Body Care & Hygiene

Body care and hygiene covers a wide range, from rinse-off shower gels, soaps and hand washes to leave-on body lotions and deodorants. The products cover a large surface area, but rinse-off items are retained on the skin only briefly, and a competent assessment reflects that difference in exposure rather than treating every product the same.

Deodorants and antiperspirants

The two are not the same in regulatory terms. A deodorant masks or neutralises odour and is a cosmetic. An antiperspirant reduces sweating, a physiological effect, and that difference is enough to make antiperspirants over-the-counter drugs in the United States, while in the EU and UK aluminium-salt antiperspirants remain cosmetics. The aluminium question that hung over the category has been resolved at the assessment level: after reviewing systemic exposure, the SCCS concluded that aluminium in antiperspirants and other cosmetics is safe at typical use levels, which the safety report now reflects rather than treating aluminium as an open concern.

Preservatives and sensitisation

Water-rich body products depend on preservation, and the preservative system is where much of the category’s regulatory history sits. Methylisothiazolinone, after a contact-allergy epidemic, was prohibited in leave-on products and restricted to 0.0015% in rinse-off products, and the methylchloroisothiazolinone and methylisothiazolinone mixture is limited to rinse-off use at the same level. Several parabens are prohibited and the permitted ones capped, and phenoxyethanol is limited to 1%. The system has to be both compliant against Annex V and effective, which is proven by preservative-efficacy testing.

Antibacterial agents

Antibacterial washes brought their own restrictions. Triclosan and triclocarban were reassessed and limited by Commission Regulation (EU) 2024/996, triclosan to 0.3% with use conditions and warnings, triclocarban to 0.2%, and in the United States the FDA banned both from consumer antiseptic washes in 2016. An antibacterial claim also has to be substantiated and can edge a product towards the biocidal or medicinal line if it goes beyond cosmetic cleansing.

Microplastics in scrubs and washes

Rinse-off exfoliating microbeads were banned from 17 October 2023 under Regulation (EU) 2023/2055, and rinse-off products containing other intentionally added microplastics must be reformulated by 17 October 2027, the earliest of the cosmetic deadlines, so scrubs and washes are the most immediately affected body products.

How we help

We assess body products to their real retained exposure, classify deodorants and antiperspirants correctly for each market, build and verify a preservative system that is both compliant and effective, and keep formulations ahead of the antibacterial and microplastics deadlines. Where an antibacterial or “antiperspirant” claim risks crossing into the drug or biocidal regime, we flag it before launch.