Cosmetic ingredient dictionary

Polyethylene Terephthalate in cosmetics: what it is and what it does

Polyethylene Terephthalate is a cosmetic ingredient that leaves a thin film on skin, hair or nails. Open Beauty Facts finds it in 43 products, most often nail makeup.

By Bravoora teamUpdated Sources checked 2 sourcesHow we check

What does Polyethylene Terephthalate do in a product?

In a cosmetic product, Polyethylene Terephthalate leaves a thin film on skin, hair or nails. The EU’s CosIng database lists this job for it: film forming.

film forming

What other names and numbers does Polyethylene Terephthalate have?

CAS number
25038-59-9
CosIng reference
36708

Which products contain Polyethylene Terephthalate?

Open Beauty Facts finds Polyethylene Terephthalate in the ingredient lists of 43 of the 22,021 products it has a list for, most often nail makeup, lip makeup and lipsticks.

  • Nail makeup9
  • Lip makeup7
  • Lipsticks7
  • Nail polishes6

Products with it, by country of sale: Norway 12 · France 9 · Netherlands 9 · Germany 8.

Counted on 13 October 2026 from Open Beauty Facts, which volunteers fill from real packs: it shows where Polyethylene Terephthalate turns up, not how much of the market it is.

Bravoora reads this ingredient for everyone you shop for: an allergy or intolerance, a vegan or vegetarian diet, a calorie or protein goal, and the labels on supplements and skincare too. Build a profile · For dermatologists, dietitians and doctors

Sources

The job, the description and the EU annex entry are CosIng’s; the fragrance allergens are the EU Annex III names Bravoora’s label checker reads; the product counts are Open Beauty Facts’.

  1. European Commission: CosIng cosmetic ingredient database (functions, description, EU annex entry)
  2. Open Beauty Facts: product database, 77,506 products, read 13 October 2026, ODbL

Contains information from Open Beauty Facts, which is made available here under the Open Database License (ODbL). Read the licence · Download this dictionary’s data · How we check

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