Database/Hair Dyeing/2-Methyl-5-Hydroxyethylaminophenol
100% petroleum · ISO 16128

Is 2-Methyl-5-Hydroxyethylaminophenol natural?

No. Synthetic aromatic amino-phenol built from petrochemical cresol and ethylene oxide feedstocks.

INCI name2-Methyl-5-Hydroxyethylaminophenol
CAS55302-96-0
FormulaC9H13NO2 · 167.20 Da
FunctionHair Dyeing
FeedstockSynthesised from petrochemical phenol/cresol derivatives reacted with ethylene…

How we scored it

Phenolic hair-dye intermediate with a hydroxyethyl, ethylene-oxide-derived, side chain; entirely petrochemical, no natural fragment retained.
What counts. ISO 16128-2 scores the atoms that remain in the final ingredient. Reagents, solvents, catalysts and protecting groups used during manufacture leave no mass behind and are not counted.

Where it comes from

Synthesised from petrochemical phenol/cresol derivatives reacted with ethylene oxide to install the hydroxyethyl group. No natural sourcing route is commercially available.

In plain English

A hair-dye coupler used to build brown and neutral colour tones inside the hair shaft. It's manufactured entirely from synthetic petrochemical starting materials.

Natural alternatives with the same function

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 Epicatechin 100% natural origin

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 Lawsonia Inermis Extract 100% natural origin

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 Pyrogallol 100% natural origin

A hair-dye ingredient traditionally made by heating gallic acid, itself extracted from plant tannins in gallnuts, until it…

Structure

2D structure of 2-Methyl-5-Hydroxyethylaminophenol

5-(2-hydroxyethylamino)-2-methylphenol

PubChem CID 134396 ↗

References

  1. 1ISO 16128-1:2016 and ISO 16128-2:2017 — Guidelines on technical definitions and criteria for natural and organic cosmetic ingredients and products. ISO, Geneva.
  2. 22-Methyl-5-Hydroxyethylaminophenol. PubChem CID 134396. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 32-METHYL-5-HYDROXYETHYLAMINOPHENOL. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 42-METHYL-5-HYDROXYETHYLAMINOPHENOL. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=2-METHYL-5-HYDROXYETHYLAMINOPHENOL