Cetyl alcohol

CATEGORY: Emulsifiers
NATURAL OR SYNTHETIC: Natural (Vegetable Derived)

DESCRIPTION:
Cetyl alcohol was discovered in 1817 by the French chemist Michel Chevreul when he heated spermaceti, a waxy substance obtained from sperm whale oil, with caustic potash (potassium hydroxide). Flakes of cetyl alcohol were left behind on cooling. Obviously this is gross and With the demise of commercial whaling, cetyl alcohol is no longer primarily produced from whale oil, but instead either as an end-product of the petroleum industry, or produced from vegetable oils such as palm oil and coconut oil. You'll be pleased to know that ours is from veg.