Database/Hair Dyeing/Pigment Blue 15
Mostly petroleum · ISO 16128

Is Pigment Blue 15 natural?

Mostly not. Copper is a mineral metal ion, but the macrocycle is built from petrochemical phthalic acid derivatives and urea or ammonia nitrogen.

INCI namePigment Blue 15
CAS147-14-8
FormulaC32H16CuN8 · 576.1 Da
FunctionHair Dyeing
FeedstockMade by heating petrochemical phthalic anhydride (or phthalonitrile)…

How we scored it

C32H16CuN8 576.1: Cu 63.5 natural metal ion; C32H16N8 phthalocyanine ring 512.5 from petrochemical phthalic anhydride or phthalonitrile and urea-ammonia nitrogen. 63.5/576.1 = 0.11.
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

Made by heating petrochemical phthalic anhydride (or phthalonitrile) with urea and a copper salt, where copper counts as mineral. No natural-origin route exists commercially.

In plain English

Copper phthalocyanine, an intensely blue synthetic pigment used to colour hair-dye products and make-up. Its ring structure is built from petrochemical chemicals around a single copper atom from copper salts.

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 Pigment Blue 15

copper 2,11,20,29,37,39-hexaza-38,40-diazanidanonacyclo[28.6.1.13,10.112,19.121,28.04,9.013,18.022,27.031,36]tetraconta-1,3,5,7,9,11,13,15,17,19(39),20,22,24,26,28,30(37),31,33,35-nonadecaene

PubChem CID 6531516 ↗

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. 2Pigment Blue 15. PubChem CID 6531516. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3PIGMENT BLUE 15. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4PIGMENT BLUE 15. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=PIGMENT%20BLUE%2015