Work in progress — the ingredient flags here are still being checked. Product data comes from the crowd-sourced Open Beauty Facts database, which can be wrong, out of date or missing entirely, and an INCI list read off a photo is easily misread. Treat a result as a rough guide and read the pack itself.

Scan a cosmetic barcode

Point your camera at the barcode to decode its ingredients and flag anything a regulator restricts, or that's commonly avoided — on your device.

Scanning runs on your device. A lookup sends only the barcode number to Open Beauty Facts.

My watch-list

Every scan says if a product matches, or that it couldn't be checked. Saved on this device only. A list that doesn't match is not a guarantee: read the pack.

Ingredients
Life stage and skin
Diet and allergy
Recent scans

Products you scan will be listed here, on this device only. A copy of each is kept so a rescan works offline.

  • 100% Free
  • No Sign-Up
  • No Credit Card
  • No Free Trial
  • No Pro Tier
  • No Watermarks

Nothing is uploaded. Just open it and start.

Scan a cosmetic and understand what's really in it

Free, no sign-up. Scan the barcode on any makeup, skincare or personal-care product to decode its INCI ingredient list — every ingredient named and explained, with honest flags for the ones a regulator restricts or that are commonly avoided. No barcode? Read the ingredients list with your camera or paste it in. It all runs in your browser, and nothing is uploaded. This one is still a work in progress: the ingredient data behind it is crowd-sourced and the flags are still being checked, so read the pack itself before you rely on a scan.

Every ingredient decoded

Each INCI name turned into a plain name and its function — no more indecipherable labels.

Barcode, photo or paste

Scan the barcode, photograph the INCI list, or paste it in — all three decode the same way, and your watch-list and recent scans stay on your device.

Regulator-backed flags

Only flags what the EU, IARC or FDA acted on (with citations), plus the ingredients shoppers commonly avoid.

Private & on-device

Scanning and OCR run in your browser; only a barcode number is ever sent, to look up its data.

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Frequently asked questions

How does the cosmetic scanner work?
Point your camera at the barcode on a makeup, skincare or personal-care product. The barcode is read on your device, then looked up in the free Open Beauty Facts database, which returns the product's INCI ingredient list. The tool decodes each ingredient — naming it and its function — and flags the ones a regulator restricts or that are commonly avoided. No barcode, or a product that isn't in the database? Read the ingredients list with your camera, or paste or type it in.
What do the flags mean?
Two clearly-separated kinds. A red “regulatory flag” appears only when a named authority has acted, shown with its source — for example the EU banned Lilial and Lyral, methylisothiazolinone is EU-banned in leave-on products, IARC classifies BHA as possibly carcinogenic and (since 2024) talc as probably carcinogenic, and the EU is phasing out the D4, D5 and D6 silicones. Titanium dioxide is not flagged: it is allowed in EU cosmetics (only its food use is banned). A softer amber “commonly avoided” flag marks ingredients many shoppers skip — sulfates, most parabens, silicones, fragrance — a note, not a claim of harm. The 26 fragrance allergens the EU requires on labels are named too, and a misspelling from a photo is matched to the flagged name it looks like (and says so). Everything else is simply named with its function.
Where does the ingredient data come from?
Product ingredient lists come from Open Beauty Facts, an open, crowd-sourced database (ODbL) — the cosmetics sister of Open Food Facts. The flags are grounded in EU restrictions, IARC classifications and FDA actions, each shown with its source; the fragrance-allergen list is the EU's 26 declarable allergens. Coverage varies, and some products (especially regional ones) may be missing or incomplete.
Does it work for Indian and other regional products?
The barcode always scans; whether the product is found depends on Open Beauty Facts' coverage, which is thinner for regional brands. When a product isn't found, read the ingredients list with your camera or paste or type it in — the same decoding and flags run on whatever ingredients you give it. Labels in several languages (“Aqua (Water)”, “Parfum/Fragrance”) and British spellings (“sulphate”) are understood.
Is anything uploaded or tracked?
No. Reading the barcode and reading an ingredients photo both happen entirely on your device. When you look up a product, only the barcode number is sent to Open Beauty Facts — never a photo, never anything personal, and there's no account. Your watch-list, your recent scans and a saved copy of each product (so a rescan works offline) stay in this browser; you can switch them off.
Can it warn me about ingredients I avoid, or compare two products?
Yes. Under “My watch-list” choose fragrance, sulfates, parabens, silicones, drying alcohols, mineral oils, PEGs or formaldehyde releasers, a pregnancy list (retinoids, hydroquinone, salicylic acid, oxybenzone: a common-practice list, not medical advice), a fungal-acne list (community-compiled), animal-derived ingredients or nut-derived ones, and add any word of your own. Every scan then says if it matches, or that there was no ingredient list to check. After a result, “Compare with another product” puts two side by side.
Is the cosmetic scanner finished?
Not yet — it's a work in progress, and the tool itself says so at the top. Decoding an INCI list works, but the ingredient lists come from Open Beauty Facts, a crowd-sourced database with thinner coverage than its food counterpart, and a list photographed off the back of a bottle is easily misread. A product's actual formula may also have changed since anyone recorded it. So treat a scan as a starting point, read the pack itself, and patch-test anything new. If a result looks wrong, the feedback button at the foot of this page comes straight to us.
Is this medical or dermatological advice?
No. This is general, informational ingredient decoding from crowd-sourced data and public regulatory sources — not medical, dermatological or safety advice. A flag isn't a verdict of harm, and an unflagged product isn't a guarantee. Patch-test new products, and see a professional for skin concerns.

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