FILM FORMER
Octyldodecyl Citrate Crosspolymer
- film former
A polymer ester that thickens oils into a gel and leaves a cushioned, glossy film.
- products in our library
- 19
- of researched products
- 0.5%
- on the label, in our leave-ins
- usually #9
- most common in
- Leave-in
- in water
- Oil-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.
What the polymer class can do, not what any bottle claims.
How well the film survives damp air, as a class.
| Property | Level | Out of |
|---|---|---|
| Buildup risk | Needs a cleanser | 4 of 5 |
| Rinse-out behaviour | Rinses with a cleanser | 2 of 5 |
| Hold | Not recorded | not recorded |
| Humidity resistance | Not recorded | not recorded |
What it does for a formula
What Octyldodecyl Citrate Crosspolymer does
The general function first, then how the role changes by product type where we have researched it.
The film is what holds a shape once the water has gone.
How firmly depends on the polymer class and how much of it is used.
Texture in the hand — it says nothing about what reaches the hair.
A light, fast-spreading lipid used where an oil would feel heavy.
Charge
Charge is not recorded for this ingredient.
Solubility
Needs a surfactant to remove. On a low-detergent routine it can build up over time.
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 · #9 | |
Shampoo
4 products
|
secondary · #18 | |
Conditioner
2 products
|
secondary · #18 | |
Mask / treatment
2 products
|
secondary · #18 | |
Styler: gel
2 products
|
secondary · #18 | |
Heat protectant
1 product
|
secondary · #10 | |
Styler: curl cream
1 product
|
secondary · #20 | |
Styler: mousse
1 product
|
secondary · #25 | |
Styler: smoothing cream
1 product
|
secondary · #22 |
| Product type | Products | Share of category | Median position | Earliest position | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leave-in | 5 | 1% | 9 | 5 | secondary |
| Shampoo | 4 | 0% | 18 | 11 | secondary |
| Conditioner | 2 | 0% | 18 | 16 | secondary |
| Mask / treatment | 2 | 1% | 18 | 17 | secondary |
| Styler: gel | 2 | 1% | 18 | 17 | secondary |
| Heat protectant | 1 | 1% | 10 | 10 | secondary |
| Styler: curl cream | 1 | 1% | 20 | 20 | secondary |
| Styler: mousse | 1 | 1% | 25 | 25 | secondary |
| Styler: smoothing cream | 1 | 2% | 22 | 22 | secondary |
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 | 0 |
| 4-8 | Supporting | 3 |
| 9-15 | Secondary | 4 |
| 16-25 | Lower | 13 |
| 26+ | Trace | 0 |
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.
A light emollient: it softens the surface with noticeably less weight than an oil or a butter.
Spreads thin and lowers friction between strands without the heaviness of a fixed oil.
Film formers are what hold a style: they dry into a connected film across the strands so the shape resists movement.
How rigid the finish is depends on which polymer it is and what the formula pairs with it, not on there being 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.
- softness without weight
- a style that holds
- a thicker, easier-to-spread formula
- something that lasts through the day
- 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 film former, listed below the main ingredients in our leave-ins
- it was on the label of every product we counted — we read printed ingredient lists, not marketing copy
- 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.
- BHT · 16
- Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate · 15
- Propanediol · 15
- Tocopherol · 14
- Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane · 12
- Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil · 12
- Ethylhexyl Salicylate · 11
- Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil · 9
- Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil · 9
- Benzyl Salicylate · 9
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, deliver a stated effect, and carry the formula and let it dry.
Found in these products
The most prominent placements first. The badge is the position on that product’s own ingredient list.
Bumble and bumble · Finisher
Bond-Building Repair Hair Oil Serum
#6 on the label · $29.01/oz
Bumble and bumble · Leave-in
Bond-Building Repair Oil Serum Treatment for Hair Repair
#6 on the label · $29.01/oz
Bumble and bumble · Leave-in
Bond-Building Repair Styling Cream for Hair Repair
#9 on the label · $7.80/oz
Bumble and bumble · Heat protectant
Heat Shield Thermal Protection Hair Mist
#10 on the label · $6.88/oz
Bumble and bumble · Shampoo
Bond-Building Repair Shampoo
#11 on the label · $4.37/oz
Aveda · Shampoo
Color Control Shampoo Rich
#15 on the label · $4.32/oz
Bumble and bumble · Conditioner
Bond-Building Repair Conditioner
#16 on the label · $3.34/oz
Bumble and bumble · Mask / treatment
Bond-Building TripleBond Flash Rinse for Damaged Hair
#17 on the label · $5.35/oz
Bumble and bumble · Styler
Curl Anti-Humidity Hair Gel-Oil
#17 on the label · $7.10/oz
Bumble and bumble · Styler
Curl Hair Gel + Pomade
#18 on the label · $10.88/oz
Bumble and bumble · Leave-in
Curl Reactivator Moisturizing Hair Mist
#18 on the label · $4.24/oz
See all 19 products in the library that list Octyldodecyl Citrate Crosspolymer
Identity
What this entry is, and what our references call it.
No public-domain structure depiction is available for this entry.
Octyldodecyl Citrate Crosspolymer
- light ester
- thickener
- octyldodecyl citrate crosspolymer
For your hair?
Whether Octyldodecyl Citrate Crosspolymer matters for your hair depends on your hair.
19 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 — 19 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.