Most emulsifiers used in cosmetic products today are derived from animal fat. Apart from clearly animal-sourced beeswax and gelatin, even so-called natural emulsifiers may contain animal by-products. Current legislation does not require listing the source of an emulsifier, just their chemical names, and these give no clue whether the emulsifier is derived from pig fat or not. So you can imagine how much pig fat goes into so-called natural and conventional beauty products! If you see the word "stearate" in your ingredient list, there's a good chance that the emulsifier was made from animal tallow, unless clearly labeled as vegetarian or derived from vegetables.

There is another culprit. Many failsafe emulsifiers available on raw ingredient market today are marked as vegetarian or vegan, but they are not entirely natural. In fact, most popular emulsifiers are loaded with petrochemicals which makes then unsuitable for green beauty products. For example, emulsifying wax NF may be vegan but it is made of cetearyl alcohol, polysorbate 60 (a petrochemical), PEG-150 stearate (another petrochemical), and steareth-20 (yet another petrochemical). There's absolutely no reason to use this blend of synthetic chemicals in your natural beauty products!

Another emulsifier to avoid is borax (sodium borate.) A recent research shows it may be carcinogenic, and evidence based research confirms that it is very irritating and allergenic. It also dries out delicate, mature skin, and is not recommended for use on children.

Making your own facial creams, lotions, and cream cleansers is the best way to avoid animal by-products and petrochemicals in your beauty creations. The best vegetable emulsifiers are derived from coconut or palm oils without use of petrochemicals. Some of the safe emulsifiers are soy lecithin, sucrose laurate,  cetearyl glucoside, and sorbitan olivate.

The following emulsifiers must be clearly marked as vegetarian, vegan, or plant-derived:

glyceryl monostearate/stearate (may be derived from animal tallow)

sorbitan stearate (may be derived from animal tallow)

cetyl alcohol (may be derived from spermaceti)