Database/Hair Conditioning/Hydroxyethyl Urea
100% petroleum · ISO 16128

Is Hydroxyethyl Urea natural?

No. Both the urea core and its hydroxyethyl group trace to natural-gas ammonia and ethylene oxide, both petrochemical by this site's convention.

INCI nameHydroxyethyl Urea
CAS1320-51-0
FormulaC3H8N2O2 · 104.11 Da
FunctionHair Conditioning · Humectant
FeedstockMade by reacting urea, produced from natural-gas-derived ammonia,…

How we scored it

Urea (natural-gas ammonia, petrochemical) + hydroxyethyl group (ethylene oxide, petrochemical); both fragments synthetic. 0.0.
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.

How it’s made

Aminolysis of urea by ethanolamine (ammonia leaves). Each curved arrow moves one electron pair, and the film ends on the score above.

Where it comes from

Made by reacting urea, produced from natural-gas-derived ammonia, with petrochemical ethylene oxide. Neither fragment is of renewable or plant origin under this site's convention.

In plain English

A gentle moisturising ingredient often used as an alternative to urea itself in sensitive-skin products. Made from ammonia derived from natural gas, reacted with an ethylene-oxide-derived group.

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Structure

2D structure of Hydroxyethyl Urea

2-hydroxyethylurea

PubChem CID 73984 ↗

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. 2Hydroxyethyl Urea. PubChem CID 73984. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3HYDROXYETHYL UREA. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4HYDROXYETHYL UREA. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=HYDROXYETHYL%20UREA