HUMECTANT
Hydroxyethyl Urea
- humectant
A humectant that holds water without glycerin's stickiness. It stays effective in drier air better than most.
- products in our library
- 27
- of researched products
- 0.4%
- on the label, in our leave-ins
- usually #13
- most common in
- Leave-in
- in water
- Water-soluble
At a glance
Four things worth knowing about how this ingredient behaves on hair.
How much of it is left on hair between washes.
What it takes to get it off the hair again.
How strongly the class holds on to water.
The strongest binders are the ones the weather moves most.
| Property | Level | Out of |
|---|---|---|
| Buildup risk | Low | 1 of 5 |
| Rinse-out behaviour | Rinses clean | 5 of 5 |
| Water-binding | Strongest | 5 of 5 |
| Humidity sensitivity | Swings with the air | 5 of 5 |
What it does for a formula
What Hydroxyethyl Urea does
The general function first, then how the role changes by product type where we have researched it.
Binds water and holds it against the hair rather than adding oil.
What a humectant does depends on the air around it as much as on the formula.
Water alone removes it, so it does not accumulate between washes.
Charge
Charge is not recorded for this ingredient.
Solubility
Rinses out with water alone, so it does not build up 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 ? |
|---|---|---|
Leave-in
5 products
|
secondary · #13 | |
Shampoo
5 products
|
secondary · #17 | |
Conditioner
4 products
|
secondary · #10 | |
Finisher: oil
3 products
|
secondary · #9 | |
Finisher: serum
2 products
|
secondary · #9 | |
Mask / treatment
2 products
|
secondary · #12 | |
Styler: gel
2 products
|
supporting · #6 | |
Styler: mousse
2 products
|
secondary · #10 | |
Styler: volumizer
2 products
|
secondary · #13 |
| Product type | Products | Share of category | Median position | Earliest position | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leave-in | 5 | 1% | 13 | 11 | secondary |
| Shampoo | 5 | 0% | 17 | 7 | secondary |
| Conditioner | 4 | 0% | 10 | 9 | secondary |
| Finisher: oil | 3 | 1% | 9 | 9 | secondary |
| Finisher: serum | 2 | 1% | 9 | 9 | secondary |
| Mask / treatment | 2 | 0% | 12 | 11 | secondary |
| Styler: gel | 2 | 1% | 6 | 5 | supporting |
| Styler: mousse | 2 | 1% | 10 | 5 | secondary |
| Styler: volumizer | 2 | 1% | 13 | 8 | secondary |
We have not researched differences by product type yet. The reading below comes 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 | 0 |
| 4-8 | Supporting | 5 |
| 9-15 | Secondary | 15 |
| 16-25 | Lower | 6 |
| 26+ | Trace | 1 |
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
Formulation guidance for specific hair conditions, limited to the label positions where it applies. It is not a conclusion about any finished product, or about you.
High-porosity hair loses water fast; a humectant holds some of it in place for longer than the wash itself would.
Binds water into the outer layers of the strand, and water is what makes dry hair flexible again rather than brittle.
A humectant moves water in whichever direction the air allows: it holds moisture in humid conditions and can pull it back out of hair in very dry ones.
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 seeing this ingredient tells you, what it does not, and the limits of our own method.
- hydration that does not add oil
- hydration rather than oil
- a rinse-clean feel
- moisture that stays on coarse or porous hair
- an exact safety score (we do not publish one for any ingredient)
- how a finished product performs, which depends on the whole formula, not one line of it
- the exact percentage in a bottle, because label position never converts into a number
- a secondary humectant, listed below the main ingredients in our leave-ins
- it was on the printed ingredient list of every product we counted (we read labels, not marketing copy)
- frizz in every climate (what it does depends on the air)
- 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
The ingredients that most often appear alongside this one in our library. We leave out the near-universal ones, because they pair with everything and tell you nothing.
- Benzyl Alcohol · 11
- Dimethicone · 10
- Behentrimonium Chloride · 9
- Isopropyl Alcohol · 8
- Alcohol Denat. · 8
- Propylene Glycol · 8
- Hibiscus Esculentus Seed Extract · 7
- Sodium Hydroxide · 7
- Tocopherol · 7
- Peg-14 Dimethicone · 6
The number beside a name is how many products in our library list both.
These ingredients tend to appear together to carry the formula and let it dry, smooth the surface, and improve feel after rinsing.
Found in these products
The most prominent placements first. The badge is the position on that product’s own ingredient list.
Productos LATINA · Styler
Liquid Gel Hydration
#5 on the label · $2.17/oz
R+Co · Styler
AIRCRAFT Pomade Mousse
#5 on the label · $6.79/oz
IGK · Styler
Good Spin Curl Gelée
#7 on the label · $6.11/oz
Redken · Shampoo
Acidic Bonding Curls Silicone-Free Shampoo
#7 on the label · $3.66/oz
LADOR · Styler
Volumizing Curl Cream
#8 on the label · $8.72/oz
L'Oreal Paris · Finisher
EverPure Bond Repair+ Oil-in-Serum
#9 on the label · $7.18/oz
L'Oreal Professionnel · Finisher
[Metal Detox] Strengthening Hair Oil
#9 on the label · $22.84/oz
LUSETA · Conditioner
Perfect Bonding Restoring Conditioner
#9 on the label · $1.12/oz
Matrix · Finisher
Instacure Build-A-Bond Billion Bond Oil
#9 on the label · $21.25/oz
Matrix · Finisher
Instacure Build-A-Bond Repairing Oil
#9 on the label · $11.36/oz
Pureology · Finisher
Strength Cure Dream Healer Serum For Hair Repair and Shine
#9 on the label · $14.41/oz
Redken · Conditioner
Acidic Bonding Curls Silicone-Free Conditioner
#9 on the label · $3.46/oz
See all 27 products in the library that list Hydroxyethyl Urea
Identity
What this entry is, and what our references call it.
Hydroxyethyl Urea
- CAS 2078-71-9
- PubChem 73984
- hydroxyethyl urea
For your hair?
Whether Hydroxyethyl Urea matters for your hair depends on your hair.
27 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 comes from the ingredient lists in our library and from published references. The consultation is what turns it into a plan.
References
Sourced Backed by a manufacturer or regulatory source.
This ingredient
- Manufacturer or regulatory PubChem : Compound identity: CID 73984, CAS 2078-71-9, C3H8N2O2 · accessed 2026-08-28
How this page was made
- Every number above is counted from the ingredient lists in our own product library: 27 of 6816 researched products list this ingredient. Nothing on this page is written per ingredient.
- The dots are levels, not scores. Each one comes from what kind of ingredient it is (its chemical class, charge and solubility) or from where it sits on the labels we have.
- 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. Without one, we leave the row out rather than fill it in.
- This is cosmetic information, not medical advice, and nothing here diagnoses or treats a health condition.
- Entry last updated 2026-09-22. Product-page methodology: the product library.
