Database/Hair Dyeing/HC Blue No. 12
100% petroleum · ISO 16128

Is HC Blue No. 12 natural?

No. Synthetic nitro-aniline hair dye built entirely from petrochemical benzene, nitric acid and ethylene oxide derivatives.

INCI nameHC Blue No. 12
CAS132885-85-9
FormulaC12H20ClN3O4 · 305.76 Da
FunctionHair Dyeing
FeedstockManufactured from petrochemical aniline via nitration and alkylation…

How we scored it

Entire nitroaniline-ethanolamine dye molecule from petrochemical aniline and ethylene oxide; no natural fragment. 0/305.76=0.00.
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

Manufactured from petrochemical aniline via nitration and alkylation with ethylene oxide/ethylamine to build the diamine dye core. No natural route is used commercially.

In plain English

A synthetic dye used in semi-permanent hair color products to add blue tones. It is made entirely from petrochemical nitroaniline compounds.

Natural alternatives with the same function

Structure

2D structure of HC Blue No. 12

2-[4-[ethyl(2-hydroxyethyl)amino]-2-nitroanilino]ethanol;hydrochloride

PubChem CID 21909533 ↗

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. 2HC Blue No. 12. PubChem CID 21909533. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3HC BLUE NO. 12. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4HC BLUE NO. 12. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=HC%20BLUE%20NO.%2012