Ingredient on hair labels

Zingiber Officinale (Ginger) Root Extract

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

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Zingiber Officinale (Ginger) Root Extract is on 2 of the 177 hair-product labels we compare, from 1 maker. Its uses in the EU ingredient register include fragrance, perfuming and skin conditioning. None of these labels names it among its first five ingredients.

What it is

In the register’s words: “Zingiber Officinale Extract is an extract of the roots of the Ginger, Zingiber officinalis L., Zingiberaceae.”

EU register name (INCI)
ZINGIBER OFFICINALE ROOT EXTRACT
CAS number
84696-15-1
EC number
283-634-2

Labels often add a second name in brackets, so a label may say Zingiber Officinale (Ginger) Root Extract where the register says ZINGIBER OFFICINALE ROOT EXTRACT. Both are the same ingredient.

What the register lists it for

These are the uses the European Commission’s CosIng register lists for Zingiber Officinale (Ginger) Root Extract 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.

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.”

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.”

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.”

Tonic

The register’s role for ingredients said to give skin and hair a feeling of well-being. Many plant extracts carry it.

Register definition: “Producing a feeling of well-being on skin and hair.”

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

Other fragrance 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.