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Film formers and thickeners

GUM

Chondrus Crispus Extract

  • gum

Irish moss, a seaweed gum that thickens and gives a slippery, cushioned feel.

34products in our library
0.9%of researched products
usually #25on the label, in our conditioners
Conditionermost common in
Water-solublein water
products in our library
34
of researched products
0.9%
on the label, in our conditioners
usually #25
most common in
Conditioner
in water
Water-soluble

At a glance

Four named levels, read from this ingredient’s chemical class, its charge, its solubility, or where it sits on the labels we have. More dots means more of the property named — never “better”.

Buildup risk Low

How much of it is left on hair between washes.

Rinse-out behaviour Rinses clean

What it takes to get it off the hair again.

Hold Soft

What the polymer class can do, not what any bottle claims.

Humidity resistance Low

How well the film survives damp air, as a class.

The same figures as a table. The at-a-glance levels for Chondrus Crispus Extract.
PropertyLevelOut of
Buildup riskLow1 of 5
Rinse-out behaviourRinses clean5 of 5
HoldSoft3 of 5
Humidity resistanceLow1 of 5

What it does for a formula

What Chondrus Crispus Extract does

The general function first, then how the role changes by product type where we have researched it.

Thickens and suspends

Gives a gel its body and keeps heavier ingredients from sinking.

A soft, flexible film

A plant-derived film that bends rather than cracking.

Thickens the formula

Texture in the hand — it says nothing about what reaches the hair.

A plant-derived extract

What it contributes depends entirely on how much of it is in the bottle.

Charge

Not recorded not recorded for this entry

Charge is not recorded for this ingredient.

Solubility

Water-solubleOil-solubleWater-dispersibleInsolubleVolatile

Rinses out with water alone — it does not accumulate on hair between washes.

Where it appears

Where it appears

One row per product category in our library: how many products list it, what share of that category that is, and where it typically sits on the label.

Product type How common Typical position on label ?
Conditioner 8 products
secondary · #25
Shampoo 7 products
secondary · #11
Mask / treatment 4 products
secondary · #11
Leave-in 3 products
supporting · #6
Styler: gel 3 products
secondary · #9
Styler: smoothing cream 3 products
secondary · #42
Co-wash 2 products
secondary · #30
Finisher: shine spray 1 product
secondary · #14
Heat protectant 1 product
secondary · #48
Scalp treatment 1 product
leading · #3
Leading 1–3Supporting 4–8Secondary 9–15Lower 16–25Trace 26+
2 more product types
Product type How common Typical position on label ?
Styler: hairspray 1 product
supporting · #5
Styler: paste 1 product
secondary · #19
The same figures as a table. Where Chondrus Crispus Extract sits on the ingredient list, by product type.
Product typeProductsShare of categoryMedian positionEarliest positionBand
Conditioner81%258secondary
Shampoo71%117secondary
Mask / treatment41%117secondary
Leave-in31%64supporting
Styler: gel32%99secondary
Styler: smoothing cream35%4223secondary
Co-wash22%3025secondary
Finisher: shine spray12%1414secondary
Heat protectant11%4848secondary
Scalp treatment11%33leading
Styler: hairspray11%55supporting
Styler: paste11%1919secondary

No product-type differences have been researched yet — the reading below is computed from where it sits on the labels in our library.

Position footprint

Leading 1Supporting 7Secondary 9Lower 7Trace 13

Every listing in our library, by position on the label.

Every listing of Chondrus Crispus Extract in our library, grouped by its position on the label.
PositionsZoneListings
1-3Leading1
4-8Supporting7
9-15Secondary9
16-25Lower7
26+Trace13

How to read this

US labelling rules put ingredients above 1% in descending order of amount; below 1% they may be listed in any order.

So position tells you about relative amount only above that line, and we never convert a position into a percentage.

Who should pay attention

Conditional formulation guidance, scoped to a hair condition and to the positions where it is meaningful. It is not a conclusion about any finished product, and not a conclusion about you.

May suitCurls or waves needing flexible hold

Gums thicken and set soft, which gives definition that bends rather than a rigid cast.

Read from this ingredient’s chemical class. Where we have researched the ingredient itself, that reading replaces the class one.

Why it matters to shoppers

What this ingredient is evidence of, what it is not evidence of, and what our own method can and cannot tell you.

A good sign if you want
  • a gel texture from a plant-derived thickener
  • a thicker, easier-to-spread formula
  • plant-derived ingredients on the label
  • a rinse-clean feel
Less relevant if you want to know
  • an exact safety score — we do not publish one, for any ingredient
  • how a finished product performs by itself — that is the whole formula, not one line of it
  • the exact percentage in a bottle — label position never converts into a number
Seeing it usually means
  • a secondary thickener, listed below the main ingredients in our conditioners
  • it was on the label of every product we counted — we read printed ingredient lists, not marketing copy
It does not automatically mean
  • a meaningful amount of the plant
  • anything about what the product does on hair
  • a meaningful amount of the plant — most sit below the 1% line
  • that a product is right or wrong for you

We do not publish safety scores or hazard grades. Where a regulator has published a restriction or a use condition, we state it and cite it; otherwise we describe what the ingredient does and stop.

Commonly paired with

Ingredients that appear alongside this one most often in our library. Near-universal ingredients are excluded — they pair with everything and tell you nothing.

The number beside a name is how many products in our library list both.

These ingredients tend to appear together to improve feel after rinsing, hold on to water, and give it a scent.

Found in these products

The most prominent placements first. The badge is the position on that product’s own ingredient list.

See all 34 products in the library that list Chondrus Crispus Extract

Identity

What this entry is, and what our references call it.

Structure
Film formers and thickeners

No public-domain structure depiction is available for this entry.

Canonical name

Chondrus Crispus Extract

Most-listed rank

#22 of 105 film formers and thickeners in our library, by how many products list it

Also classified as
  • thickener
  • botanical extract
Also listed as
  • chondrus crispus (irish moss) extract
  • chondrus crispus extract
Suits every hair pattern

For your hair?

Whether Chondrus Crispus Extract matters for your hair depends on your hair.

34 products in our library list it
What this page is

What this ingredient does, and where it sits on the labels we have researched.

What it is not

A verdict on any product that contains it, and never a safety grade.

We do not physically test your hair. Everything above is read from the ingredient lists in our library and from published references — the consultation is what turns it into a plan.

References

Seed entry — sourcing in progress Written from our reference work; primary sourcing is still being attached.

No published source is attached to this entry yet.

How this page was made

  • Every number above is counted from the ingredient lists in our own product library — 34 of 3889 researched products list this ingredient. Nothing on this page is written per ingredient.
  • The dots are named levels read from an ingredient’s chemical class, charge, solubility, or where it sits on the labels we have — never a score.
  • US labelling rules put ingredients above 1% in descending order of amount; below 1% they may be listed in any order. Position tells you about relative amount only above that line, and we never convert a position into a percentage.
  • The prominence bands (leading, supporting, secondary) are the same ones the product pages use to read a single label, applied here to the median position across a category.
  • We do not publish safety scores or hazard grades. Where a regulator has published a restriction or a use condition, we state it and cite it; otherwise we describe what the ingredient does and stop.
  • Identifiers and references appear only when a published source is attached to this entry; where none is, the row is simply absent rather than filled in.
  • This is cosmetic information, not medical advice, and nothing here diagnoses or treats a health condition.
  • Entry last updated 2026-08-28. Product-page methodology: the product library.