SECONDARY CLEANSER
Cocamide MEA
- secondary cleanser
A coconut-derived thickener that stabilises foam and gives shampoo its body.
- products in our library
- 90
- of researched products
- 2%
- on the label, in our shampoos
- usually #8
- most common in
- Shampoo
- in water
- Water-dispersible
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”.
How much of it is left on hair between washes.
What it takes to get it off the hair again.
How much oil it strips, as a class.
The foam the class is known for, not a measured volume.
| Property | Level | Out of |
|---|---|---|
| Buildup risk | Low | 2 of 5 |
| Rinse-out behaviour | Rinses with shampoo | 4 of 5 |
| Cleansing strength | Very gentle | 2 of 5 |
| Lather | Soft | 3 of 5 |
What it does for a formula
What Cocamide MEA does
The general function first, then how the role changes by product type where we have researched it.
Added alongside a stronger detergent to build foam and take the edge off it.
A glucoside or alkanolamide, common in co-washes and baby washes.
Texture in the hand — it says nothing about what reaches the hair.
It does not truly dissolve, and ordinary shampooing removes it.
Charge
Carries no charge, so it neither clings to hair nor is pushed away by it. Nonionic ingredients are the mild, pH-tolerant workhorses of a formula.
Solubility
Spreads through water without truly dissolving, and normal shampooing removes it.
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 ? |
|---|---|---|
Shampoo
87 products
|
supporting · #8 | |
Co-wash
3 products
|
supporting · #4 |
| Product type | Products | Share of category | Median position | Earliest position | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shampoo | 87 | 11% | 8 | 3 | supporting |
| Co-wash | 3 | 3% | 4 | 4 | supporting |
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
Every listing in our library, by position on the label.
| Positions | Zone | Listings |
|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | Leading | 11 |
| 4-8 | Supporting | 50 |
| 9-15 | Secondary | 32 |
| 16-25 | Lower | 10 |
| 26+ | Trace | 3 |
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.
Mild cleansing leaves more surface lubrication in place on hair that dries out quickly.
A sugar-derived non-ionic detergent, among the gentlest in use. It cleanses with little foam of its own and little sebum removal.
Gentle cleansing leaves water-insoluble deposits largely in place; they come off with a stronger wash, not this one.
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.
- the mildest cleansing
- a formula built for daily washing
- foam without a harsher detergent
- the gentlest cleanse a shampoo can give
- 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
- a supporting secondary cleanser alongside the main ingredients in our shampoos
- it was on the label of every product we counted — we read printed ingredient lists, not marketing copy
- that the product cannot clean properly
- anything about what the product does on hair
- 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.
- Cocamidopropyl Betaine · 76
- Sodium Chloride · 72
- Glycol Distearate · 68
- Sodium Laureth Sulfate · 57
- Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride · 50
- Sodium Hydroxide · 31
- Carbomer · 30
- Tetrasodium EDTA · 29
- Hexyl Cinnamal · 29
- Disodium EDTA · 28
The number beside a name is how many products in our library list both.
These ingredients tend to appear together to clean and build foam, keep the formula stable, and soften the strand.
Found in these products
The most prominent placements first. The badge is the position on that product’s own ingredient list.
Aunt Jackie's · Shampoo
Heads Up Moisturizing & Softening Shampoo
#3 on the label
Aunt Jackie's · Shampoo
Oh So Clean! Moisturizing & Softening Shampoo
#3 on the label · $0.91/oz
Creme of Nature · Shampoo
Double Duty Detangle & Slip Flaxseed Shampoo
#3 on the label · $0.56/oz
Garnier Fructis · Shampoo
Garnier Fructis Curl Nourish Sulfate-Free Shampoo
#3 on the label · $0.30/oz
Kerastase · Shampoo
Chroma Absolu Bain Chroma Respect Shampoo
#3 on the label
Marc Anthony · Shampoo
Argan Oil Hydrating Shampoo
#3 on the label · $0.60/oz
Marc Anthony · Shampoo
Grow Long Super Fast Strength Shampoo
#3 on the label · $0.54/oz
Marc Anthony · Shampoo
Strictly Curls 3x Moisture Shampoo
#3 on the label · $0.54/oz
Matrix · Shampoo
Mega Sleek Anti-Frizz Smoothing Shampoo
#3 on the label · $0.99/oz
Matrix · Shampoo
Total Results Glow Mania Color Protecting Shampoo
#3 on the label · $0.98/oz
Neutrogena · Shampoo
Neutrogena T/Gel Therapeutic Shampoo Original Formula
#3 on the label
Africa's Best · Co-wash
Originals Honey Castor Co-Wash
#4 on the label · $0.83/oz
Identity
What this entry is, and what our references call it.
No public-domain structure depiction is available for this entry.
Cocamide MEA
- nonionic cleanser
- thickener
- cocamide mea
- coco monoethanolamide
For your hair?
Whether Cocamide MEA matters for your hair depends on your hair.
90 products in our library list itWhat this ingredient does, and where it sits on the labels we have researched.
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 — 90 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 2026-09-02. Product-page methodology: the product library.