What is INCI? Cosmetic ingredient names explained

What an INCI name is

INCI stands for International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients.¹ An INCI name is a systematic name for one cosmetic ingredient. It is neither the chemical name nor a supplier's brand name: it exists to give every label the same term for the same ingredient, and it is recognised around the world and referenced in labelling rules in many countries.²

A name identifies an ingredient; it does not approve it. The Personal Care Products Council (PCPC) says an INCI name does not mean an ingredient has been approved for cosmetics, and implies nothing about its safety.² Nor does one name always mean one material: different grades of an ingredient can share a name, so two products listing the same name may not contain interchangeable materials.²

Who assigns them

INCI names are assigned by the International Cosmetic Ingredient Nomenclature Committee (INC). PCPC sponsors it, and its members are volunteer scientists from industry, academia, regulatory authorities and sister associations.³

The committee meets five times a year to review applications for new names and requests to change existing ones. It decides by consensus, following published naming conventions, and the names appear in the International Cosmetic Ingredient Dictionary and Handbook, online as wINCI.³ A company cannot coin its own: only the committee can assign an INCI name.²

Names do change, and there is no fixed deadline for updating packs: PCPC's rule of thumb is to change labels when existing stock runs out, and a retired name stays in print for a transition period.² So an older pack can carry a name that has since been replaced.

The EU glossary

EU law requires the ingredient list to use the common ingredient name from a glossary compiled by the European Commission, which must take account of internationally recognised nomenclatures, including INCI. Where an ingredient has no common name, a term from a generally accepted nomenclature is used.¹

The glossary now in force is set out in Implementing Decision (EU) 2025/1175. It applies from 30 July 2026, lists 30,418 numbered names, and was updated using, in particular, the new INCI names published by PCPC.⁴ Like the INCI dictionary, it is not a list of approved substances: the regulation says so in as many words.¹

Two EU rules shape what you read. Scent mixtures are listed as Parfum or Aroma, and colourants other than hair dyes go by their Colour Index (CI) number, which the glossary gives as their name.¹⁴

US label names

In the US, the FDA's rule sets an order of sources for each name: a name the FDA has established, then the name in listed reference books, starting with the CTFA Cosmetic Ingredient Dictionary, then the name consumers generally recognise, and last the chemical or technical name.⁵⁶ PCPC states that INCI names are required by regulation for labelling in the US and many other countries.³

Three differences show up on US packs. Scent is Fragrance rather than Parfum, colour additives carry US names such as Green 3 rather than CI numbers, and plant names often add the English common name in brackets, a habit kept from the time when plants were named in English.⁷

Why one ingredient has several names

Products sold in several markets can print both names, as in Water (Aqua). The EU also keeps traditional names, based mainly on the European Pharmacopoeia, for some everyday ingredients.⁷ Plant ingredients are named by genus and species, followed by the part of the plant used, such as seed, leaf or peel.⁷

Titanium Dioxide shows how this works. The EU's list of permitted colourants records it under the number CI 77891⁹, and colourants are labelled by their CI number where one applies⁴, so a white pigment on an EU label usually reads CI 77891 while a US label names the same pigment Titanium Dioxide.⁶

On the label

• Slashes and brackets usually join names for one ingredient. Aqua/Water/Eau is water in Latin, English and French.⁷
• CI numbers are colourants. On an EU label they may follow the other ingredients in any order, which is why they usually cluster at the end. The ingredient list order guide explains the rest of the sequence.¹
• (nano) after a name means the ingredient is present as a nanomaterial, which EU labels must state.¹
• A Latin plant name names the plant and the part used: genus, species, then seed, leaf, peel and so on.
• Fragrance substances named one by one, such as Linalool, follow EU rules on allergens. See EU fragrance allergen labels.

Paste a list into the ingredient checker and it matches US names, common names and CI numbers to the official EU name, so Aqua and Water count as one ingredient rather than two.