The Name Game

THE INCI NAME GAME

So first of all... what is the INCI name of a product? Well the Personal Care Products Council (which has been around since 1894 and undergone numerous name changes) describes the INCI (International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients) as names used in the United States, the European Union, Japan, and many other countries, for listing ingredients on cosmetic product labels. There is this VERY expensive dictionary, if you are interested, called the "Council's International Cosmetic Ingredient Dictionary and Handbook. It is translated into many languages for individuals to be able to label INCI names in their national language. All INCI names are assigned by this committee, the International Nomenclature Committee to be exact.

INCI name is a reliable way when you shop from several different suppliers, to find a specific ingredient. Suppliers like to brand themselves, so they may change an emulsifier's name to suit their brand. So one type of emulsifier can have several brand names. Think of an INCI name as a generic name for cosmetic ingredients.

The INCI name also helps to understand what ingredients are in a product. One can determine if their avocado butter is blended with other butters and oils to make it more solid or if it has been hydrogenated to make it more solid.

The INCI doesn't help with trade secrets, one product may be a blend, but we may not know the percentage of each ingredient. Some suppliers or manufacturers may be kind enough to tell us a percentage of certain ingredients on their label, while others may not.

INCI names are those alien-looking hard to pronounce words that we see on cosmetic ingredients, usually Latin and English words. Some manufacturers are nice enough to put the INCI name and then the actual product name in parenthesis, for example, Vitellaria Nilotica (East African Shea) butter. Just keep in mind that they are only obligated to place the INCI name on the label.

Also, shopping in many markets in other countries, there are many spellings for one word, that is another reason to know the INCI name for the ingredients you are searching for everywhere.

There is a hidden issue with INCI names, some names may have been changed and some even have synonyms. For instance, Shea butter (from West Africa) used to be called, Butyrospermum Parkii. Now it is know as Vitellaria paradoxa. East African Shea is known by the INCI name of Vitellaria Nilotica. Phulwara butter has a multitude of synonyms not only with the INCI name but also with the common name. I have found a total of four different INCI names for Phulwara butter, Aisandra butyracea, Diploknema butyracea, Bassia butyracea, and Madhuca butyracea. Granted, I believe some of these are from different trees from the same family, kind of like East and West African Shea butter. As for the multiple common names for Phulwara butter, I also believe it depends on the region from which it is harvested.

So keep in mind, if you are selling products, especially in the USA, they must be properly labeled.
You should know your INCI names.

So catch me at my next blog about more FDA guidelines.

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