Ingredient on hair labels

Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Oil

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

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Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Oil is on 3 of the 177 hair-product labels we compare, from 3 makers, most often in deep conditioners. The EU ingredient register lists one use for it: emollient. None of these labels names it among its first five ingredients.

What it is

In the register’s words: “Oenothera Biennis Oil is the fixed oil derived from the seeds of the Evening Primrose, Oenothera biennis, Onagraceae.”

EU register name (INCI)
OENOTHERA BIENNIS OIL
CAS number
90028-66-3
EC number
289-859-2

Labels often add a second name in brackets, so a label may say Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Oil where the register says OENOTHERA BIENNIS OIL. Both are the same ingredient.

What the register lists it for

These are the uses the European Commission’s CosIng register lists for Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Oil 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.

Emollient

Oils, butters and similar ingredients that make a surface feel soft and smooth. On hair they coat the strand; many plant oils carry this role.

Register definition: “Acting as lubricants on the skin surface providing the skin with a soft and smooth appearance.”

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.

Your next step

Other emollient 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.