Stearic acid

stearic acid is a white, waxy, natural acid found in animal and vegetable fats. Our stearic acid is from vegetable origins (palm) and is manufactured and designed to blend well with your cosmetic recipes. These small pastilles are ideal as an emulsifying agent in creams, lotions, deodorants, and most natural body care recipes. Stearic acid is best known for the “pearly” and “waxy” feel that it adds to your body care products, which ultimately has a cooling effect when applied to the skin.

Though stearic acid occurs naturally in vegetable and animal fats, it does have to undergo a hydrogenation process to convert it to the end product which is currently bought and sold as the stearic acid we have all come to know. Hydrogenation is a process in which liquid vegetable oils are converted to solid or semi-solid fats. It refers to a chemical reaction in which “unsaturated” bonds between carbon atoms are “reduced” by attachment of a hydrogen atom to each carbon. The process results in the “saturation” of the atoms and eventually converts unsaturated fatty acids to saturated ones. The end result is a white, waxy, natural fatty acid. It is fairly insoluble in water but can become somewhat soluble in alcohol. Stores well under most conditions, with an indefinite shelf life.