Cream Hair Color safety rating

Cream Hair Color safety rating | Greenlens

Raters split

Ingredient safety

A 64-point gap between the two loudest voices.

0ANSES Endocrine DisruptorsGovernment

64IARC MonographsGovernment

050100

See why, ingredient by ingredient

All 1991 cleaner options, safest first We show the best 12, including the strongest on each axis.

Every rater, every axis

Ingredient safety

64 pts apart

A government authority. Auto-linked to this product, not yet human-reviewed. Checked this week. about this rater →
A government authority. Auto-linked to this product, not yet human-reviewed. Checked this week. about this rater →
Independent — not funded by the brands it rates. Auto-linked to this product, not yet human-reviewed. Checked this week. about this rater →
A government authority. Auto-linked to this product, not yet human-reviewed. Checked this week. about this rater →
A government authority. Auto-linked to this product, not yet human-reviewed. Checked this week. about this rater →
Independent — not funded by the brands it rates. Auto-linked to this product, not yet human-reviewed. Checked this week. about this rater →
Independent — not funded by the brands it rates. Auto-linked to this product, not yet human-reviewed. Checked this week. about this rater →

Also screened, nothing found: California Proposition 65 · ECHA SVHC Candidate List · US NTP Report on Carcinogens

Environmental

Also screened, nothing found: EU Microplastics Restriction

Labor

Run by a nonprofit. Auto-linked to this product, not yet human-reviewed. This rates Clairol as a company and applies to everything they make, not this product alone. Checked this week. about this rater →

Coverage & match quality

8 ratings · 2 of 4 axes

Some ratings rest on an automatic match that has not been human-reviewed.
Fewer raters reach smaller-brand products, so a missing rating is not a clean bill of health, only a gap.

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composite recomputes live

Ingredient safety1.0×

Environmentalno rating

No rater covers this axis for this product, so its weight can't move the score.

Labor1.0×

Packagingno rating

No rater covers this axis for this product, so its weight can't move the score.

0 means ignored. Higher = more weight in your composite.

Ingredients, decoded

Data availability

Robust58 of 67 characterized

Our sources have reference data on 58 of 67 listed ingredients; 9 are uncharacterized in our data — a gap, not a clean bill.

Worth a look (25)

p aminophenol

Where this came from

Cruelty-free status recorded from crueltyfree.peta.org ↗

Researched facts on Greenlens always carry the page that stated them — nothing is inferred from a model's memory.

What these ingredient tags mean (5)

These describe what an ingredient is, not whether it is a problem. The stance marks above are the ratings; these are not.

common irritantpropylene glycol, p phenylenediamine sulfate, methylchloroisothiazolinone, methylisothiazolinone
- propylene glycol: A solvent that shows up in patch-test clinics, more often as irritation than as allergy. American Contact Dermatitis Society, Allergen of the Year 2018 (Jacob SE, Scheman A, McGowan MA, Dermatitis 2018;29(1):3-5).
- p phenylenediamine sulfate: A hair-dye coupler and one of the most frequently positive substances in patch-test clinics. EU Regulation (EC) 1223/2009, Annex III entry 8a permits p-phenylenediamine and its salts as a hair dye substance in oxidative hair dye products, at a maximum of 2% free base applied to hair after mixing; entry 8b separately permits them in products intended for colouring eyelashes, professional use only, at the same 2% limit, so this is not a hair-dye-only restriction. The general-use wording entry 8a mandates begins with the mixing ratio, then "Hair colourants can cause severe allergic reactions", "Read and follow instructions", "This product is not intended for use on persons under the age of 16", "Temporary “black henna” tattoos may increase your risk of allergy", a three-part "Do not colour your hair if" contraindication list, "Contains phenylenediamines" and "Do not use to dye eyelashes or eyebrows". The professional-use wording PREPENDS "For professional use only." and ends "Wear suitable gloves." where the general one ends with the eyelash sentence.
- methylchloroisothiazolinone: A preservative restricted to rinse-off products in the EU because of contact-allergy reports. EU Regulation (EC) 1223/2009, Annex V entry 39 (rinse-off only, 0,0015% of a 3:1 mixture with methylisothiazolinone). The reason is in Commission Regulation (EU) No 1003/2014, recital 3, quoted rather than summarised: "The SCCS concluded that the mixture of Methylchloroisothiazolinone (and) Methylisothiazolinone in a ratio of 3:1 does not pose a risk to the health of the consumer when used as a preservative up to a maximum authorised concentration of 0,0015 % in rinse-off cosmetic products, apart from its skin sensitising potential. The SCCS indicated that induction and elicitation would be less likely in a rinse-off product than when the same concentration is present in a leave-on product." SCCS/1238/09 concludes it "is well recognised as an important skin sensitiser at current conditions of use".
- methylisothiazolinone: A preservative that patch-test clinics see reactions to often enough that the EU banned it from leave-on products. American Contact Dermatitis Society, Allergen of the Year 2013 (Castanedo-Tardana MP, Zug KA, Dermatitis 2013;24(1):2-6); SCCS Opinion on Methylisothiazolinone (P94), Submission II, SENSITISATION ONLY (SCCS/1521/13, revision of 27 March 2014); banned in leave-on cosmetics by Commission Regulation (EU) 2016/1198, which recites the need to address "the increased incidence of allergies induced by methylisothiazolinone".
fragrance materialbenzyl alcohol, benzyl benzoate, hexyl cinnamal, linalool
- benzyl alcohol: Used both as a fragrance component and as a preservative; the EU names it either way. EU Regulation (EC) 1223/2009, Annex III entry 45: a fragrance substance whose presence must be indicated in the list of ingredients above 0,001% in leave-on and 0,01% in rinse-off products, because of established contact-allergy risk. That entry carries transition footnote (38), which is footnote (37) plus a condition: stock that does not comply may still be made available until 31 July 2028 only "provided that they comply with the restrictions applicable on 15 August 2023", and only if it was lawfully placed on the Union market before the 31 July 2026 cut-off. Entry 45 covers its non-preservative use; it is separately an allowed preservative at Annex V entry 34.
- benzyl benzoate: A balsamic fragrance component named separately on the label. EU Regulation (EC) 1223/2009, Annex III entry 85: a fragrance substance whose presence must be indicated in the list of ingredients above 0,001% in leave-on and 0,01% in rinse-off products, because of established contact-allergy risk.
- hexyl cinnamal: A jasmine-like fragrance component named separately on the label. EU Regulation (EC) 1223/2009, Annex III entry 87: a fragrance substance whose presence must be indicated in the list of ingredients above 0,001% in leave-on and 0,01% in rinse-off products, because of established contact-allergy risk.
- linalool: A floral fragrance component named separately on the label. EU Regulation (EC) 1223/2009, Annex III entry 84: a fragrance substance whose presence must be indicated in the list of ingredients above 0,001% in leave-on and 0,01% in rinse-off products, because of established contact-allergy risk.
undeclared fragrance blendparfum
- parfum: A blend the label does not itemize, so what is in it cannot be read from the ingredient list. EU Regulation (EC) 1223/2009 permits the collective term "parfum"; the SCCS Opinion on Fragrance Allergens (SCCS/1459/11) reviews the contact-allergy evidence for the substances it can contain.
exfoliating acidsalicylic acid
- salicylic acid: A beta hydroxy acid that clears the inside of pores; the EU restricts its level and keeps it off children under three. SCCS Opinion on Salicylic Acid, Submission I (SCCS/1601/18, corrigendum of 20 to 21 June 2019); EU Regulation (EC) 1223/2009 Annex III entry 98, as amended by Commission Regulation (EU) 2021/850, which for purposes other than preservation caps it at 3,0% in rinse-off hair products, 2,0% in other products, and 0,5% in body lotion, eye shadow, mascara, eyeliner, lipstick and roll-on deodorant, and states "Not to be used in preparations for children under 3 years of age." Its separate PRESERVATIVE use sits at Annex V entry 3, capped at 0,5% (acid), where the salts carry the carve-out "except for shampoos".
rich occlusiveparaffinum liquidum
- paraffinum liquidum: A refined oil that sits on the surface of the skin; it has a heavy finish. FDA OTC skin protectant monograph, 21 CFR 347.10(l): "Mineral oil, 50 to 100 percent; 30 to 35 percent in combination with colloidal oatmeal in accordance with 347.20(a)(4)."