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Ingredient on hair labels

Quaternium-18

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

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Quaternium-18 is on 2 of the 177 hair-product labels we compare, from 2 makers. Its uses in the EU ingredient register are hair conditioning, antistatic and cleansing surfactant. None of these labels names it among its first five ingredients.

See it on each label Products without it

What it is

In the register’s words: “Quaternary ammonium compounds, bis(hydrogenated tallow alkyl)dimethyl, chlorides.”

EU register name (INCI)
QUATERNIUM-18
CAS number
61789-80-8
EC number
263-090-2

What the register lists it for

These are the uses the European Commission’s CosIng register lists for Quaternium-18 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.

Hair conditioning

The register’s hair role for ingredients that make hair feel softer, smoother or easier to comb. Most conditioners, masks and leave-ins list several.

Register definition: “Enhancing the appearance and feel of hair. Leaving the hair easy to comb, supple, soft and shiny and/or imparting volume, lightness, gloss, texture, etc.”

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.”

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 (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.

Your next step

Find products without Quaternium-18 Check every name on your own label All ingredients on the labels we compare

Other hair conditioning 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.