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

Is Basic Violet 4 natural?

Mostly not. Synthetic hair-dye triarylmethane dye cation 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 Violet 4
CAS2390-59-2
FormulaC31H42ClN3 · 492.1 Da
FunctionHair Dyeing
FeedstockPetrochemical aromatic amine or dye base isolated as…

How we scored it

Basic Violet 4 C31H42ClN3 492.1 Da: 1×chloride 35.5 Da is mineral-derived (natural); the triarylmethane dye cation 456.7 Da is petrochemical → 35.5/492.1 = 0.07.
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 synthetic purple dye used to colour hair. It is made entirely from man-made aromatic chemicals and has no natural source.

Natural alternatives with the same function

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 Bismuth Citrate 100% natural origin

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 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

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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 Violet 4

[4-[bis[4-(diethylamino)phenyl]methylidene]cyclohexa-2,5-dien-1-ylidene]-diethylazanium chloride

PubChem CID 16955 ↗

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 Violet 4. PubChem CID 16955. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3BASIC VIOLET 4. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4BASIC VIOLET 4. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=BASIC%20VIOLET%204