What is INCI?
INCI stands for the International Nomenclature for Cosmetic Ingredients. It is a system for naming cosmetic ingredients that is multilingual, multinational and based on the Latin language. The INCI labelling system was designed in 1973 and developed over a period of more than 30 years. It was created by the American Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association’s International Nomenclature Committee and the INCI system forms the basis of the International Cosmetic Ingredient (ICI) Dictionary and Handbook (currently in its Tenth edition). The Dictionary and Handbook presents, in detail, the bulk of INCI names juxtaposed with their corresponding empirical chemical formulas, technical/trade names, Chemical Abstracts System numbers (CAS No.), or alternate numbers. This allows for the unambiguous identification of ingredients. Health Canada, along with other government and industry representatives, is a participant of the International Nomenclature Committee which determines the INCI name as
