Ingredient Profile—Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride

Guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride (GHPTC) is one of the most widely used cationic polymers in the personal care industry. According to the US Food and Drug Administration’s Voluntary Cosmetic Registration Program (VCRP), the use of GHPTC has been documented in 751 products, ranking it third behind polyquaternium-10 (1,446 reported uses) and polyquaternium-7 (1,041 reported uses).^{1, 2} GHTPC is employed primarily as a conditioning agent in shampoos and body washes. In many of these rinse-off products, it is also a critical deposition aid for the delivery of active ingredients and hydrophobic conditioning agents, e.g., silicones, to the skin and hair.