Hydroxyethyl Cellulose Ingredient

Choosing the right personal care products is essential to one’s health. With so many options all promising different things, sorting through them to find the highest quality ones comes down to checking the ingredient list. One of the top ingredients a hair or skin product can contain is hydroxyethyl cellulose.

What Is Hydroxyethyl Cellulose?

Hydroxyethyl cellulose is a thickening agent that comes from a sugar commonly found in plant cell walls. It is a naturally occurring supplement that is used in cosmetics and in food. Thanks to its many beneficial qualities, it is a choice ingredient in hair and skin care products that aim to rejuvinate and improve appearance and health.


Hydroxyethyl cellulose has been approved for use as an indirect food additive by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Additionally, the Cosmetic Ingredient Review has ruled that it is safe to use in cosmetics by an expert panel. Therefore, users of this supplement can rest assured that they will only gain to benefit from its advantageous qualities without needing to worry about harmful side effects. Of course, one should always consult with a healthcare professional before starting to take any kind of supplement. Let’s take a look at just what hydroxyethyl cellulose for skin and hair can really do.

Benefits of Hydroxyethyl Cellulose in Skin Care Products

Enchances Other Ingredients

Hydroxyethyl cellulose in skin care products acts like a booster, capable of enhancing the cleaning properties of other ingredients in the product. This means that any product containing this cellulose will be of high quality, and any promises made by the manufacturer are sure to be true.

Produces Gentle Cleaning

Gentle cleaning is important because it allows the skin to take advantage of the benefits that skin care products have to offer without needing to deal with any new averse effects. Additionally, gentle cleaning massages and softens the skin, providing even more benefits.

Stimulates Foaming Action

When a product foams, less of it needs to be used. As a result, thanks to hydroxyethyl cellulose’s foaming properties, any product that contains it will last longer than other options. Plus, this foaming action enhances the gentleness of the product, providing users with softer skin and a better clean.

Increases Product Shelf Life

The best skin care products with the best qualities can only benefit even more from having a long shelf life. On top of everything else that hydroxyethyl cellulose offers to the products that it’s added to, it can also help these products last a long time so that users never have to worry about them going bad or expiring.

Benefits of Hydroxyethyl Cellulose in Hair Care Products

Thickens Hair Products

Hydroxyethyl cellulose for hair is a great way to enhance the texture and appearance of hair care products due to its thickening nature. The products will in turn be easier to use and provide a better lathering experience that will go a long way in improving their promised results.

Provides Soft Cleaning

When shampooing with hair care products, it is essential to choose soft products that do not damage the hair. Hydroxyethyl cellulose will help products to be the perfect level of softness so that hair will always feel amazing after every shower. A high-quality cleaning encourages high-quality health.

Produces Soft Hair

Soft hair is a result of proper moisturization and conditioning, making it look and feel great. Therefore, anything done to increase the softness of hair will result in better hair health. Hydroxyethyl cellulose is the perfect option to naturally improve hair softness when used as an ingredient in shampoo.

Protects Hair

Since hydroxyethyl cellulose is water-soluble, it is able to provide colloid protection to the hair products it’s added to. As a result, this protective quality will transfer to the hair itself. As an ingredient, this cellulose also helps ensure that the shampoo is evenly spread to each hair strand, making for comprehensive protection.

The Bottom Line

There’s no doubt that choosing skin and hair care products that contain hydroxyethyl cellulose will result in a better and higher quality cleaning experience. It’s a substance that softens, cleans, and protects skin and hair effectively while also improving other qualities of the product itself, such as its shelf life and other abilities. So, the next time you go shopping for personal care, be sure to check the ingredients list for hydroxyethyl cellulose.

Research Citations

https://www.cosmeticsinfo.org/ingredients/hydroxyethylcellulose/

https://www.skincarelab.org/hydroxyethylcellulose/

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ma00030a016

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.3109/10915818609141925

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6100062/