How to read INCI: Evigrade traffic light for any cream – Evigrade
·3 min read#inci#basics#evigrade-extension
How to read INCI: Evigrade traffic light for any cream
INCI is not alchemy, it's EU regulation. The first five ingredients drive 80% of the product. Here is how our traffic-light works and why color matters.
INCI (International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients) is the international naming standard. In the EU, ingredient order follows Regulation 1223/2009. In the US, 21 CFR 701.3. One rule: everything above 1% concentration goes in descending order by mass.
In practice:
First ingredient is usually water (60–85% of the formula).
First 3–5 ingredients account for 70–80% of the product.
Anything after the 1% cutoff can be listed in any order. Brands exploit this: "actives" get hidden near preservatives to puff up the label.
If the hyped vitamin C sits after phenoxyethanol, it's 1% or less. Often 0.1 to 0.3%.
The Evigrade traffic light
Each ingredient gets one of three tags.
GREEN
Proven safe at standard concentrations with a real functional role. Examples: niacinamide, glycerin, modern UV filters like DHHB or Tinosorb S. Green does not mean "works miracles". Green means "won't harm you and does its job".
YELLOW
Context-dependent. Reasons for yellow:
Works only at specific concentrations (vitamin C as LAA below 10% does little).
Degradation into toxic metabolites (octocrylene breaks down into benzophenone on storage).
Endocrine activity in vivo (Klammer et al., 2007 for octinoxate).
Frequent photocontact allergens.
Red does not mean "poison". Red means "better options exist, why risk it".
Positional warnings
Ingredient color is half the picture. Where it sits is the other half.
Alcohol in top 3 (Alcohol Denat., SD Alcohol): likely 10–30%. OK for oily skin, risky for dry and mature. Alcohol at the end of the list is a 0.5–1% solvent, not a concern.
Essential oil in top 5: high sensitization load, especially citrus and lavender. In the tail – just fragrance, under 0.3%.
AHA/BHA in top 5: this is an acid product, not a moisturizer. Apply at night, use SPF next day.
Parfum/Fragrance above position 5: signal the product is scented, not functional.
Base components are not actives
In any cream, 60–80% of the formula is structural:
Emulsifiers: Cetearyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate, Polysorbate 20 – bind water and oil.