SALT
Magnesium Chloride
- salt
A mineral salt used to thicken a cleanser or stabilise the formula.
- products in our library
- 62
- of researched products
- 2%
- on the label, in our shampoos
- usually #29
- most common in
- Shampoo
- 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”.
How much of it is left on hair between washes.
What it takes to get it off the hair again.
The housekeeping this class does.
Where it sits on the labels we have, in the category it appears in most.
| Property | Level | Out of |
|---|---|---|
| Buildup risk | Low | 1 of 5 |
| Rinse-out behaviour | Rinses clean | 5 of 5 |
| Job | Thickens | 2 of 5 |
| Prominence | Secondary | 2 of 5 |
What it does for a formula
What Magnesium Chloride does
The general function first, then how the role changes by product type where we have researched it.
A little salt turns a thin detergent solution into a pourable gel.
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 — 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 ? |
|---|---|---|
Shampoo
37 products
|
secondary · #29 | |
Conditioner
11 products
|
secondary · #20 | |
Mask / treatment
10 products
|
secondary · #27 | |
Co-wash
2 products
|
secondary · #35 | |
Scalp treatment
1 product
|
secondary · #23 | |
Styler: texture spray
1 product
|
leading · #2 |
| Product type | Products | Share of category | Median position | Earliest position | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shampoo | 37 | 5% | 29 | 8 | secondary |
| Conditioner | 11 | 2% | 20 | 7 | secondary |
| Mask / treatment | 10 | 3% | 27 | 17 | secondary |
| Co-wash | 2 | 2% | 35 | 31 | secondary |
| Scalp treatment | 1 | 1% | 23 | 23 | secondary |
| Styler: texture spray | 1 | 2% | 2 | 2 | leading |
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 | 1 |
| 4-8 | Supporting | 3 |
| 9-15 | Secondary | 6 |
| 16-25 | Lower | 23 |
| 26+ | Trace | 43 |
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.
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 thicker cleanser
- a rinse-clean feel
- 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 secondary salt, listed below 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 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.
- Magnesium Nitrate · 60
- Methylchloroisothiazolinone · 59
- Methylisothiazolinone · 59
- Sodium Chloride · 33
- Tetrasodium EDTA · 29
- Benzyl Alcohol · 28
- Propylene Glycol · 27
- Sodium Hydroxide · 26
- Glycol Distearate · 23
- Butylene Glycol · 23
The number beside a name is how many products in our library list both.
These ingredients tend to appear together to keep the formula stable, carry the formula and let it dry, 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.
Kitsch · Styler
Texturizing Sea Salt Spray - Sweet Lavender & Rosemary
#2 on the label · $3.00/oz
Paul Mitchell · Conditioner
Tea Tree Special Conditioner
#7 on the label · $3.34/oz
Bumble and bumble · Shampoo
Sunday Clarifying Shampoo
#8 on the label · $4.14/oz
Bumble and bumble · Shampoo
Surf Foam Wash Texturizing Shampoo
#8 on the label · $4.24/oz
Paul Mitchell · Shampoo
Platinum Blonde Violet Shampoo
#10 on the label · $1.97/oz
Paul Mitchell · Conditioner
Extra-Body Conditioner
#11 on the label · $1.58/oz
Paul Mitchell · Conditioner
Awapuhi Wild Ginger Cream Rinse
#13 on the label · $1.98/oz
Paul Mitchell · Shampoo
Awapuhi Shampoo
#14 on the label · $2.47/oz
Paul Mitchell · Shampoo
Extra-Body Shampoo
#14 on the label · $1.24/oz
Bread Beauty Supply · Conditioner
baby-soft
#15 on the label
Paul Mitchell · Shampoo
Shampoo One
#16 on the label · $1.06/oz
Paul Mitchell · Shampoo
Tea Tree Special Shampoo
#16 on the label · $3.20/oz
See all 62 products in the library that list Magnesium Chloride
Identity
What this entry is, and what our references call it.
Magnesium Chloride
- CAS 7786-30-3
- PubChem 5360315
- magnesium chloride
For your hair?
Whether Magnesium Chloride matters for your hair depends on your hair.
62 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
Sourced Backed by a manufacturer or regulatory source.
This ingredient
- Manufacturer or regulatory PubChem — Compound identity: CID 5360315, CAS 7786-30-3, Cl2Mg · accessed 2026-08-28
How this page was made
- Every number above is counted from the ingredient lists in our own product library — 62 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.