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Ingredient on hair labels

Limonene

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

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Limonene is on 75 of the 177 hair-product labels we compare, from 19 makers. Its uses in the EU ingredient register are solvent, perfuming and deodorant. None of these labels names it among its first five ingredients.

See it on each label Products without it

What it is

The register’s chemical name for it: “1-Methyl-4-Isopropenylcyclohexene; dipentene.”

EU register name (INCI)
LIMONENE
CAS number
138-86-3
EC number
205-341-0/931-893-3
Other names in the register
1-Methyl-4-Isopropenylcyclohexene; dipentene

What the register lists it for

These are the uses the European Commission’s CosIng register lists for Limonene 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).”

Perfuming

Used as a perfume or scent material. Essential oils and their scent compounds, such as linalool and limonene, carry this role.

Register definition: “Used for perfume and aromatic raw materials.”

Deodorant

Reduces or covers unpleasant smells.

Register definition: “Reducing and/or eluminating unpleasant odour. Contributing against the formation of malodour on body surfaces.”

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 (75)

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 Limonene 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.