Tea-tallate (inci)

"TEA" is the acronym for triethanolamine, a quaternary ammonium compound. Triethanolamine easily reacts with fatty acids to form triethanolamine soaps and is used as a basic component in fatty acids and other cosmetic products. Tallate refers to salts/esters of fatty or resin acids of tall oil (from the Swedish: tall = pine), which is a by-product of the production of pulp, mainly from pine wood.

TEA-tallate is a substance which is used in cosmetic formulations where it acts as a surfactant (washing-active substance; improves the even distribution of the products during application) and emulsifier (surface-active substance which is used in cosmetic preparations as an additive to combine 2 immiscible liquids - e.g. oil and water - to form an emulsion).

Evaluation: not recommended.