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Ingredient on hair labels

Laureth-4

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

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Laureth-4 is on 4 of the 177 hair-product labels we compare, from 4 makers, most often in clarifying shampoos. Its uses in the EU ingredient register include antistatic, emulsifying surfactant and fragrance. One of these labels names it among the first five ingredients.

See it on each label Products without it

What it is

In the register’s words: “3,6,9,12-tetraoxatetracosan-1-ol; Dodecan-1-ol, ethoxylated; Alcohols, C12-14, ethoxylated.”

EU register name (INCI)
LAURETH-4
CAS number
5274-68-0 / 9002-92-0 / 68439-50-9
EC number
226-097-1 / 500-002-6 / 500-213-3

What the register lists it for

These are the uses the European Commission’s CosIng register lists for Laureth-4 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.

Antistatic

Cuts the static that makes dry hair fly away. Many conditioning ingredients carry this role too, because both work at the hair’s surface.

Register definition: “Preventing and/or reducing static electricity by neutralising electrical charge on surfaces.”

Emulsifying surfactant

Lets oil and water mix into one cream or lotion and stay mixed. Conditioners and creams rely on them.

Register definition: “Helping suspensions or dispersions of liquids in a second liquid by reducing the surface tension of the substances to be emulsified.”

Fragrance

Gives the product its smell or covers an unpleasant one. A label may name each scent ingredient or group them as Fragrance (Parfum).

Register definition: “Imparting an odour or taste. Creating a perceivable pleasant smell and/or masking a bad smell.”

Cleansing surfactant

The washing ingredients: they let water lift oil, product and dirt off hair and scalp. Shampoos list them near the top; some conditioners hold a little.

Register definition: “Wetting body surfaces, emulsifying or solubilizing oils, and suspending soil (generally, such ingredients contribute to the foaming and lathering properties of cleansing products).”

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 (4)

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 Laureth-4 Check every name on your own label All ingredients on the labels we compare

Other antistatic 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.