How to compare ingredient names without guessing
An ingredient-name comparison checks whether two recorded names refer to the same entry, rather than whether they merely look similar. Preserve the original wording and keep a separate search record. A match in a database is not approval of a finished product. [1]
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Copy before interpreting
Create two columns: text exactly as printed and the reference being checked. Preserve slashes, numbers and compound names. Do not silently shorten a long name to a familiar chemical word; that removes the very detail the comparison needs. This transcription stage supplies the label and reference text for the comparison record below.
Use the right reference
The European Commission’s CosIng page describes ingredient names and searches by substance identifiers. Record the entry consulted and the identifying fields actually present. The same page warns that an inventory listing does not establish permission for use; keep that limitation beside the match. [1]
A concrete name-and-identifier comparison
The EU regulation lists HEMA (2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate), CAS 868-77-9, in Annex III entry 313. The next entry, 314, names DI-HEMA TRIMETHYLHEXYL DICARBAMATE and gives CAS 41137-60-4/72869-86-4. The shared HEMA lettering does not make the second name an alias of the first. At this source-entry comparison stage, the outcome is “different”; retain each full name, identifier and entry number for the final record. [2]
Close the record with a reason
Use a complete proposed row with these columns: label A; label B; queried entry; identifier; source; source date, if stated; access date; outcome; reason; supplier question. When the two names resolve to distinct entries, use two linked rows together for that comparison, with these same columns. Repeat the original label A and label B text in both rows. In queried entry and identifier, put the entry and identifier for label A in the first row and those for label B in the second. Give both rows the outcome different and explain the distinction in reason. This records each entry separately, as required for the distinct source entries in the comparison above. Choose matched only with evidence of identity, different for distinct entries, and unresolved when names or identifiers are incomplete. Record the stated kind of source date; if no date is supplied, mark it unknown rather than substituting your access date. Explain the outcome in the reason field. A shared word such as acrylates is only a search clue. If clarification is needed, put the exact question in the supplier-question field; otherwise mark it not applicable.
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 / 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:
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.
