Prohibited cosmetic ingredients in India: how the list works

People searching for a 'banned cosmetics list' usually find consultancy pages listing ingredients, because that is how Indian law is written. The Cosmetics Rules 2020 do not contain a schedule of banned substances. Rule 39(2) says that the raw materials listed in Annex A of IS 4707 Part 2 shall not be used, and Rule 39(3) confines colourants to those in IS 4707 Part 1 and the Tenth Schedule. The Bureau of Indian Standards maintains those annexes; the 2025 edition of Part 2 lists about 1,614 prohibited substances in Annex A and about 313 restricted ones with limits in Annex B, in line with the European Union's lists.

A handful of substances are named in the Rules themselves. Mercury is limited to a 1 ppm trace outside eye-area products (Rule 39(5)). Hexachlorophene is banned except in soap (39(4)). Lead and arsenic compounds may not be used as colourants (39(6)), and any permitted colour must contain no more than 20 ppm lead and 2 ppm arsenic. Those are the limits the state labs test against when they report a failure.

Two practical points. First, the standard is sold by BIS rather than published free, so consumers rely on summaries; CDSCO's own notice of 18 May 2026 confirms that 'the list of GNRAS and restricted ingredients is published by BIS'. Second, substances such as hydroquinone, tretinoin and corticosteroids are prohibited in cosmetics but licensed as prescription drugs, so a product containing them is a drug and must be judged under drug law.