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Banned cosmetic ingredients in the EU — and the restricted ones people confuse them with

April 4, 2026

Over 1,700 reasons to read the label: what the EU actually bans in cosmetics

If a cosmetic product is legally on sale in the EU, its formula has already passed one of the strictest ingredient screens in the world. The legal backbone is Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009, and two of its annexes do the heavy lifting: Annex II, the blacklist of substances that may not appear in cosmetics at all — now running to more than 1,700 entries — and Annex III, a separate list of substances that are legal only under strict conditions such as concentration caps, product-type limits and mandatory warnings.

Those two lists are often mixed up, and the difference matters. "Banned" means a substance has no place in any cosmetic product sold in the EU. "Restricted" means regulators judged it safe within defined limits — finding it on a label is not, by itself, a red flag. Below we sort the most talked-about ingredients into the correct column, with their official annex entry numbers. The list keeps growing, too: omnibus updates such as Regulation (EU) 2025/877 added another batch of CMR substances (carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction) with effect from September 2025.

Banned outright (Annex II)

Everything in this section is prohibited in cosmetics at any concentration. If you find one of these in a product sold in the EU, it is either illegal, counterfeit, or imported outside the regulated market.

Butylphenyl Methylpropional — a.k.a. Lilial, BMHCA, Lysmeral

One substance, many names — and a common source of double counting in articles like this one. Butylphenyl Methylpropional is the INCI name; Lilial and Lysmeral are trade names, and BMHCA is a chemical abbreviation for the same molecule. This lily-of-the-valley fragrance was once ubiquitous in shampoos, lotions and perfumes. After the EU classified it as toxic to reproduction (CMR category 1B), Regulation (EU) 2021/1902 added it to Annex II as entry 1666, with the ban applying from 1 March 2022. Products made before the ban may still surface in clearance bins and marketplaces — check the ingredient list, not the shop.

Mercury and its compounds

Mercury and its compounds are prohibited under Annex II entry 221, save for narrow preservative exceptions listed in Annex V. In practice, mercury appears in illegal skin-lightening creams and soaps imported from outside the EU — a recurring theme in EU Safety Gate alerts. Mercury accumulates in the body and can damage the kidneys and nervous system; no legitimate EU cosmetic contains it as an ingredient.

Hydroquinone

Contrary to a persistent myth, hydroquinone is not "allowed below a threshold" in skin-lightening products — it is banned in them entirely, under Annex II entry 1339. The single surviving exception sits in Annex III (entry 14): artificial nail systems, for professional use only, at a maximum of 0.02% after mixing. Any cream promising to "fade" or "whiten" skin with hydroquinone is illegal on the EU market.

Formaldehyde

The status of formaldehyde has changed over the years, which is why older articles get it wrong. Nail hardeners could once contain up to 5% under a former Annex III entry. After formaldehyde was classified as a category 1B carcinogen, Regulation (EU) 2019/831 deleted those permitted uses and placed it in Annex II as entry 1577 — a full ban as an intentional ingredient, which also makes formaldehyde-based hair-straightening treatments illegal in the EU. One nuance remains: certain permitted preservatives slowly release small amounts of formaldehyde, and since Regulation (EU) 2022/1181 any product releasing more than 0.001% in total must carry the warning "releases formaldehyde" (wording per Regulation (EU) 2022/1181, applicable to products placed on the market from 31 July 2024).

Lead acetate

Once the active ingredient in "progressive" hair colour restorers that gradually darken grey hair, lead acetate falls under the blanket prohibition of lead and its compounds in Annex II entry 289. Lead is a cumulative neurotoxin with no safe cosmetic use. It still turns up occasionally in imported colour-restorer products, so treat any such product from outside the EU with suspicion.

Bithionol

Bithionol is an antibacterial agent used decades ago in soaps and early deodorants. It caused photosensitisation — painful skin reactions triggered by sunlight — and has long been banned under Annex II entry 352. You are unlikely to meet it in a modern product, but it remains a textbook example of why the blacklist exists.

Chloroform

Hard to believe now, but chloroform once flavoured toothpastes. Concerns about its carcinogenicity ended that era, and it is prohibited in cosmetics under Annex II entry 366.

Restricted, not banned (Annex III)

These substances are legal in EU cosmetics — but only inside the guardrails the regulation sets for them. Seeing them on a label of a compliant product means the manufacturer is using them within assessed limits.

Methanol

Methanol is often described as "banned in perfumes", which is not quite right. It sits in Annex III (entry 52) and is permitted solely as a denaturant for ethanol and isopropyl alcohol, up to 5% calculated on the alcohol content. The genuine danger is counterfeit perfume, where cheap methanol-laced alcohol can far exceed anything the regulation allows — one more reason to buy fragrance from traceable sellers.

Resorcinol

Resorcinol is a legal hair-dye ingredient under Annex III (entry 22): up to 1.25% on the hair after mixing in oxidative hair dyes and up to 0.5% in hair lotions and shampoos, with mandatory allergy warnings and a "Contains resorcinol" label. Eyelash tinting with resorcinol is reserved for professional use under Annex III entry 22(b); it is not authorised for consumer self-application, and eyebrows are not listed as a permitted use at all. Within those limits it is restricted, not banned — a product using it compliantly is not breaking any rules.

How BeautyGuard reports this

BeautyGuard does not score ingredients with points. For every ingredient we show its current EU regulatory status — banned (Annex II), restricted (Annex III, with the applicable conditions) or unrestricted — together with any EU Safety Gate alerts for products containing it. You can read exactly how we classify ingredients in how we assess ingredients.

Sources

Check your own products

Not sure what is in your bathroom cabinet? Paste an ingredient list into the BeautyGuard ingredient analyzer and see, in seconds, whether anything in your product is banned or restricted in the EU — with the exact annex entry behind every result.

banned ingredientsEU Annex IIcosmetics safetyINCI
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