Ingredient on hair labels

1,2-Hexanediol

TheWashDay editorial · Updated · From the EU ingredient register and the makers’ own labels · How we match names

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1,2-Hexanediol is on 3 of the 177 hair-product labels we compare, from 3 makers, most often in stylers. Its uses in the EU ingredient register are solvent and skin conditioning. None of these labels names it among its first five ingredients.

What it is

EU register name (INCI)
1,2-HEXANEDIOL
CAS number
6920-22-5
EC number
230-029-6

What the register lists it for

These are the uses the European Commission’s CosIng register lists for 1,2-Hexanediol in any cosmetic, hair roles first. They say why a maker might add it, not what it does in one formula, and they aren’t a safety rating.

Solvent

Dissolves other ingredients. Water is the most common; some alcohols and glycols carry this role too.

Register definition: “Dissolving other components of cosmetics. Solvents are usually liquids (aqueous and nonaqueous).”

Skin conditioning

The register’s broad role for ingredients that keep skin in good condition. On a hair label it often sits beside a hair role, or marks a plant oil or extract.

Register definition: “Maintaining the skin in good condition.”

Where it sits on each label

US labels list ingredients from most to least, except that those at 1% or less may follow in any order. A name near the top is a large part of the formula. A label doesn’t mark where the 1% point falls, so further down, the order says little about how much is in it.

Every label, product by product (3)

Each line runs from the first name on a label to the last; a dot is where this ingredient sits. Makers change formulas now and then; if the list on your bottle differs, go by your bottle.

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Other solvent ingredients on these labels

Updated · The name, numbers and uses come from the European Commission’s CosIng entry (CC BY 4.0); we write the uses in US spelling and put the hair ones first. The labels are each maker’s own. The order rule is the FDA’s Cosmetics Labeling Guide. All our sources are on the Sources page.