The beauty industry is facing major changes in the coming year as new regulations governing cosmetic ingredient disclosure take effect. In an effort to provide greater transparency and accountability, the European Union and Canada will simultaneously enforce updated regulations on ingredient labeling. This will have a significant impact on the beauty e-commerce sector, with retailers urged to act now to ensure compliance.
The updated regulations include the implementation of the updated International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients (INCI) Glossary under Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2025/1175 and the expansion of fragrance allergen disclosure rules under Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/1545. Additionally, Canada will be phasing in its own regulations under SOR/2024-63. These new regulations mark a turning point for ingredient transparency and supply chain accountability.
Unlike previous regulations that focused on the safety of ingredients, the new wave of regulations focuses on informational safety. The premise of Regulation (EU) 2023/1545 is that while the newly listed 56 allergens may not be unsafe for the general population, they pose a specific risk to sensitized individuals who have a “right to know”. This shift places the responsibility of providing granular data disclosure on manufacturers, requiring them to disclose the safety profile of their products down to the level of trace isomers in complex essential oil blends.
The key deadlines for compliance are as follows:
– April 12, 2026: Phase 1 Allergen Disclosure in Canada – all cosmetic products sold in Canada must disclose the original 24 allergens.
– July 30, 2026: INCI Glossary Enforcement in the EU – all products placed on the market in the EU must use updated INCI names, including mandatory CI numbers for colorants.
– July 31, 2026: 81 Allergen Disclosure in the EU – all products must declare the expanded list of fragrance allergens, including grouped isomers. This is also the sell-through deadline for all legacy products with old labels in the EU.
– August 1, 2026: Phase 2 (New Products) of Allergen Disclosure in Canada – all newly introduced products in Canada must disclose all 81 allergens. This is also the full compliance deadline for all Canadian cosmetic products.
These new regulations will have significant operational implications for beauty retailers, specialty stores, and department stores. They are being called upon to audit their inventories, enforce brand partner compliance, and establish centralized ingredient governance protocols. To achieve this, retailers must ensure that brands provide updated ingredient lists in the official INCI format, as well as request allergen disclosures based on the new 81-substance list. It is also important to flag and aggregate allergens correctly, particularly isomer families such as “Rose Ketones” and “Citral”. Ingredient data must be continuously updated, verified, and made visible at the point of sale, both on pack and online.
To avoid manual overload and regulatory exposure, automated systems are now essential. One such solution is the Transparency Features from Inference Beauty, specifically the INCI Explainer. This retailer-ready platform streamlines INCI compliance across complex inventories, covering over 147,166 unique products from 2,647 brands across 110+ product categories spanning skincare, color cosmetics, body care, and fragrance. With over 60,000 ingredients classified in official INCI format and 100+ attributes per ingredient, this platform helps retailers comply with Canadian and EU law while reducing their in-house regulatory workload. It also helps minimize customer service queries related to allergens and ingredients and centralizes brand onboarding with structured data controls. By offering transparent data in-platform, retailers can avoid customer migration to third-party databases and build a smarter, more transparent beauty future.
“2026 will be remembered as the year ingredient transparency stopped being optional. This is a decisive moment for the industry—and a huge opportunity for retailers to lead with clarity and trust. At Inference Beauty, we’ve spent years building the infrastructure to make ingredient data actionable, compliant, and customer-ready at scale. With the Ingredient Explainer, we’re not just helping our partners meet the new laws—we’re helping them build a smarter, more transparent beauty future.” says Estella Benz, CEO of Inference Beauty.
In conclusion, the beauty industry is facing major changes in the coming year as new regulations on ingredient disclosure take effect. Retailers are urged to act now to ensure compliance with the updated regulations in order to maintain transparency and accountability in the supply chain. With the help of automated systems, such as the INCI Explainer from Inference Beauty, retailers can streamline their compliance efforts and stay ahead of the game in the ever-evolving beauty industry.
Derick is an experienced reporter having held multiple senior roles for large publishers across Europe. Specialist subjects include small business and financial emerging markets.