Understand what’s inside your hair care
Clear, independent information about the ingredients on hair-care labels, read from the actual labels in our product library. Decide for yourself what belongs in your routine.
2,252ingredients analyzed
6,816products researched
171,139label placements read
Alcohols, solvents and propellants
What carries the rest of the formula: water, the fast-evaporating alcohols that help a spray dry quickly, and the gases that push an aerosol out of the can.
56 published entries, most-listed first. The number beside a name is how many products in our library list it.
- Water6157
- Benzyl Alcohol1797
- Propylene Glycol1245
- Butylene Glycol1009
- Alcohol Denat.936
- Propanediol908
- Isopropyl Alcohol853
- Hexylene Glycol385
- Hydrofluorocarbon 152a363
- Dipropylene Glycol362
- Pentylene Glycol308
- 1,2-Hexanediol292
- Isododecane256
- Isobutane221
- Butane156
- Propane156
- C13-15 Alkane108
- Isohexadecane106
- PPG-9101
- Dimethyl Ether96
- Isopentyldiol88
- Glycereth-2663
- Coconut Alkanes60
- C9-12 Alkane49
- C13-14 Isoparaffin46
- C15-19 Alkane44
- Methyl Gluceth-2044
- C13-14 Isoalkane35
- PEG-830
- C11-13 Isoalkane29
- Diisopropyl Adipate26
- Undecane26
- Tridecane25
- Dimethyl Lauramide/Myristamide23
- Peg-421
- Ethoxydiglycol18
- C13-16 Isoparaffin13
- C13-14 Alkane12
- C13-16 Isoalkane12
- Isopropanol11
- Propylene Carbonate11
- Dimethyl Isosorbide10
- Peg-1210
- Isopentane9
- C15-23 Alkane8
- Peg-326
- Peg-756
- C10-11 Isoalkane5
- Dodecane5
- N-Butyl Alcohol5
- Peg-1805
- Triethylene Glycol4
- Methyl Soyate3
- Peg-1503
- PEG-63
- Triacetin3
How the library works
- An entry gets a page once it has a written description and appears in at least three researched products. Below that we leave the name as plain text on the product pages rather than publishing a page with nothing on it.
- 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.
- We do not publish safety scores or hazard grades.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.
- Nothing on these pages is paid placement, and we do not sell any of the products they link to.
