Label examples / Cosmetic label examples

Cosmetic label examples

Published 27 September 2026; rules last checked 25 September 2026. A labelling reference, not legal advice.

Four skincare labels, each made in the skincare tool from the recipe printed under it: a body butter and a lip balm on round lid stickers, a lotion and a beard oil. The ingredient lists are the tool's own output on the current EU rules, heaviest ingredient first, with the fragrance allergens named. Seeing and copying the list is free; you pay only to export the finished label.

A leave-on product names each fragrance allergen over 0.001 %, a limit ten times lower than soap's, so even a little fragrance puts its allergens on the label. Any ingredient can be typed with its supplier's INCI name after inci: and the tool prints it as entered; the examples do that for an emulsifier and a preservative booster the tool does not know by name (glyceryl stearate citrate, ethylhexylglycerin) and for vitamin E, a name that can mean more than one ingredient.

Body butter jar lid

A body butter stays on the skin, so the allergen limit is ten times lower than for soap: 0.001 %. The butters and oils keep their plant names, because no lye saponifies them. Vitamin E is typed with its supplier's INCI name, Tocopherol, after inci: in the recipe.

The recipe, as typed into the skincare tool

Shea butter, 50
Cocoa butter, 20
Sweet almond oil, 20
Jojoba oil, 8
Vitamin E, 1, inci: Tocopherol
Lavender essential oil, 1 | Linalool 38, Limonene 1, Geraniol 1

Region: European Union. Product type: leave-on.

The ingredient list it printed

Butyrospermum Parkii Butter, Theobroma Cacao Seed Butter, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil, Tocopherol, Parfum, Lavandula Oil/Extract, Linalool, Limonene, Geraniol

Name on the label	% of product	Type
Butyrospermum Parkii Butter	50.00	oil / butter
Theobroma Cacao Seed Butter	20.00	oil / butter
Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis Oil	20.00	oil / butter
Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil	8.00	oil / butter
Tocopherol	1.00	other
Parfum	1.00	fragrance
Lavandula Oil/Extract	1.00	allergen, over the 0.001 % limit
Linalool	0.38	allergen, over the 0.001 % limit
Limonene	0.01	allergen, over the 0.001 % limit
Geraniol	0.01	allergen, over the 0.001 % limit

Lip balm tin

Five ingredients, heaviest first. With no fragrance there are no allergens to name. Beeswax is listed by its glossary name, Beeswax, and the shea butter and coconut oil, at the same weight, may come in either order.

The recipe, as typed into the skincare tool

Beeswax, 30
Shea butter, 25
Coconut oil, 25
Sweet almond oil, 19
Vitamin E, 1, inci: Tocopherol

Region: European Union. Product type: leave-on.

The ingredient list it printed

Beeswax, Butyrospermum Parkii Butter, Cocos Nucifera Oil, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis Oil, Tocopherol

Name on the label	% of product	Type
Beeswax	30.00	oil / butter
Butyrospermum Parkii Butter	25.00	oil / butter
Cocos Nucifera Oil	25.00	oil / butter
Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis Oil	19.00	oil / butter
Tocopherol	1.00	other

Body lotion bottle

Water leads because the lotion is mostly water. The tool knows cetearyl alcohol, glycerin and phenoxyethanol by name; the emulsifier glyceryl stearate citrate and the ethylhexylglycerin are typed with their supplier's INCI names after inci: and printed as entered. Phenoxyethanol is a preservative in Annex V, which allows at most 1 % in the ready-for-use product; this lotion has 0.9 %. Each allergen from the rose fragrance is over the 0.001 % leave-on limit, and ingredients under 1 % may follow the rest in any order (Article 19(1)(g)).

The recipe, as typed into the skincare tool

Water, 73
Sweet almond oil, 10
Shea butter, 5
Glyceryl stearate citrate, 3, inci: Glyceryl Stearate Citrate
Cetearyl alcohol, 3
Glycerin, 3
Rose fragrance oil, 2, fragrance | Citronellol 12, Geraniol 8, Linalool 5
Phenoxyethanol, 0.9
Ethylhexylglycerin, 0.1, inci: Ethylhexylglycerin

Region: European Union. Product type: leave-on.

The ingredient list it printed

Aqua, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis Oil, Butyrospermum Parkii Butter, Glyceryl Stearate Citrate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Glycerin, Parfum, Citronellol, Geraniol, Linalool, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin

Name on the label	% of product	Type
Aqua	73.00	water
Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis Oil	10.00	oil / butter
Butyrospermum Parkii Butter	5.00	oil / butter
Glyceryl Stearate Citrate	3.00	other
Cetearyl Alcohol	3.00	other
Glycerin	3.00	other
Parfum	2.00	fragrance
Citronellol	0.24	allergen, over the 0.001 % limit
Geraniol	0.16	allergen, over the 0.001 % limit
Linalool	0.10	allergen, over the 0.001 % limit
Phenoxyethanol	0.90	other
Ethylhexylglycerin	0.10	other

Beard oil bottle

Argan and jojoba oil, at the same weight, may come in either order. The fragrance oil is 1 % of the bottle, and each of its three allergens is over the 0.001 % leave-on limit, so all three are named.

The recipe, as typed into the skincare tool

Argan oil, 40
Jojoba oil, 40
Sweet almond oil, 18
Vitamin E, 1, inci: Tocopherol
Woody fragrance oil, 1, fragrance | Linalool 10, Hexyl Cinnamal 5, Coumarin 2

Region: European Union. Product type: leave-on.

The ingredient list it printed

Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis Oil, Tocopherol, Parfum, Linalool, Hexyl Cinnamal, Coumarin

Name on the label	% of product	Type
Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil	40.00	oil / butter
Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil	40.00	oil / butter
Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis Oil	18.00	oil / butter
Tocopherol	1.00	other
Parfum	1.00	fragrance
Linalool	0.10	allergen, over the 0.001 % limit
Hexyl Cinnamal	0.05	allergen, over the 0.001 % limit
Coumarin	0.02	allergen, over the 0.001 % limit

What else goes on a skincare label

The labels above carry the ingredient list and a brand block. In the EU and Northern Ireland, Article 19(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 asks the container and packaging for more: the responsible person's name and address, the nominal content, a batch number, the date of minimum durability or the period after opening, the product's function where it is not obvious, and any precautions. Great Britain's version of the regulation lists the same particulars.

In the US a lotion or a balm is a cosmetic, so its ingredient list is required, in letters at least 1/16 inch high (21 CFR 701.3(b)). The package also needs the product's identity, the net quantity in ounces or fluid ounces and the name and place of business of the maker, packer or distributor (21 CFR 701.11 to 701.13), and a US address, US phone number or website where people can report adverse reactions (21 U.S.C. 364e(a)).

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