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Score legend
HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES LEARN MORE ABOUT EWG VERIFIED®
Product score: 04

Data Availability:

Limited

Cantu Shea Butter Keratin Protein Masque

Cantu Shea Butter Keratin Protein Masque

WHERE TO BUY

As an Amazon Associate, EWG earns from qualifying purchases.

CATEGORY

Mask

BRAND

Cantu

DATA LAST UPDATED

March 2022

Ingredient concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

  • LOW
    Cancer
  • HIGH
    Allergies & Immunotoxicity
  • LOW
    Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity
  • MODERATE
    Use Restrictions

Ingredient scores

Ingredients are scored based on their formulation and concentration in this product. Click on an ingredient for more information.

Ingredient score: 01
WATER
Appeared as: WATER (AQUA; EAU)
Data Availability: Robust
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FUNCTION(S) solvent
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Ingredient score: 01
COCOS NUCIFERA (COCONUT) OIL
Data Availability: Fair
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FUNCTION(S) fragrance ingredient, hair conditioning agent, skin-conditioning agent - miscellaneous;skin-conditioning agent - occlusive, emollient, hair conditioning, masking, skin conditioning, solvent
CONCERNS • Allergies/immunotoxicity (low)
• Multiple, additive exposure sources (low)
• Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs) (low)
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Ingredient score: 01
GLYCERYL MONOSTEARATE
Appeared as: GLYCERYL STEARATE
Data Availability: Limited
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FUNCTION(S) fragrance ingredient, skin-conditioning agent - emollient, surfactant - emulsifying agent, emollient, emulsifying
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Ingredient score: 01
CETYL ALCOHOL
Data Availability: Limited
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FUNCTION(S) emulsion stabilizer, fragrance ingredient, opacifying agent, surfactant - emulsifying agent;surfactant - foam booster, viscosity increasing agent - aqueous, viscosity increasing agent -nonaqueous, emollient, emulsifying, emulsion stabilising, foam boosting, masking, opacifying, surfactant, viscosity controlling
CONCERNS • Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (moderate)
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Ingredient score: 01
STEARYL ALCOHOL
Data Availability: Limited
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FUNCTION(S) emulsion stabilizer, fragrance ingredient, surfactant - emulsifying agent, surfactant - foambooster, viscosity increasing agent - aqueous, viscosity increasing agent - nonaqueous, emollient, emulsifying, emulsion stabilising, foam boosting, masking, opacifying, refatting, surfactant, viscosity controlling
CONCERNS • Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs) (moderate)
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Ingredient score: 03
PEG-100 STEARATE
Data Availability: Limited
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FUNCTION(S) surfactant - cleansing agent
CONCERNS • Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (low)
• Contamination concerns (ETHYLENE OXIDE and 1,4-DIOXANE)
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Ingredient score: 01
BUTYROSPERMUM PARKII (SHEA) BUTTER
Data Availability: Limited
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FUNCTION(S) skin-conditioning agent - miscellaneous, skin-conditioning agent - occlusive, viscosityincreasing agent - nonaqueous, skin conditioning, viscosity controlling
CONCERNS • Allergies/immunotoxicity (low)
• Use restrictions (low)
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Ingredient score: 02
GLYCERIN
Data Availability: Good
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FUNCTION(S) denaturant, fragrance ingredient, hair conditioning agent, humectant, oral care agent;oral health care drug, skin-conditioning agent - humectant, skin protectant, viscosity decreasing agent, perfuming, solvent
CONCERNS • Use restrictions (moderate)
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Ingredient score: 01
ARGANIA SPINOSA (ARGAN) KERNEL OIL
Appeared as: HYDROLYZED VEGETABLE PROTEIN ARGANIA SPINOSA (ARGAN) KERNEL OIL
Data Availability: Limited
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FUNCTION(S) skin-conditioning agent - emollient, skin-conditioning agent - miscellaneous;skin-conditioning agent - occlusive, emollient, skin conditioning
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Ingredient score: 03
TOCOPHERYL ACETATE
Appeared as: TOCOPHERYL ACETATE (VITAMIN E)
Data Availability: Fair
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FUNCTION(S) antioxidant, skin-conditioning agent - miscellaneous, skin conditioning
CONCERNS • Cancer (low)
• Allergies/immunotoxicity (moderate)
• Contamination concerns (HYDROQUINONE)
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Ingredient score: 05
BENZYL ALCOHOL
Data Availability: Fair
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FUNCTION(S) external analgesic, fragrance ingredient, oral health care drug, preservative, solvent;viscosity decreasing agent, masking, solvent
CONCERNS • Allergies/immunotoxicity (high)
• Use restrictions (moderate)
• Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (moderate)
• Occupational hazards (high)
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Ingredient score: 01
DEHYDROACETIC ACID
Data Availability: Fair
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FUNCTION(S) preservative
CONCERNS • Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (low)
• Occupational hazards (high)
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Ingredient score: 01
PPG-1 TRIDECETH-6
Data Availability: Limited
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FUNCTION(S) skin-conditioning agent - emollient, surfactant - emulsifying agent, skin conditioning, surfactant
CONCERNS • Use restrictions (low)
• Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs) (low)
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Ingredient score: 01
PROPYLENE GLYCOL DICAPRYLATE/ DICAPRATE
Data Availability: Limited
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FUNCTION(S) skin-conditioning agent - occlusive, emollient
CONCERNS • Enhanced skin absorption
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Ingredient score: 01
POLYQUATERNIUM-37
Data Availability: Limited
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FUNCTION(S) antistatic agent, film former, hair fixative, antistatic, film forming
CONCERNS • Use restrictions (low)
• Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (moderate)
• Ecotoxicology (low)
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Ingredient score: 04
STEARAMIDOPROPYL DIMETHYLAMINE
Data Availability: Limited
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FUNCTION(S) antistatic agent, hair conditioning agent, antistatic, emulsifying, hair conditioning, surfactant
CONCERNS • Allergies/immunotoxicity (moderate)
• Use restrictions (high)
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Ingredient score: 08
FRAGRANCE
Appeared as: FRAGRANCE (PARFUM)
Data Availability: Fair
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FUNCTION(S) deodorant, masking, perfuming
CONCERNS • Allergies/immunotoxicity (high)
• Endocrine disruption (moderate)
• Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (moderate)
• Ecotoxicology (low)
• Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs) (moderate)
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Ingredient score: 01
POLYQUATERNIUM-10
Data Availability: Limited
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FUNCTION(S) antistatic agent, film former, hair fixative, antistatic, film forming
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Ingredient score: 01
HYDROLYZED QUINOA
Data Availability: None
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FUNCTION(S) skin-conditioning agent - miscellaneous, skin conditioning
LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS INGREDIENT
Ingredient score: 02
CITRIC ACID
Data Availability: Good
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FUNCTION(S) chelating agent, fragrance ingredient, ph adjuster, buffering, chelating, masking
CONCERNS • Use restrictions (moderate)
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Ingredients from packaging:

WATER (AQUA, EAU), COCOS NUCIFERA (COCONUT) OIL, GLYCERYL STEARATE, CETYL ALCOHOL, STEARYL ALCOHOL, PEG-100 STEARATE, BUTYROSPERMUM PARKII (SHEA) BUTTER, GLYCERIN, HYDROLYZED VEGETABLE PROTEIN ARGANIA SPINOSA (ARGAN) KERNEL OIL, TOCOPHERYL ACETATE (VITAMIN E), BENZYL ALCOHOL, DEHYDROACETIC ACID, PPG-1 TRIDECETH-6, PROPYLENE GLYCOL DICAPRYLATE/DICAPRATE, POLYQUATERNIUM-37, STEARAMIDOPROPYL DIMETHYLAMINE, FRAGRANCE (PARFUM), POLYQUATERNIUM-10, HYDROLYZED QUINOA, CITRIC ACID.

Product's animal testing policies

Some cosmetics companies have taken People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and Leaping Bunny animal-testing pledges. For consumers who are concerned about companies’ policies on animal testing, Skin Deep reports this information.


Unknown

Leading international certifiers PETA and Leaping Bunny have no information concerning this company’s use of animal testing.

Understanding scores

Cosmetics and personal care products are not required to be tested for safety before being allowed on the market. The Skin Deep® scoring system was designed to help the public understand whether a product is safe to use or whether it contains ingredients of concern.

Every product and ingredient in Skin Deep gets a two-part score – one for hazard and one for data availability. The safest products score well by both measures, with a low hazard rating and a fair or better data availability rating.

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES

Hazard score

The Skin Deep ingredient hazard score, from 1 to 10, reflects known and suspected hazards linked to the ingredients. The EWG VERIFIED® mark means a product meets EWG’s strictest criteria for transparency and health.

Score legend
WEIGHT-OF-EVIDENCE APPROACH

A product’s hazard score is not an average of the ingredients’ hazard scores. It is calculated using a weight-of-evidence approach that factors in all of the hazards or health impacts associated with the ingredients.

Data availability

The Skin Deep data availability rating reflects the number of scientific studies about the product or ingredient in the published scientific literature.

NONE LIMITED FAIR GOOD ROBUST
Low Availability
Moderate Availability
High Availability
NONE

Ingredients have not been assessed.

LIMITED-FAIR

There is only a modest volume of research.

GOOD-ROBUST

Ingredients have been studied extensively.

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September 23, 2023 | Los Angeles, CA

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