How to find a cosmetic ingredient list online, and check it

Where to look

• The brand's own site. Look on the product page for a tab or link named Ingredients or Full ingredient list, and check that the size and shade match yours.
• A retailer's listing. Useful when the brand's page is missing, but it is another copy that can fall behind. Check the product name, size, shade and the country the shop sells in.
• The pack, if you can see it. In a shop, on a delivery or in a photo you took earlier, the printed list is the one that belongs to that product. How to photograph an ingredient list helps if it is hard to read.
• The company itself. EU law requires the company responsible for a product to make its qualitative composition easily accessible to the public by any appropriate means, subject to commercial secrecy (Article 21).¹ Its name and address are on the pack.²

Where the law puts the list

In the EU, a cosmetic may be made available only if its container and packaging carry the required information in indelible, easily legible and visible lettering. The ingredient list may appear on the outer packaging alone, and it starts with the word Ingredients. Where that is impossible for practical reasons, the list goes on an enclosed or attached leaflet, label, tape, tag or card, with abbreviated information or a symbol on the packaging that refers to it. For soap, bath balls and other small products where even that is impractical, it goes on a notice right next to where the product is displayed for sale.²

In the US, the label on each package must declare each ingredient.³ The FDA's labelling guide places the declaration on any information panel of the outer container, such as the carton, or of the jar or bottle when there is no carton, or on a tag, tape or card firmly attached to a decorative or small container. It is required for cosmetics customarily sold at retail, and not, for example, for products used at professional establishments or for free samples, unless those are also customarily sold at retail.⁴ The FDA adds that a cosmetic marketed to consumers on a retail basis, whether in stores, on the internet or person to person, must have a list of ingredients.⁵

Both rules attach the list to the product and its packaging. A list on a web page is a copy of it, made by someone, at some point in time.

Why a list online can differ from the pack

• The formula changed. A product can be reformulated without changing its name. US rules even provide for it: after a shortage forces a change, packs printed with the old list may carry an overlabel reading "new ingredient list", and a list may name substitutes after the words "may also contain".³ A web page updated before or after the shop's stock changed will not match every pack.
• The names changed. Labels are updated when existing stock runs out, and a retired INCI name stays in publication for a transition period.⁶ The EU's new glossary of label names applies from 30 July 2026⁷, and products placed on the EU market by 31 July 2026 without the fragrance allergens added to the list in 2023 may still be sold until 31 July 2028.⁸ One formula can be printed two ways.
• The page is for another country. EU and US labels name some ingredients differently, such as Parfum and Fragrance, or CI 77891 and Titanium Dioxide; see What is INCI?. A shop may show another market's label, and that market's version of the product may differ.
• The list covers a shade range. EU labels for make-up sold in several shades may list every colourant used across the range after "may contain" or "+/-".² US lists may do the same for shaded products, and for colours added to some batches only to match a shade.³ CI numbers in makeup explains how to read them.
• Someone typed it. A web list was typed or pasted, so a missing comma or a misspelt name can be a copying slip rather than a different formula.

What to look for when the two lists differ

• The same product? Match the name, size, shade and market before reading anything into a difference.
• The first few names. If they match, the two lists describe a similar base. A different order near the top is a bigger difference than one near the end, where ingredients below 1% may be listed in any order.² See ingredient list order.
• Names that look different but mean one thing, such as Aqua and Water. A checker that knows aliases will count them as one.
• The batch number. EU packs must carry the batch number or a reference that identifies the product², so quote it if you ask the company which list applies.
• When in doubt, the pack in your hand. Its list was printed for that product.

To see every difference at once, paste both versions into the compare tool. How to compare two ingredient lists explains what to make of the result.

Then check the list

Copy the list from the product page and paste it into the ingredient checker. The heading "Ingredients:", line breaks and asterisks can stay. It matches each name to its official EU name, shows what each ingredient does and which official sources say anything about it, and it runs in your browser, so nothing you paste is sent anywhere.

A list found online is only as current as the page it came from. If you have the product, the app reads the list from the pack itself, and the checker's results are only as good as the list you give it. For what no list can tell you, see what an ingredient scanner can and cannot tell you.