Ingredient on hair labels

Tocopheryl Acetate

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

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Tocopheryl Acetate is on 30 of the 177 hair-product labels we compare, from 17 makers. Its uses in the EU ingredient register are antioxidant and skin conditioning. None of these labels names it among its first five ingredients.

What it is

The register’s chemical name for it: “3,4-Dihydro-2,5,7,8-tetramethyl-2-(4,8,12-trimethyltridecyl)-2H-benzopyran-6-yl acetate.”

EU register name (INCI)
TOCOPHERYL ACETATE
CAS number
7695-91-2 / 58-95-7
EC number
231-710-0 / 200-405-4
Written on these labels as
Tocopheryl Acetate; Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E)

What the register lists it for

These are the uses the European Commission’s CosIng register lists for Tocopheryl Acetate 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.

Antioxidant

Slows the oxygen damage that makes oils go rancid in the bottle. Vitamin E (tocopherol) is the common one.

Register definition: “Inhibiting reactions promoted by oxygen, thus avoiding oxidation and rancidity.”

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 (30)

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 antioxidant 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.