INCI and CosIng: what ingredient names can tell you
INCI provides standardised names for cosmetic ingredients. CosIng is the European Commission’s information database on cosmetic substances and ingredients. A name helps identify an ingredient; its presence in a database is not approval of a finished product or proof of its performance. [1]
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Where EU law requires an ingredient list
The Commission explains that Article 19(1)(g) of the Cosmetics Regulation requires a list of ingredients in cosmetic labelling. Article 33 provides for a glossary of common ingredient names that takes account of INCI. For colourants other than hair colourants, the CI (Colour Index) nomenclature is used where applicable. These are naming and labelling provisions, distinct from the rules that restrict or prohibit a substance. [2]
A database record and a legal permission are different
CosIng helps identify an ingredient’s INCI name and recorded functions. The Commission explicitly describes the database as informative. The presence of a name is not permission to use the ingredient in every cosmetic, concentration or country. Look separately at the Cosmetics Regulation and its current annexes. [1]
TPO demonstrates why this matters. An older technical document may accurately describe its photoinitiator function, while Regulation 2025/877 prohibits it in EU cosmetic products from 1 September 2025. In contrast, the HEMA and Di-HEMA entries impose professional-use and warning conditions for nail products. Save the rule and its applicable date alongside the ingredient identity; a function name cannot settle compliance. [3][4]
Current and historical database records
CosIng includes data going back to the 1976 Cosmetics Directive. The Commission labels current data “active” and historical data “not active” and supports searches by CAS, ELINCS or EINECS number. These fields distinguish a substance record and its history from the commercial name of a finished product. [1]
INCI name, identifier and finished product
Our reading: The ingredient name answers “which ingredient is declared?”; an identifier helps distinguish the substance record; the commercial name identifies the finished product being discussed. These references should be recorded separately. A source about one ingredient cannot supply a finished product’s proportions, lamp compatibility or measured wear.
Article Sources
- European Commission — Cosmetic ingredient database
Primary source
Overview and search-description passages: common ingredient names, CAS/ELINCS/EINECS identifiers, records since 1976 and active versus historical entries. Important notice: the database is informative and non-binding; inclusion is not ingredient-use approval. Overview reviewed, without testing the search engine or individual records.
- European Commission — CosIng – Glossary of ingredients
Primary source
Opening paragraph: Article 19(1)(g), Article 33 and INCI. More information: CI colourant names; Notes: glossary scope, not an authorised-ingredient list.
- European Commission / EUR-Lex — Commission Regulation (EU) 2020/1682 of 12 November 2020
Regulatory source
Recitals 4 and 7–12; Annex III entry 313: HEMA, CAS 868-77-9; entry 314: DI-HEMA TRIMETHYLHEXYL DICARBAMATE, CAS 41137-60-4/72869-86-4. Both entries require professional use and an allergy warning, without stating a concentration ceiling. Annex footnotes set 3 June 2021 for placement and 3 September 2021 for availability on the market.
Adopted:
- European Commission / EUR-Lex — Commission Regulation (EU) 2025/877 of 12 May 2025
Regulatory source
Recitals 1–7, Article 2 and Annex: TPO (CAS 75980-60-8) is removed from Annex III entry 311 and added to Annex II entry 1731. The cosmetic prohibition applies from 1 September 2025.
Adopted:
Written and reviewed with AI assistance using the linked sources. No hands-on product testing or independent specialist review was performed.
Commercial resource from our ecosystem
Professional nail materials and tools with NailMarket.eu — a shop in our ecosystem.
NailWiki, BELOM, NailMarket, BELOM App and NaNails are projects of BELOM Group OÜ, as identified by the owner. Molokom catalogue images are supplied through our NaNails shop; this commercial relationship is not independent product-test evidence.
