You may have seen these ingredients in your favorite products and wondered what the heck is a polyquaternium? Sounds like it’s probably harmful to my hair … Well, these active ingredients are actually conditioning agents that provide lovely benefits, but could also have the potential to build up.

If you are using products that contain a lot of polyquats and are experiencing frequent build-up … it might be worth taking a second look at these ingredients.

What is a Polyquat?

For our purposes … Polyquats are cationic conditioning agents, which by definition are ingredients that improve the quality of another material. Benefits include improving shine and softness, while reducing frizz, fly aways, breakage and split-ends.

Fun Fact: The numbers are assigned in the order in which they are registered rather than their chemical structure.

Conditioning agents and build-up

According to the Science-y Hair Blog, all conditioning agents have the potential to build-up, but that doesn’t mean everyone’s hair will accumulate build-up.

Definitely check out that article, but an important takeaway from it is this amazing list of polyquats and their potential to build up. I summarized her list below and I hope this helps you decide which polyquats are right for you.

Higher Build-Up Potential

• Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride: Very good for detangling, especially detangling wet hair which is why it is used in shampoos.
• Polyquaternium-4: Has film-forming properties and is usually used to provide “hold” in styling products and also thicken a product.

Moderate Build-Up Potential

• Polyquaternium-7: Used to lessen the drying effect of detergents and add a “conditioned” feel to products so hair or skin feel soft. It helps detangle wet and dry hair and may help create shine.
• Polyquaternium -11: Often used in hair mousses because it provides light hold. This ingredient can give hair a tacky feel while on the hair and after rinsing.
• Polyquaternium-55 – An excellent heat protectant that helps hair retain dyed color longer. Has potential for “over-conditioning.”
• Hydroxypropyltrimonium When this term precedes an ingredient, it means it has been modified to have a cationic charge. These ingredients provide slip and softness and help reduce frizz, but will stick to your hair causing build-up.
• Polyquatermium-59 – This ingredient is UV light absorbing qualities, which means sun protection! This is added benefit of protection for your hair, so might not be a bad thing if you are in the sun a lot.

Lower Build-Up Potential

• Polyquaternium-10 – It is often used in shampoos for detangling and styling products to provide light hold. This may be removable with a polyquaternium-free, anionic (sulfate or olefin sulfonate) shampoo.
• Polyquaternium-69 – Weakly cationic film-former for hold in hair products. Likely to be removed after 1-2 shampooings.
• Polyquaternium-37 – Used for conditioning for limp, thin or “fine” hair. Reported to help improve volume and body in hair.
• Polyquaternium-44 – Used in some shampoos and was designed as an alternative to Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride and other more build-up provoking ingredients.
• Polyquaternium-87 – Created as an alternative to Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride used for detangling, creating a soft feel and frizz control. Will be removed after 1-2 shampoos.
• Polyquaternium-47 – An amphoteric conditioning ingredient used for detangling and softening hair.

Personal Journey

Early on in my curly hair journey, I swore off polyquats because I thought for sure it was the reason I wasn’t liking my results. So for a few years, I did not use polyquats at all and I did see some improvement over time.

However, I was recently looking for a new curl enhancer and had been wanting to try AG Re:Coil, but avoided it because it contains Polyquaternium-55 and Polyquaternium-10.

Well, I decided to give polyquats another chance and OMG! I absolutely love RE:Coil! It is a holy grail for me now.

So point being … it’s easy to get wrapped up in every little detail, ingredient and rule. Knowledge is power, so now that you know the deets, don’t be afraid to experiment and do what works best for you and your individual hair!

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This new category includes the ingredients Methylchloroisothiazolinone (MCI) and Methylisothiazolinone (MI), which are preservatives that combat bacteria, yeast, and fungi to extend the shelf life of the product. Preservatives prevent problems like discoloration, unpleasant odors or product breakdown, and ultimately make the product safer to use. The downside is that many people are allergic to these particular preservatives which can have adverse effects on the skin.

MCI and MI are technically CG approved because they do not cause build up or dryness. However, they produce a “Caution” result in the app because this potential allergic reaction can lead to a dry, flaky, itchy scalp. If you have sensitive skin or previously had an allergic reaction, I would avoid products that contain these ingredients.

These ingredients only affect those that are allergic to them, so if you have used a product in the past that contain these ingredients and did not see any negative side effects then you are good to go! It’s just one more thing to double check in the ingredient list (like there aren’t enough things already to look out for).

Products that promote scalp health (Itchy M free)

Sources:

• https://mi-free.com/
• https://www.safecosmetics.org/get-the-facts/chemicals-of-concern/methylisothiazolinone/
• https://www.cosmeticsinfo.org/ingredient/methylisothiazolinone-and-methylchloroisothiazolinone
• https://www.healthline.com/health/methylchloroisothiazolinone

If you notice any information in this post that is either outdated or misrepresented, please let me know in the comments or by contacting us.

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There are two categories of film forming ingredients: Plant gels and Hydrolyzed proteins (source: Science-y Hair blog)

Plant gels:

• flax seed gel (linseed)
• okra gel (made from okra seed pods)
• aloe vera
• hydroxyethylcellulose
• pectin
• xanthan gum
• guar gum
• marsh mallow root
• slippery elm
• carrageenan (also known as irish moss or seaweed extract, sea emollient, sea algae, sea vegetable)
• nettle leaf tea or nettle extract
• panthenol*
• Hydroxypropyltrimonium honey

Hydrolyzed proteins:

• Hydrolyzed ________(source of protein) protein 
• Peptides (wheat, oat, soy…)
• Amino acids (wheat, oat, soy) or glycine, alanine, proline, etc.
• Cocodimonium hydroxypropyl hydrolyzed _________ (source of protein, i.e. keratin, silk, rice, soy)
• Cocoyl hydrolyzed ________ (source of protein)
• Potassium cocoyl hydrolyzed ________ (source of protein)
• Hydrolyzed oat flour

We try to capture all of the possible ingredients that fall into this category, but it can be difficult with ingredient name variations. If you notice an ingredient that should be in this category but is not, please contact us.

Products with Film Forming Humectant Ingredients

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