How do you read an INCI list on cosmetics?

In the EU, the ingredient list is mandatory under Article 19 of the Cosmetics Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009. It is introduced by the word ‘Ingredients’ and must be on the packaging; if there is no room, it may appear on a leaflet, tag or card, marked with a hand-and-book symbol.

INCI names are deliberately international: water is ‘Aqua’, many plants use their Latin botanical name. This looks technical at first, but it means a retailer in Málaga and a customer in Hamburg read exactly the same list.

In a cream or lotion, Aqua is usually first, followed by oils, emollients and emulsifiers. In a solid soap, the saponified oils such as Sodium Olivate tend to come first.

The position tells you a lot about a marketing claim: if a product is promoted ‘with olive oil’ and Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil appears near the end of the list, it is present in a small amount. More about this ingredient in our guide to olive oil in skincare.

This explains why plant extracts, preservatives and fragrance often appear in the second half of a list in an order that seems random. From the list alone you cannot tell where the 1% line runs.

A practical clue: preservatives such as phenoxyethanol are typically used at around 1% or less, so ingredients listed after them are very likely to be present in small amounts too. This is a rule of thumb, not a measurement.

The thresholds are 0.001% in leave-on products such as creams and 0.01% in rinse-off products such as shower gel. They apply regardless of whether the substance is synthetic or comes from an essential oil: neroli from bitter orange blossom, for example, naturally contains Linalool.

Regulation (EU) 2023/1545 has considerably extended the list of fragrance allergens to be labelled. Products placed on the market since 31 July 2026 must comply; products already on the market have until 31 July 2028. People with a known fragrance allergy should check these names and seek medical advice in case of skin reactions.

Colourants may be listed in any order after the other ingredients. In decorative cosmetics that come in several shades, all colourants used across the range may be listed with ‘may contain’ or ‘+/-’.

For skincare such as face cream, body lotion or soap, colourants are less common; when they appear, the CI number lets you look up exactly which pigment or dye is meant.

The table shows INCI names typical of Mediterranean botanicals, as described on our ingredients page:

The plant part matters: ‘Flower Water’ is a floral water, ‘Flower Oil’ an essential oil, ‘Leaf Extract’ an extract of the leaves.

Search for an ingredient in CosIng, the EU database of cosmetic ingredients. CosIng is an information tool, not a legally binding list, but it is the most reliable place to start.

For retailers and private label clients, the full INCI list of each product is part of the product information. Find out how ingredient lists relate to natural claims in our guide on how to recognise natural cosmetics.