Ingredient on hair labels

Hydroxypropyl Bis-Hydroxyethyldimonium Chloride

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

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Hydroxypropyl Bis-Hydroxyethyldimonium Chloride is on 2 of the 177 hair-product labels we compare, from 2 makers. Its uses in the EU ingredient register are humectant and skin conditioning. None of these labels names it among its first five ingredients.

What it is

CAS number
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EC number
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What the register lists it for

These are the uses the European Commission’s CosIng register lists for Hydroxypropyl Bis-Hydroxyethyldimonium Chloride 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.

Humectant

Holds water in the product and on the surface it touches. Glycerin, honey and aloe are common humectants on curly-hair labels.

Register definition: “Retaining and/or preserving the moisture in a product during use.”

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 (2)

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 humectant 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.