Pre-orderPre-order

Cosmetic ingredient dictionary

Paraffin in cosmetics: what it is and what it does

Paraffin is a cosmetic ingredient that keeps the skin in good condition. Open Beauty Facts finds it in 277 products, most often eye makeup.

By Bravoora teamUpdated Sources checked 2 sourcesHow we check

What does Paraffin do in a product?

In a cosmetic product, Paraffin keeps the skin in good condition, makes the product thicker or thinner and adds scent. The EU’s CosIng database lists these jobs for it: skin conditioning, viscosity controlling and perfuming.

skin conditioningviscosity controllingperfuming

What is Paraffin?

Paraffin is a solid mixture of hydrocarbons obtained from petroleum characterized by relatively large crystals.

CAS number
8002-74-2, 64742-51-4
EC number
232-315-6, 265-154-5
CosIng reference
91023

Which products contain Paraffin?

Open Beauty Facts finds Paraffin in the ingredient lists of 277 of the 22,021 products it has a list for, most often eye makeup, body creams and mascara.

  • Eye makeup22
  • Body creams22
  • Mascara19
  • Body care19

Products with it, by country of sale: France 54 · Norway 31 · Netherlands 27 · Germany 23.

Counted on 13 October 2026 from Open Beauty Facts, which volunteers fill from real packs: it shows where Paraffin turns up, not how much of the market it is.

Bravoora reads this ingredient for everyone you shop for: an allergy or intolerance, a vegan or vegetarian diet, a calorie or protein goal, and the labels on supplements and skincare too. Build a profile · For dermatologists, dietitians and doctors

Sources

The job, the description and the EU annex entry are CosIng’s; the fragrance allergens are the EU Annex III names Bravoora’s label checker reads; the product counts are Open Beauty Facts’.

  1. European Commission: CosIng cosmetic ingredient database (functions, description, EU annex entry)
  2. Open Beauty Facts: product database, 77,506 products, read 13 October 2026, ODbL

Contains information from Open Beauty Facts, which is made available here under the Open Database License (ODbL). Read the licence · Download this dictionary’s data · How we check

Create a website profile with the things you avoid and the people you check for.

Build my profile

Saved to your account. On launch day, sign in to the app with the same email and carry on where you left off.