Will retinol be banned in the EU – update 2023

Let me be crystal clear on this one: Will retinol be banned in the EU? No it won’t. Please stop spreading misinformation, every time you don’t, Einstein’s ghost gets very angry. Now, let’s clear up all that retinol is banned nonsense.

What happened?

The European Union has been watching and deliberating on Vitamin A for QUITE some time now. The first time the current debate came to fore, though, was in 2019, when a new legal draft about safety levels of Vitamin A concentrations was discussed by the SCCS (Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety), a team of safety, regulatory and scientific professionals. (Here’s my take on it.)

The draft, once ratified, will amend the Annexes to the EU Cosmetics Products Regulation (CPR). The mills of the EU grind slowly, and now, in 2023, they’ve come to a conclusion. Let’s have a look at it.

But first, and I want to stress that with the uttermost conviction, we can already see that the EU DOESN’T deem retinol/Vitamin A in any way concerning or dangerous – thus, the long time they took for the draft.

Please take note that this will concern EU law (including Northern Ireland). Switzerland and Norway usually follow EU recommendations, but what Great Britain will do is anyone’s guess.

What does the draft say?

When it comes to retinoids (retinol, retinyl acetate, retinyl palmitate, but NOT retinaldehyde) in cosmetic products the maximum concentration is 0.3% in facial products and 0.05% in body products. There’ll be a transition phase from ratification onwards, in which existing products can be sold. Products with higher concentrations have to be off shelves in 36 months (meaning in 2026).

There’re also conclusions to other risk assessments:

• 4-Methylbenzylidene Camphor, a UV-filter previously allowed in concentrations up to 4%, is now completely banned.
• Kojic Acid can now only be used in up to 1% in face and hand products.
• Alpha-Arbutin can now be only used in up to 2% in face and 0,5% in body products, while Arbutin can only be used in up to 7% in face creams.
• Genistein and Daidzein, previously unregulated, are now limited to 0,007% and 0,02%. (Both are a naturally occurring compounds known as isoflavones. They’re phytoestrogens, derived from soy beans, and used in skincare as skin conditioning agents, protecting agents and antioxidants.)

But, why??! Is retinol dangerous?

From here on, I’ll only discuss retinoids.

As we’ve seen, no, retinol won’t be banned in the EU, but the use of certain retinoids will be restricted. The timeframe in which products will be phased out is also rather generous.

The reason for this has nothing to do with skincare. It also has nothing to do with a “higher prevalence of skin cancer because people use retinol but not sunscreen” (I mean, what?!) that I’ve seen on social media, or that people are wrecking their skin with high retinol percentages. The EU doesn’t really care about you using a 1% retinol serum morning and evening, Karen. They really, really don’t.

What they DO care about is that it’s really, really easy to exceed the recommended amount of orally digested Vitamin A. With a normal diet, it’s easy to exceed the recommended amount in the Western world. There’s been an assumption that high levels of Vitamin A intake will diminish bone density, a concern especially for menopausal women – coincidentally also the main target of anti-aging products including retinol.

What’s going to happen now?

I’ve seen three consumer reactions: the first wants to bin their retinol products because ‘they’re unsafe’. Please don’t do that but read the paragraph above again.

The second is the unsurprising ‘I’ll cling to my 1% retinol till death do us part and hate the EU for interfering’. Yes, reformulating holy grails suck, and I’m not perfectly enamored to the fact that I’m going to miss my HG Paula’s Choice 1% Retinol Serum. But then, dietary issues are a real concern. Please see the bigger picture here: while I (of course) want to keep using my serums, I absolutely don’t want a higher risk of osteoporosis. I also think this is a great chance for new and exciting formulations and products. We’ll definitely see more retinal and combo products, in which we’ll find a blend of retinal, retinol and retinoid esters. (Wild guess? That’s because we’ve already seen more of those – smart companies will have started to plan for this already in 2019.)

Third reaction: ‘you influencers always tell us that things are safe and to trust the science and then they’re suddenly not safe!’ It would be very easy to give a flippant answer here, but – that’s science. Science isn’t cut and dried, but is a thing always in motion. Science’s backbone are studies and experiments, which move along in time. And this is how safety assessments work: parameters are moved back and forth. It’s the nature of the beast.

Onwards!

So, no need to throw away your retinol or cling to it. Embrace the change, hmmmm?

(I already tested a new gen retinol product: Beyer & Söhne’s Retinol Booster. Here’s the review!)

Please note that this review is not sponsored in any way. We buy products ourselves, with our own money, and don’t accept exchanging goods, or money, for reviews. We are completely independent, and our reviews reflect that.