Why did I buy that? Glycol stearate

After reviewing yesterday's post, I realized I kinda covered a ton of products in the links for CME, so let's take a look at another ingredient! And sorry again for the late post - I'm going to be around 10! How am I sleeping in until 8? Does one person need 10 hours of sleep? Apparently the answer to this is yes, yes I do! And I had the coolest dream that I was the Doctor (from Doctor Who, the David Tennant version, not the Matt Smith). It was completely and utterly awesome! There's no reason the Doctor can't be a girl!  

In this post, Crystal asks the burning question - why did I buy glycol stearate? (If you'd like to post an ingredient you've bought but never used, do it in this post!)

Glycol stearate is an ester of stearic acid and ethylene glycol that we use as a low HLB emulsifier (2.9) in combination with a high HLB emulsifier (like polysorbate 80 or ceteareth-20) to create an emulsification system. We can also use it as a thickener in our products (but it's not a pearlizer, like glycol distearate...see note below). We see glycol stearate in a lot of commercial products in combination with the high HLB emulsifier as the emulsification system.

Don't confuse glycol stearate with glycol distearate - they are different products with a different HLB (1 vs. 2.9). 

Here are a few posts in which I've used glycol stearate as a low HLB emulsifier.
HLB: Using different emulsifiers and a formula. 
HLB: An example using glycol stearate

Join me tomorrow for more fun with new ingredients!

I will be getting more in depth with other ingredients, it's just that I've already covered those I've written about so far! And I will be writing a ton of posts on the weekend so I'm not writing things at the last minute, especially with this new and exciting sleeping schedule!