Database/Hair Dyeing/Basic Brown 4
Mostly petroleum · ISO 16128

Is Basic Brown 4 natural?

Mostly not. Synthetic hair-dye bis-azo diamine dye supplied as its salt. Only the mineral counter-ion counts as natural, as on the site's other hair-dye salts; every carbon is petrochemical.

INCI nameBasic Brown 4
CAS4482-25-1
FormulaC21H26Cl2N8 · 461.4 Da
FunctionHair Dyeing
FeedstockPetrochemical aromatic amine or dye base isolated as…

How we scored it

Basic Brown 4 (Bismarck brown R dihydrochloride) C21H26Cl2N8 461.4 Da: 2×HCl 72.9 Da is mineral-derived (natural); the bis-azo diamine dye 388.5 Da is petrochemical → 72.9/461.4 = 0.16.
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 amine or dye base isolated as its mineral-acid salt.

In plain English

A brown dye used to colour hair. It is a fully synthetic molecule made from petroleum-derived chemicals, with no natural source.

Natural alternatives with the same function

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 Dihydroxyacetone 100% natural origin

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 Epicatechin 100% natural origin

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 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 4

4-[[3-[(2,4-diamino-5-methylphenyl)diazenyl]-4-methylphenyl]diazenyl]-6-methylbenzene-1,3-diamine;dihydrochloride

PubChem CID 79459 ↗

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 4. PubChem CID 79459. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3BASIC BROWN 4. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4BASIC BROWN 4. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=BASIC%20BROWN%204