The 2026 EU INCI Glossary Update: What's Changing on Your Skincare Labels

The labels on your skincare are quietly being rewritten. Starting 30 July 2026, every cosmetic product sold in the European Union must comply with Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2025/1175 — the biggest update to the EU’s official ingredient naming system since 2019. The number of standardised ingredient names jumps from around 24,000 to roughly 30,418 entries. Thousands of new ingredients gain official EU names, hundreds of existing names get refined for accuracy, and brands across Europe are now mid-relabelling.

If you read ingredient lists, the practical effect is this: a name you’ve been reading for years on the back of a bottle may quietly change. This explainer covers what’s actually in the update, why it’s happening, what it means for you, and what to look for on a label after the deadline.

What the “EU INCI Glossary” actually is

Every cosmetic product sold in the EU must list its ingredients on the label using standardised names from a specific EU-controlled glossary. This requirement comes from Article 33 of the EU Cosmetics Regulation, EC 1223/2009. The official EU document that defines those names is called the Glossary of Common Ingredient Names — informally known as the EU INCI Glossary.

INCI stands for International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients. It’s a global naming convention developed and maintained primarily by the Personal Care Products Council (US) and adopted in modified form by regulators worldwide. The EU version isn’t identical to the US version — Europe sometimes uses different names, different spellings, and adds entries the US glossary doesn’t have. The EU INCI Glossary is what’s binding on products sold in the EU.

Before this update, the glossary was governed by Commission Decision (EU) 2019/701, which contained roughly 24,000 entries when it was published seven years ago. In the years since, the cosmetic industry has registered thousands of new ingredients, and the European Commission’s Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) has reviewed and refined many existing entries. The 2025/1175 update folds all of that into a single revised glossary that becomes legally mandatory across the EU on 30 July 2026.

What’s actually changing

The 2025/1175 update does four substantive things:

1. Thousands of new ingredients gain official EU names

Around 6,000 ingredients that weren’t in the 2019 glossary now have standardised EU INCI names. This includes:

• New peptide actives developed in the last few years (the peptide space has expanded faster than naming could keep up)
• Biotech-derived ingredients — fermentation-produced equivalents of botanical extracts, lab-grown squalane, microbial-source actives
• Specialised silicones and polymers
• Modified plant extracts with very specific extraction methods
• New UV filter chemistries approved post-2019 (covered in our sunscreen filters guide)

For each, the glossary specifies the exact INCI name brands must use on the label — preventing the same molecule from appearing under five different brand-invented names.

2. Existing names are refined

Several hundred existing entries have been refined for accuracy. Examples:

• More precise distinction between closely related ceramide variants (Ceramide NP, AP, EOP, NS, AS — the names you’ll see on barrier-repair creams)
• Clearer separation between natural-source and synthetic versions of the same molecule (so consumers can tell, e.g., whether the vitamin C in their serum is L-Ascorbic Acid from fermentation versus from a natural source)
• Standardisation of botanical Latin binomials to match the latest taxonomic updates
• Resolution of cases where the same compound had two different INCI names in circulation

3. Cross-references and synonyms

The new glossary improves the cross-reference table — the index that links a single ingredient to every name it’s been called under. This matters because legacy formulations and older industry references use older names. The updated glossary makes it easier for brands, regulators and ingredient databases (including LuxSense) to map old names to the new standard.

4. Alignment with recent SCCS opinions

When the SCCS issues a safety opinion on an ingredient — restricting its concentration, requiring new warnings, or prohibiting it outright under Annex II — the glossary entry for that ingredient is updated to reflect the regulatory status. The 2025/1175 update synchronises hundreds of entries with the post-2019 SCCS opinions.

Why this is happening now

Three forces converged.

First, the 2019 glossary had simply fallen behind. New cosmetic chemistry doesn’t pause; the EU’s official naming system was running about three years behind industry practice on certain ingredient categories (especially biotech).

Second, the EU is undergoing a coordinated wave of cosmetic regulatory updates in 2026. The same summer brings the expanded fragrance allergen disclosure (Commission Regulation 2023/1545, expanding the 26 declared allergens to 82), and the microplastic phase-out for leave-on cosmetics (October 2027 deadline) is moving through industry compliance. Updating the glossary alongside these makes for one consolidated relabelling cycle rather than three separate ones.

Third, the EU’s broader chemical regulation modernisation under REACH and the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability has increased cross-departmental coordination. The cosmetic glossary now better matches naming conventions used in adjacent EU chemical regulations.

What it means for consumers

The short answer: your ingredients haven’t changed. Their names might have.

Concretely, after 30 July 2026, you may notice:

• Slightly different names on familiar products. A botanical extract that used to be listed as one Latin name might appear under a closely related, more precise one.
• Some ingredients with new descriptive suffixes, especially for biotech-derived versions (“…derived by fermentation”, “biotechnologically produced”).
• More precise distinctions for ingredient families — three ceramides where one used to appear, for example, because the previous catch-all name has been refined into the specific molecular variants.
• Some “natural” claims becoming harder to use — if a brand was relying on an older name that didn’t distinguish source, the new glossary forces clarity.

What you won’t see:

• A flood of suddenly-banned ingredients (those follow a different regulatory route through Annex II).
• Massive product reformulations (the chemistry doesn’t change, just the names).
• Higher prices (relabelling is a one-time cost brands absorb).

What it means for brands

For brands, this is a significant compliance lift. Every product sold in the EU must have labels, marketing materials and Product Information Files (PIF) updated to use the new glossary by 30 July 2026. Larger brands have already been working through this since the decision was published in mid-2025. Smaller indie brands often discover the requirement late — many will be rushing relabelling through Q2 2026.

The brands handling this best are those who:

1. Cross-reference every current INCI name against the new glossary
2. Update artwork ahead of the deadline (printers and packaging suppliers have lead times)
3. Update their digital product pages and ingredient lists on their e-commerce sites
4. Train customer service teams on what to say when shoppers ask “why does this say X now instead of Y?”

If you start seeing minor inconsistencies between a product’s online ingredient list and the physical label in mid-2026, this is why.

How LuxSense handles the transition

The LuxSense ingredient database is continuously synchronised with the EU CosIng database and the EU INCI Glossary. As the 2025/1175 update propagates through the EU CosIng portal, our scoring framework updates automatically. This means:

• Scanning a product with a label that uses either the old or new INCI name returns the same result. The database understands cross-references.
• Ingredient detail pages on myluxsense.com carry both the canonical 2025 name and common older names, so direct URL searches for either still resolve correctly.
• Where the glossary update has clarified a previously ambiguous name (e.g., separating ceramide variants), our scoring tracks the more precise variant.
• Where an ingredient gained an updated regulatory status as part of the synchronisation with Annex II / Annex III, the score reflects the current restriction.

The point of LuxSense’s methodology is exactly this: a regulatory grounding that updates as the regulator updates, so consumers don’t have to track Implementing Decisions themselves.

How to read a label after 30 July 2026

A few practical tips for the new landscape:

Look for the regulator-aligned names, not marketing language. The new glossary entries are precise and unembellished. If a label says “Natural Fermented Vitamin C Complex” instead of an INCI name like Ascorbyl Glucoside or Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate, that’s marketing language, not the official ingredient name. The INCI name still has to appear; look for it.

Don’t be alarmed by ceramide name shifts. Seeing Ceramide NP, Ceramide AP, Ceramide EOP instead of an older generic “Ceramides” listing is a refinement, not a change in formulation. Your moisturiser hasn’t been altered; the labelling just got more honest.

Watch for the biotech distinction. New glossary entries clearly mark biotechnologically-produced versions of botanical actives. If you have a personal preference one way or the other, the labels now tell you.

Cross-reference with LuxSense. Both names — old and new — resolve to the same ingredient profile in our database. Scan, search, or browse: the score and the regulatory status are current.

FAQ

Will my favourite product be reformulated?

Almost certainly not. The 2025/1175 update is about naming, not chemistry. Most reformulations happening in 2026 are responses to a different regulation — the fragrance allergen update or the microplastic phase-out — not this one.

Is the new glossary stricter or looser?

Neither. It’s more precise. Stricter regulation on what’s allowed comes through Annex II (prohibitions) and Annex III (restrictions). This update is the vocabulary, not the rules.

Where can I read the actual decision?

Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2025/1175 is published on EUR-Lex, the EU’s official legal portal. The full glossary is technical and not designed for consumer reading — the published version runs hundreds of pages — but it’s the binding source.

Does this apply to products sold in the UK?

The UK retained EU cosmetic regulation post-Brexit (as UK Cosmetics Regulation 2013/1223) and has historically maintained alignment. The UK MHRA hasn’t yet published an equivalent post-Brexit update; products sold both in the EU and UK will likely use the new EU names by default. UK-only products may continue with older names temporarily.

What about products imported from outside the EU?

Every product sold in the EU must comply, regardless of where it’s manufactured. A US, Korean or Japanese product on a European shelf must use the EU INCI Glossary names by 30 July 2026 — even though those same products in their home markets may use different (or older) names.

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The 2026 EU INCI Glossary update is part of a wider cluster of cosmetic regulatory changes landing across summer and autumn 2026. We’re tracking each at myluxsense.com and updating the ingredient database in real time. Scan any product to see its full ingredient profile under the current rules.