COLOURANT
Yellow 5
- colourant
A certified colour added to tint the product itself. It does not colour hair.
- products in our library
- 124
- of researched products
- 3%
- on the label, in our shampoos
- usually #26
- 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.
How prominently it is listed where it appears most.
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 |
| Deposit | Small | 2 of 5 |
| Prominence | Secondary | 2 of 5 |
What it does for a formula
What Yellow 5 does
The general function first, then how the role changes by product type where we have researched it.
The colour of what is in the bottle — or, in a depositing product, of the hair.
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
39 products
|
secondary · #26 | |
Conditioner
30 products
|
secondary · #26 | |
Leave-in
15 products
|
secondary · #28 | |
Mask / treatment
13 products
|
secondary · #33 | |
Styler: paste
6 products
|
secondary · #28 | |
Styler: curl cream
4 products
|
secondary · #21 | |
Styler: gel
4 products
|
secondary · #16 | |
Finisher: serum
3 products
|
secondary · #24 | |
Co-wash
2 products
|
secondary · #26 | |
Styler: mousse
2 products
|
secondary · #24 |
6 more product types
| Product type | How common | Typical position on label ? |
|---|---|---|
Finisher: oil
1 product
|
secondary · #37 | |
Heat protectant
1 product
|
secondary · #52 | |
Scalp treatment
1 product
|
secondary · #38 | |
Styler: edge control
1 product
|
secondary · #35 | |
Styler: smoothing cream
1 product
|
secondary · #52 | |
Styler: texture spray
1 product
|
secondary · #30 |
| Product type | Products | Share of category | Median position | Earliest position | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shampoo | 39 | 5% | 26 | 17 | secondary |
| Conditioner | 30 | 4% | 26 | 14 | secondary |
| Leave-in | 15 | 4% | 28 | 17 | secondary |
| Mask / treatment | 13 | 3% | 33 | 20 | secondary |
| Styler: paste | 6 | 7% | 28 | 23 | secondary |
| Styler: curl cream | 4 | 4% | 21 | 11 | secondary |
| Styler: gel | 4 | 3% | 16 | 15 | secondary |
| Finisher: serum | 3 | 4% | 24 | 24 | secondary |
| Co-wash | 2 | 2% | 26 | 22 | secondary |
| Styler: mousse | 2 | 1% | 24 | 19 | secondary |
| Finisher: oil | 1 | 1% | 37 | 37 | secondary |
| Heat protectant | 1 | 1% | 52 | 52 | secondary |
| Scalp treatment | 1 | 1% | 38 | 38 | secondary |
| Styler: edge control | 1 | 6% | 35 | 35 | secondary |
| Styler: smoothing cream | 1 | 2% | 52 | 52 | secondary |
| Styler: texture spray | 1 | 2% | 30 | 30 | 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 | 0 |
| 9-15 | Secondary | 7 |
| 16-25 | Lower | 56 |
| 26+ | Trace | 90 |
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 violet or blue colorant sits opposite yellow on the colour wheel, so a trace of it deposited on the surface makes a warm cast read cooler. It washes out over the following few washes.
A deposited colorant is a surface layer. It is a very small amount of material, but on a routine already fighting for root lift it is one more thing sitting on the strand.
Read where it is listed in the first three ingredients or positions 4–8.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 product whose colour you can see
- a rinse-clean feel
- gray or light hair to stay cool rather than warm
- 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 colourant, 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 it will change your hair colour
- 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.
- Disodium EDTA · 47
- Sodium Chloride · 46
- Hexyl Cinnamal · 46
- Propylene Glycol · 43
- Blue 1 (CI 42090) · 42
- Dimethicone · 41
- Benzyl Alcohol · 36
- Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil · 35
- Behentrimonium Chloride · 35
- Cocamidopropyl Betaine · 32
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, give it a scent, 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.
Miss Jessie's · Styler
Curly Meringue - Frizz Control Cream
#11 on the label · $3.84/oz
Pantene · Finisher
Abundant & Strong Daily Scalp & Root Serum
#11 on the label · $10.72/oz
Herbal Essences · Conditioner
Hello Hydration Deeply Moisturizing Conditioner
#14 on the label · $0.56/oz
Eco Style · Styler
Olive Oil Gel - 32.0 oz
#15 on the label · $0.31/oz
ECO STYLE · Styler
Olive Oil Styling Gel
#15 on the label · $0.31/oz
Head & Shoulders · Conditioner
Sulfate Free Shea Butter Conditioner
#15 on the label · $0.64/oz
Klorane · Conditioner
Klorane Nourishing Conditioner with Mango Butter
#15 on the label · $3.40/oz
Miss Jessie's · Styler
Honey Curls - Curl Enhancer
#16 on the label · $1.88/oz
Pantene · Conditioner
Pro-V Smooth & Sleek Conditioner
#16 on the label · $0.26/oz
Paul Mitchell · Styler
Tea Tree Styling Gel - 2.5 oz
#16 on the label · $3.80/oz
Creme of Nature · Styler
Argan Oil from Morocco Style & Shine Foaming Mousse
#17 on the label · $0.76/oz
Creme of Nature · Leave-in
Pure Honey Scalp Refresh Invigorating Leave-In
#17 on the label · $0.85/oz
Identity
What this entry is, and what our references call it.
No public-domain structure depiction is available for this entry.
Yellow 5
- ci 19140
- ci 19140 (yellow 5)
- yellow 5
- yellow 5 (ci 19140)
For your hair?
Whether Yellow 5 matters for your hair depends on your hair.
the 1st most-listed colourant in our libraryWhat 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 — 124 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.