New European Union bans on cosmetic ingredients are prompting major beauty brands to reformulate popular products, impacting iconic formulas and pushing companies to find alternatives.
This shift is driven by the EU’s precautionary approach to consumer safety and environmental concerns, which differs from the United States’ evidence-based risk assessment approach.
As of May 1, the EU banned 15 chemicals from cosmetic products it classified as potentially carcinogenic, mutagenic, or toxic for reproduction (CMR). More ingredient restrictions are anticipated.
Though most of the 15 CMR substances aren't generally found in cosmetics products, EU ingredient bans have had a major impact on beauty brands in recent years, affecting those who want to stay in Europe's $121 billion cosmetics market.
In particular, recent restrictions of cyclomethicones, specifically silicone compounds D4, D5, and D6, have prompted formula updates in decades-old hero products including Estée Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place Foundation and Armani Beauty Luminous Silk Natural Glow Blurring Foundation.
Those brands and others took the opportunity to not only replace the targeted substances, but revamp the formulas with skincare infusions such as hyaluronic acid and niacinimides.
D4, D5, and D6 have been go-to ingredients for sunscreens, primers, foundations, and other cosmetic products due to emollient properties that lend spreadability and a silky feel, according to a study published in the scientific journal Engineering in Life Sciences.
Concerns about them center widely on their longevity and tendency to bioaccumulate in the environment and in living organisms.
Restrictions on them take effect in wash-off cosmetic products beginning June 6, 2026, and will extend to all cosmetics exactly one year later.
Cosmetic chemist and content creator Javon Ford took to social media to discuss Armani’s recent reformulation of its Luminous Silk Foundation, explaining how its D5 replacement, dimethicone, might affect various skin types.
Other brands needing to revamp products due to the new limitations include Moroccanoil, Revlon, YSL Beauty, CoverGirl, and NARS.
Upcoming EU Ban Has Beauty Brands Ditching Talc
The EU talc ban in cosmetics is expected to start in 2027, and will likely impact thousands of beauty, health, and wellness products.
The European Chemicals Agency’s (ECHA) Committee for Risk Assessment in 2024 classified talc, a naturally occurring compound mineral, as a Category 1B carcinogen, “presumed to have carcinogenic potential for humans … largely based on animal evidence."
A December 2025 Vogue article reported that an Environmental Working Group (EWG) Skin Deep survey found more than 3,000 cosmetics products containing talc, close to 60% of those of the powder variety. On the nonprofit's free public database, 137 brands are currently listed as carrying products with talc.
Lawsuits included in the ongoing Johnson & Johnson talc multi-district litigation are typically associated with asbestos-contaminated talc and its links to ovarian cancer and mesothelioma. However, the ECHA’s Committee for Risk Assessment found that even asbestos-free talc poses health risks.
The EU’s planned talc ban is based on human evidence of chronic inflammation, as well as a connection between perineal use of talc and increased risk of ovarian cancer.
In the quest to replace one of beauty's most popular ingredients, brands have experienced hits and misses.
One, Givenchy Beauty, swapped out talc in its Prisme Libre Illuminating & Color Correcting Loose Powder in 2024 with kaolin clay and mica — with shimmery, almost highlighter-like results that generated a mass Internet crashout among diehard fans.
The French luxury brand may not be re-reformulating the loose powder anytime soon, but its 2025 debut of Prisme Libre Blurring & Color-Correcting Matte Pressed Powder has been a talc-free hit with consumers.
Brands such as Fenty Beauty, L'Oréal, e.l.f. Cosmetics, Chanel Beauty, and Revlon are also in the process of phasing out talc.
Other chemicals on the EU’s list of 15 banned CMR substances are unlikely to affect beauty brands.
According to medical toxicologist and emergency medicine physician Dr. Stephanie Widmer, they're not generally found in cosmetics products like lip gloss or shampoo. “A lot of these chemicals you see at the industrial level or in laboratory settings,” she told the New York Post.