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Ingredient on hair labels

Water (Aqua/Eau)

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

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Water (Aqua/Eau) is on 166 of the 177 hair-product labels we compare, from 30 makers. The EU ingredient register lists one use for it: solvent. 164 of these labels name it among the first five ingredients.

See it on each label Products without it

What it is

EU register name (INCI)
AQUA
CAS number
7732-18-5
EC number
231-791-2
Written on these labels as
Water (Aqua/Eau); Water; Water/Aqua/Eau; Water (Aqua); Aqua/Water/Eau; Aqua (Water); Aqua (Water, Eau); Water (Aqua, Eau); Aqua (Purified Water); Water/Eau/Aqua; Water (Aqua) (Eau); Water (Aqua / Eau); Deionized Water; Water (Eau); Aqua; Water (Awua); Aqua / Water/Eau

US labels use the US name where it differs from the EU one, so a label may say Water (Aqua/Eau) where the register says AQUA. Both are the same ingredient.

What the register lists it for

These are the uses the European Commission’s CosIng register lists for Water (Aqua/Eau) 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).”

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 (166)

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.

Your next step

Find products without Water (Aqua/Eau) Check every name on your own label All ingredients on the labels we compare

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.