Database/Hair Dyeing/Basic Brown 16
Mostly petroleum · ISO 16128

Is Basic Brown 16 natural?

Mostly not. Synthetic azo trimethylammonium hair dye supplied as a salt. Only the chloride counter-ion counts as natural origin under the site's mineral counter-ion convention; every carbon in the coloured cation is petrochemical.

INCI nameBasic Brown 16
CAS26381-41-9
FunctionHair Dyeing
FeedstockPetrochemical aromatic amines and couplers assembled into the…

How we scored it

Basic Brown 16 C19H21ClN4O 356.9 Da: chloride counter-ion Cl 35.5 Da is mineral-derived (natural); the azo trimethylammonium dye cation 321.4 Da is built entirely from petrochemical aromatic intermediates → 35.5/356.9 = 0.10.
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

Petrochemical aromatic amines and couplers assembled into the dye cation, isolated as its salt.

In plain English

A synthetic brown dye used in hair colouring products. It's manufactured from petrochemical aromatic building blocks in a factory, not extracted from nature.

CosIng definition: (CI 12250)

Natural alternatives with the same function

Beta Vulgaris Root Powder 100% natural origin

A powder made by drying and grinding sugar beet root. Used as a natural colorant for hair dye…

 Bismuth Citrate 100% natural origin

A salt formed from bismuth metal and citric acid, a natural fermentation-derived fruit acid, used to buffer, chelate…

 Dihydroxyacetone 100% natural origin

The active self-tanning ingredient that reacts with skin's surface proteins to produce a temporary bronze colour; made by…

 Epicatechin 100% natural origin

An antioxidant compound naturally found in tea and cocoa, used in skin, hair and oral care. It's extracted…

 Lawsonia Inermis Extract 100% natural origin

A plant extract from the henna shrub, used to condition hair and skin and add a reddish tint.…

 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 Basic Brown 16

PubChem CID 117785 ↗

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. 2Basic Brown 16. PubChem CID 117785. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3BASIC BROWN 16. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4BASIC BROWN 16. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=BASIC%20BROWN%2016