Cationic conditioning agents and amino-functional silicones for hair and skin care — behentrimonium and cetrimonium chloride, Polyquaternium-7 and -10, amodimethicone, and silicone quaternium-22.
Conditioning agents are cationic and polymeric materials that deposit onto hair and skin, classed in INCI as hair conditioning and antistatic agents. The family splits three ways: small cationic quats (behentrimonium and cetrimonium chloride), cationic polymers (the polyquaterniums), and amino-functional silicones (amodimethicone, silicone quaternium-22). Each carries a positive charge that binds to the negatively charged surface of keratin, which is what makes the class substantive through a rinse.
Substantivity is the working property, and it sets the central trade-off. Small quats such as cetrimonium chloride deposit quickly and rinse cleaner, while heavier quats like behentrimonium chloride and cationic polymers (Polyquaternium-7, Polyquaternium-10) build a more durable film-forming deposit that can accumulate over repeated use. Specify the lighter quats where a clean rinse-off matters; specify the polymers where a durable deposit on the fiber is the goal.
Amino-functional silicones are the substantive silicone option in this family. Amodimethicone and silicone quaternium-22 carry amine or quaternary groups that adsorb to the higher-charge regions of weathered fiber, unlike a plain silicone fluid that coats uniformly. Pair an amidoamine such as stearamidopropyldimethylamine with an acid to form the cationic species in place, a cost-controlled route for rinse-off conditioner bases.
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