Permitted Cosmetic Colorants — Annex IV
Annex IV of EU Cosmetics Regulation 1223/2009 lists colorants approved for cosmetic use. This grouped page currently contains 154 colorant records to browse by name, identifier and annex conditions.
How this annex works
Annex IV is a positive list of 154 colourants. Its logic is the reverse of Annex II: a colourant that is not listed may not be used to colour a cosmetic product.
- 154 permitted colourants; 60 carry a maximum concentration and 53 a warning.
- Not listed means not permitted — the opposite of how Annex II works.
- Entries are identified by Colour Index number, and purity criteria are part of the permission.
- Hair dyes, and colourants used to colour the product rather than the skin, are outside this annex.
The three positive lists — colourants here, preservatives in Annex V, UV filters in Annex VI — invert the reasoning that applies everywhere else. For a substance in general, silence in the annexes means nothing has been decided. For a colourant, silence is the decision: if it is not in Annex IV, it may not be used to colour a cosmetic product.
Colourants are identified by Colour Index number rather than by INCI name alone, and that identification does real work. CI 77891 is titanium dioxide as a colourant; the same substance appears in Annex III for an inhalation concern and in Annex VI as a UV filter, and the three entries condition different things. An answer taken from one of them is not an answer for a product that engages all three.
Two boundaries are worth knowing. This annex covers colourants used to colour the product or the skin; substances used to colour hair by an oxidative process are treated separately. And the specifications matter as much as the listing — a Colour Index entry carries purity criteria, and a pigment meeting the name but not the specification is not the listed substance.
Checked against
Annex IV records
154 total| Entry | Substance | CAS | Max concentration | Flags |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 96 | CI 69825CAS 130-20-1 | 130-20-1 | — | |
| 97 | CI 71105CAS 4424-06-0 | 4424-06-0 | Not to be used in products applied on mucous membranes | |
| 98 | CI 73000CAS 482-89-3 | 482-89-3 | — | |
| 99 | CI 73015CAS 860-22-0 | 860-22-0 | — |
How to use this grouped view
Annex IV is the positive list of colorants permitted for use in cosmetic products. This grouped view gives you 154 colorant records to compare by name, CI context, identifiers and linked conditions.
Open individual records to review Colour Index numbers, chemical identifiers and any applicable restrictions on product type or application.