Cetyl Alcohol is a go to ingredient used to make emulsions thick. You can get them really thick like a cream or just thick enough like a light lotion depending on the amount you’re using.
Cetyl alcohol is not a regular, drying ‘alcohol’. Its a ‘fatty’ alcohol derived from vegetables (at least the better kind is).
It serves as a co-emulsifier in that it helps the main emulsifier to bind the oil and the water together.
I find it slightly waxier than BTMS in comparison, but don’t worry. Its not a superwax in the way beeswax is waxy.
Cetyl alcohol adds a creaminess to the body of emulsions and increases viscosity. It can also improve or thicken the texture of whipped butters too.
Recommended usage: 1 – 30% (theherbarie.com)
