FATTY ALCOHOL
Stearyl Alcohol
- fatty alcohol
A fatty alcohol that thickens conditioners and helps them coat the hair evenly.
- products in our library
- 414
- of researched products
- 11%
- on the label, in our conditioners
- usually #3
- most common in
- Conditioner
- in water
- Oil-soluble
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 | Needs a cleanser | 4 of 5 |
| Rinse-out behaviour | Rinses with a cleanser | 2 of 5 |
| Weight | Medium | 3 of 5 |
| Sealing | Moderate | 3 of 5 |
What it does for a formula
What Stearyl Alcohol does
The general function first, then how the role changes by product type where we have researched it.
Texture in the hand — it says nothing about what reaches the hair.
Nothing like a drying alcohol: a waxy solid that softens and thickens.
Smooths the feel of the strand without adding hold or cleaning.
It takes a surfactant to remove — worth knowing on a low-detergent routine.
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
Needs a surfactant to remove. On a low-detergent routine it can build up over time.
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 ? |
|---|---|---|
Conditioner
188 products
|
leading · #3 | |
Mask / treatment
94 products
|
supporting · #5 | |
Leave-in
43 products
|
supporting · #7 | |
Co-wash
19 products
|
supporting · #7 | |
Styler: curl cream
16 products
|
supporting · #7 | |
Heat protectant
12 products
|
supporting · #4 | |
Styler: paste
11 products
|
supporting · #5 | |
Shampoo
7 products
|
secondary · #12 | |
Finisher: serum
5 products
|
supporting · #5 | |
Scalp treatment
4 products
|
supporting · #8 |
10 more product types
| Product type | How common | Typical position on label ? |
|---|---|---|
Styler: mousse
4 products
|
secondary · #23 | |
Styler: gel
2 products
|
secondary · #12 | |
Styler: smoothing cream
2 products
|
secondary · #22 | |
Finisher: anti frizz finish
1 product
|
supporting · #4 | |
Finisher: end oil
1 product
|
leading · #3 | |
Finisher: oil
1 product
|
supporting · #8 | |
Finisher: shine spray
1 product
|
secondary · #12 | |
Styler: lotion
1 product
|
supporting · #4 | |
Styler: refresh spray
1 product
|
secondary · #11 | |
Styler: volumizer
1 product
|
secondary · #12 |
| Product type | Products | Share of category | Median position | Earliest position | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conditioner | 188 | 27% | 3 | 2 | leading |
| Mask / treatment | 94 | 24% | 5 | 2 | supporting |
| Leave-in | 43 | 10% | 7 | 2 | supporting |
| Co-wash | 19 | 19% | 7 | 2 | supporting |
| Styler: curl cream | 16 | 15% | 7 | 3 | supporting |
| Heat protectant | 12 | 8% | 4 | 2 | supporting |
| Styler: paste | 11 | 12% | 5 | 2 | supporting |
| Shampoo | 7 | 1% | 12 | 5 | secondary |
| Finisher: serum | 5 | 6% | 5 | 3 | supporting |
| Scalp treatment | 4 | 3% | 8 | 4 | supporting |
| Styler: mousse | 4 | 3% | 23 | 5 | secondary |
| Styler: gel | 2 | 1% | 12 | 9 | secondary |
| Styler: smoothing cream | 2 | 4% | 22 | 20 | secondary |
| Finisher: anti frizz finish | 1 | 4% | 4 | 4 | supporting |
| Finisher: end oil | 1 | 11% | 3 | 3 | leading |
| Finisher: oil | 1 | 1% | 8 | 8 | supporting |
| Finisher: shine spray | 1 | 2% | 12 | 12 | secondary |
| Styler: lotion | 1 | 8% | 4 | 4 | supporting |
| Styler: refresh spray | 1 | 8% | 11 | 11 | secondary |
| Styler: volumizer | 1 | 2% | 12 | 12 | secondary |
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 | 166 |
| 4-8 | Supporting | 191 |
| 9-15 | Secondary | 60 |
| 16-25 | Lower | 35 |
| 26+ | Trace | 15 |
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.
The waxy solid that gives a conditioner its body. It deposits a soft lubricating layer, which is most of what makes hair feel smooth after rinsing.
Deposits with the cationic conditioners and helps them lie flat along the strand, which is where the detangling actually comes from.
Near the top of a conditioner it is doing most of the conditioning, and most of the weighting, at the same time.
Read where it is listed in the first three ingredients or positions 4–8.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 thicker, easier-to-spread formula
- a rich cream texture
- a softer feel
- something that lasts through the day
- 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 primary thickener near the top of the ingredient list in our conditioners
- it was on the label of every product we counted — we read printed ingredient lists, not marketing copy
- anything about what the product does on hair
- dryness — it is a waxy solid, not a drying alcohol
- 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.
- Cetyl Alcohol · 336
- Behentrimonium Chloride · 202
- Benzyl Alcohol · 179
- Cetrimonium Chloride · 132
- Disodium EDTA · 117
- Isopropyl Alcohol · 115
- Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine · 111
- Dimethicone · 107
- Propylene Glycol · 104
- Tocopherol · 99
The number beside a name is how many products in our library list both.
These ingredients tend to appear together to soften the strand, improve feel after rinsing, and carry the formula and let it dry.
Found in these products
The most prominent placements first. The badge is the position on that product’s own ingredient list.
4U by Tia · Mask / treatment
Deep Conditioning Repair Mask
#2 on the label · $1.25/oz
Aphogee · Mask / treatment
Curlific! Texture Treatment
#2 on the label
Aussie · Mask / treatment
Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Moist Deep Conditioner w/ Avocado
#2 on the label · $0.62/oz
Aussie · Conditioner
Aussie Kids Curly Conditioner
#2 on the label · $0.31/oz
Aussie · Conditioner
Aussie Moist Sulfate Free Conditioner for Kids'
#2 on the label · $0.31/oz
Aussie · Conditioner
Aussie Paraben-Free Total Miracle Conditioner with Apricot For Damage Hair
#2 on the label · $0.40/oz
Aussie · Conditioner
Miracle Moist Conditioner
#2 on the label · $0.65/oz
Aussie · Conditioner
Miracle Waves Anti-Frizz Hemp Conditioner
#2 on the label · $1.24/oz
Cantu · Conditioner
Cantu Avocado Hydrating Sulfate Free Conditioner
#2 on the label · $0.44/oz
Cantu · Conditioner
Cantu Shea Butter Hydrating Cream Conditioner
#2 on the label · $0.39/oz
Cantu · Conditioner
Guava & Ginger Scalp Relief Conditioner
#2 on the label · $0.64/oz
Cantu · Conditioner
Shea Butter Moisturizing Rinse Out Conditioner
#2 on the label · $0.52/oz
See all 414 products in the library that list Stearyl Alcohol
Identity
What this entry is, and what our references call it.
Stearyl Alcohol
- CAS 112-92-5
- PubChem 8221
- emollient
- thickener
- stearyl (plant) alcohol
- stearyl alcohol
- stearyl alcohol (coconut derived)
For your hair?
Whether Stearyl Alcohol matters for your hair depends on your hair.
the 7th most-listed oil, butter or emollient in our libraryWhat 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 8221, CAS 112-92-5, C18H38O · accessed 2026-08-28
How this page was made
- Every number above is counted from the ingredient lists in our own product library — 414 of 3889 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.