Ingredient file · Restricted

Is retinol banned or restricted in cosmetics?

Q: What does EWG Skin Deep say about retinol?

EWG Skin Deep had no exact-name page for retinol when read on 23 October 2026.

Restricted, not banned: the EU permits retinol within limits (Annex III, entry 376), the lowest cap printed being 0.05% and the highest 0.3%, depending on the product. California, the EU and FDA's named list, read 23 October 2026, with EWG Skin Deep's score.

SlipperSkin finding

Read on 23 October 2026, retinol is restricted by the EU (Annex III) and not listed in California; EWG Skin Deep has no exact-name page for it.

From the California statute, the EU Cosmetics Regulation as consolidated on 1 May 2026, FDA’s page and EWG Skin Deep, read 23 October 2026. We report what each says; we do not rate the ingredient.

Is retinol banned in cosmetics?

Restricted, not banned: the EU permits retinol within limits (Annex III, entry 376), the lowest cap printed being 0.05% and the highest 0.3%, depending on the product. California does not list it. FDA's named list does not include it. EWG Skin Deep has no exact-name page for it.

Retinol: where it standsread 23 October 2026

Filled red marks a ban, blue a restriction, pale an ingredient that list does not name. FDA's page names 11 entries and none is retinol. The EWG row marks its score; a bar shows a range.

What are the EU limits for retinol?

The EU does not ban retinol; it caps it by product type. The caps below are the annex cells as printed on the EUR-Lex consolidated text of 1 May 2026, with the decimal comma written as a point.

Retinol: EU capspercent; consolidated 1 May 2026

Each bar is one figure printed in an annex entry (#321 means entry 321); where an entry prints several, the table below shows which product type each applies to.

Retinol in the EU Cosmetics Regulation, found by CAS number 68-26-8
Where	Annex	Cap, threshold and product type	Condition
Annex III, entry 376	Restricted substances	0.05% (retinol equivalent) body lotion	No condition printed in the entry.
		0.3% (retinol equivalent) other leave-on and rinse-off products	No condition printed in the entry.

Is retinol on California's banned list?

No. It is on neither list (a), in force since 1 January 2025, nor list (b), in force from 1 January 2027, of California's Health and Safety Code section 108980.

What does EWG Skin Deep say about retinol?

EWG Skin Deep's search returned no exact-name page for retinol on 23 October 2026, so we show none rather than guess. That is not a statement that it is absent from EWG.

Where is this read from?

Where to buy

Retinol products on Amazon

Retinol serumSearch results list products by name; read the percentage and the full ingredient list before buying.Check the percentageView on Amazon → Broad-spectrum SPF 30+Daily sun protection goes with any active; check the product label for its own directions.SPF 30 or higherView on Amazon →

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More ingredient files: Sorbic acid · BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) · Hydrogen peroxide · all 66 ingredient files

Method: California's section 108980 and the EU's annexes were read in Chrome on 23 October 2026; EU lookups are by CAS number (68-26-8) across Annexes II, III, V and VI; EWG's page was kept only if its name matched exactly; the PubChem link is the compound the CAS number resolves to. Statutes change and EWG revises pages, nothing here is a safety verdict, and an ingredient that is not on a list is not endorsed.