Silicone Quaternium-22 ●
TL;DR. This ingredient is a cationic conditioning and film-forming agent used mainly in hair care to improve slip, wet combing, frizz control, and antistatic performance.
What does Silicone Quaternium-22 do in a cosmetic formula?
This ingredient is a cationic conditioning and film-forming agent used mainly in hair care to improve slip, wet combing, frizz control, and antistatic performance.
Is Silicone Quaternium-22 clean?
From a clean-beauty perspective, this material has friction because it is a synthetic polymer with quaternary charge and a siloxane-based backbone. It is not typically associated with high irritation at normal use levels, but many stricter clean frameworks flag this class for persistence and non-biodegradability concerns.
Is Silicone Quaternium-22 sustainable?
This compound is synthetically produced and generally relies on petrochemical or mineral-derived feedstocks rather than renewable plant inputs. It is not considered readily biodegradable, so its environmental profile is weaker than simpler plant-derived conditioning agents.
Is Silicone Quaternium-22 COSMOS-approved?
It is not permitted under COSMOS-natural or COSMOS-organic standards because synthetic it-based polymers are outside the standard’s allowed material set. Its fit with Green Chemistry is limited due to low biodegradability and reliance on non-renewable chemistry, even though it can deliver conditioning at relatively low use levels.
How does Silicone Quaternium-22 work chemically?
The molecule is a cationic organosiloxane polymer, so its positively charged sites help it deposit onto the negatively charged surface of damaged hair while the flexible backbone contributes lubricity and film formation. It is commonly used at low single-digit percentages in rinse-off and leave-on hair products, and formulators manage compatibility carefully because strong anionic systems can reduce deposition or create complexes.
Last updated 2026-05-13