your hair?
Whether Glycol Stearate matters for your hair depends on your hair.
68 products in our library list itWhat this ingredient does, and where it sits on the labels we have researched.
A verdict on any product that contains it, and never a safety grade.
We do not physically test your hair. Everything above is read from the ingredient lists in our library and from published references — the consultation is what turns it into a plan.
References
Sourced Backed by a manufacturer or regulatory source.
This ingredient
- Manufacturer or regulatory PubChem — Compound identity: CID 24762, CAS 111-60-4, C20H40O3 · accessed 2026-08-28
How this page was made
- Every number above is counted from the ingredient lists in our own product library — 68 of 3928 researched products list this ingredient. Nothing on this page is written per ingredient.
- The dots are named levels read from an ingredient’s chemical class, charge, solubility, or where it sits on the labels we have — never a score.
- US labelling rules put ingredients above 1% in descending order of amount; below 1% they may be listed in any order. Position tells you about relative amount only above that line, and we never convert a position into a percentage.
- The prominence bands (leading, supporting, secondary) are the same ones the product pages use to read a single label, applied here to the median position across a category.
- We do not publish safety scores or hazard grades. Where a regulator has published a restriction or a use condition, we state it and cite it; otherwise we describe what the ingredient does and stop.
- Identifiers and references appear only when a published source is attached to this entry; where none is, the row is simply absent rather than filled in.
- This is cosmetic information, not medical advice, and nothing here diagnoses or treats a health condition.
- Entry last updated 2026-08-28. Product-page methodology: the product library.