PIM for Health, Beauty and Cosmetics: Ingredient and Regulatory Data (2026)

Last updated: 3 November 2026.

The PIMs that fit a beauty or cosmetics brand best are inriver, Salsify, Akeneo and Centric PXM for large brands and groups that sell through retailers in many countries, and WisePIM, Emfas, Katana PIM and Quable for mid-market brands that sell direct and on marketplaces. Equadis fits brands whose retailers ask for GDSN data, and Pimcore fits teams that want to build their own data model. None of them replaces formulation software: Coptis, beCPG and Lascom calculate the formula, check it against the rules and help build the product information file, and the PIM publishes the result.

What decides the choice is less the feature list than the split of work. Cosmetics data has two owners: the lab and regulatory team, who own the formula and its compliance, and the commercial team, who own the content each shop and retailer sees. This page shows which data a beauty PIM must hold, which EU and US rules sit behind that data, which system owns what, and what each vendor documents for beauty. For the wider market, see the best PIM software.

Which PIM fits a beauty or cosmetics brand?

Beauty systems fall into four groups. The groups follow how the vendors present themselves, and the vendor names in each group are our editorial reading of their own pages, not a ranking.

Type of system	Vendors on this page	Strong at	Test in the demo
Enterprise PIM with a flexible data model	inriver, Akeneo, Pimcore	Many brands, markets and channels; you model ingredients and claims the way you need them	How long it takes to configure an ingredient list, allergens and claims for your range
Syndication-first platform with retailer networks	Salsify, Equadis, Centric PXM	Retailers, marketplaces and GS1 GDSN data exchange	How deep the ingredient and claims model goes, beyond the retailer fields
Mid-market SaaS with a beauty variant model	WisePIM, Emfas, Katana PIM, Quable	Shades, sizes and swatches, fast start, AI copy and translation	Approval workflows for claims and ingredient changes
Formulation or PLM tool with product data output	Coptis, beCPG, Lascom, Centric PLM	Formula, regulatory screening, product information file	Channel content and syndication, which these tools are not built for

Most brands need two of these: a formulation or PLM tool upstream and a PIM downstream. A small brand without its own lab may work from the formulas and documents its manufacturer supplies, and then the PIM is the main system. For a further, vendor-neutral view of the same split, pimselection.com describes these capability profiles in its guide to PIM for cosmetics and personal care.

Which ingredient and regulatory data does a beauty PIM need to hold?

A beauty PIM needs more than a text field called "ingredients". The table lists the data points that the EU and US rules put on the label or in a notification, plus the commercial data beauty channels expect. The right column names the rule; the regulations are explained in the next sections.

Data point	Why the PIM needs it	Where the rule is published
Ingredient list, in order	The label shows it headed by "ingredients", in descending order of weight; ingredients under 1% may follow in any order	EU: Article 19 of Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009. US: descending order of predominance, FDA labeling summary
Common ingredient name per ingredient	The EU label uses the names in the Commission's glossary of common ingredient names, which takes account of INCI	EU: Decision (EU) 2019/701, listed on the Commission's cosmetics legislation page; reference data in CosIng
US ingredient name	FDA asks for the common or usual name and does not accept Latin, CI numbers or foreign terms as substitutes, though "Water (Aqua)" style additions are fine	FDA, cosmetic ingredient names
Nanomaterial flag	Nanomaterials carry "(nano)" after their name in the ingredient list and need their own notification	EU: Articles 16 and 19 of Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009; CPNP
Fragrance and fragrance allergens	Fragrance is declared as "parfum" or "aroma"; allergens the Annexes name must appear on the label	EU: Article 19 and the Annexes of Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009. US: MoCRA tells FDA to set fragrance allergen labeling, FDA MoCRA page
Function, precautions, nominal content, durability, batch	Mandatory label elements; the PIM holds them per variant so every channel shows the same text	EU: Article 19 of Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009
Responsible person and address	Shown on the label and tied to where the product information file is kept	EU: Articles 4, 11 and 19 of Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009
Country of origin for imports	Required on the label for imported products, in the EU and the US	EU: Article 19. US: FDA labeling summary
Claims with an evidence reference	Claims must meet common criteria; the evidence sits in the product information file, the PIM stores the approved wording and a link to it	EU: Regulation (EU) No 655/2013 and the technical document on cosmetic claims
CPNP status per market	Shows which products are notified before they go live	EU: Article 13 of Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009; CPNP
FDA listing data	Each marketed product is listed with FDA, including ingredients, and updated yearly	FDA registration and listing
Translations per market	Several label elements must be in the language the Member State requires; US label statements in English	EU: Article 19 of Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009. US: FDA labeling summary
Shades, sizes, swatches	Commercial, not regulatory: one product with many shade and size variants, each with its own images	Retailer and marketplace requirements

Two design rules follow from this table. Keep the ingredient list as structured data per ingredient, not as one pasted block of text, so you can find every product that contains a substance when a rule changes. And keep the regulatory fields per market and per variant, because a shade can contain a colorant that the base product does not. Our guide to product data quality and governance explains how to set owners and completeness rules for fields like these.

PIM, PLM or formulation software: which system owns what?

Buyers often see Coptis, beCPG and Lascom named next to PIM vendors. They do a different job. A formulation or PLM tool works on the recipe: raw materials, concentrations, cost, regulatory screening per country and the documents of the product information file. A PIM works on the published product: content, images, variants, translations and the feed to every channel. The table shows the usual split.

Data or task	Formulation or PLM tool	PIM
Formula, raw materials and concentrations	Owner	Not held
Regulatory screening per market (banned or restricted substances)	Owner	Not held; may store the result as a status
Ingredient list in label order	Generates it from the formula	Receives it, does not edit it, publishes it
Allergens and nano flags	Calculates them	Receives and publishes them
Product information file and safety report	Owner, or a regulatory tool	Holds a reference only
Claims	Evidence and approval	Approved wording per market and channel
Marketing copy, images, swatches, videos	Not held	Owner (with a DAM)
Shades and sizes as sellable variants	Formula per shade	Variant structure for channels
Translations	Regulatory texts, if the tool supports them	Owner for all channel content
Channel feeds, retailer and marketplace data	Not built for it	Owner

The tools on the formulation side, as they describe themselves:

Tool	Role	What it documents for cosmetics	Source
Coptis	Cosmetics PLM for formulation labs	A regulatory database covering about 100 countries with alerts, INCI names per raw material in several nomenclatures (CosIng, USA, Japan, China and others), automated product information file and ingredient list, CPNP notification and FDA registration among supported submissions	Coptis, regulatory compliance
beCPG	Open source PLM for food, cosmetics and consumer goods	Community edition under GNU LGPL v3 and a supported Enterprise edition with preconfigured cosmetics data; formulation, a regulatory module and labelling	beCPG documentation
Lascom (Aptean PLM Lascom Edition)	PLM for consumer goods, including cosmetics	Cosmetic formulation with cost, ingredient and allergen calculation, generation of product information file items, regulatory analysis with automatic warnings	Lascom, cosmetics
Centric PLM	PLM for cosmetics and personal care, next to Centric PXM	Formulas and ingredient management, quality and compliance, packaging and artwork	Centric, cosmetics and personal care

Lascom also has a PIM profile with us. That profile covers formulations, specifications, compliance documents, packaging and marketing data in one repository, so it sits on the product development side. It does not describe distribution to sales channels, and Lascom's own PIM explainer presents PLM as the source of most product data and PIM as the layer that distributes it. If you need channel syndication, plan a PIM next to it.

The connection between the two systems decides whether this works. Agree which fields the formulation tool sends, in which format (a structured ingredient array beats a text block), and what happens when a formula changes: a new ingredient list should block publication until someone reviews the claims and translations. Our article on PLM and PIM integration covers that handover in general terms.

Which regulations shape cosmetics product data?

We list only rules whose primary text or official page we opened. Dates and article numbers are quoted from those pages. This is product data guidance, not legal advice.

European Union

• Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 on cosmetic products (EUR-Lex) is the core text. A product may only be placed on the market when a responsible person established in the EU is designated (Article 4). That person keeps a product information file with the safety report for ten years after the last batch was placed on the market, at the address on the label (Articles 10 and 11).
• CPNP notification. Before placing a product on the market, the responsible person notifies it through the Cosmetic Products Notification Portal (Article 13). The Commission describes the portal as free of charge and says one notification there is enough for the whole EU. Distributors who make a product available in another Member State and translate its labelling also notify. Products with nanomaterials need a separate notification under Article 16, in addition to the Article 13 one.
• Labelling (Article 19). The container and packaging carry, among other items, the responsible person, nominal content, durability, precautions, batch number, function and the ingredient list. The list is headed "ingredients", runs in descending order of weight, marks nanomaterials with "(nano)" and uses the common ingredient names. The language of several elements is set by the law of each Member State.
• Common ingredient names. Decision (EU) 2019/701 establishes the glossary of common ingredient names, as listed on the Commission's cosmetics legislation page. The Commission's CosIng database holds those names, but the Commission calls it a non-legally binding information database: a name in CosIng does not mean the substance is allowed. Only the Regulation and its Annexes decide that.
• Claims. Regulation (EU) No 655/2013 sets common criteria for the justification of claims, and the Commission publishes a technical document on cosmetic claims (version of 3 July 2017).

United States

• MoCRA. The Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022 requires facility registration (renewed every two years) and a product listing for each marketed cosmetic, including its ingredients, with annual updates. It requires records of safety substantiation, reporting of serious adverse events within 15 business days, and it directs FDA to set fragrance allergen labeling requirements. Certain small businesses are exempt from registration and listing, with exceptions for some product types.
• How listing works. FDA's registration and listing page names Cosmetics Direct, FDA's Structured Product Labeling (SPL) tool, as well as other SPL software and a paper form (Form FDA 5067). It states that registration and listing data has been collected since December 18, 2023.
• Labeling. FDA's labeling summary requires the ingredient declaration in descending order of predominance (21 CFR 701.3), allows color additives and ingredients at 1% or less in any order, puts active ingredients first for products that are also drugs, and requires label statements in English. Ingredient names must be the common or usual names.

The EU and US lists differ in names, order rules and languages, so a brand selling in both markets needs the ingredient list per market, not one list for all. The UK, China and other markets have their own rules; we left them out because we did not open their primary texts for this page. Other EU product data rules, such as the Digital Product Passport, are covered in our DPP guide.

Which PIM vendors serve beauty and cosmetics?

The table lists what each vendor documents on its own beauty page or in its own customer stories, checked on 3 November 2026. Where a page does not mention a point, the cell says not documented. That does not mean the system cannot do it; it means you have to see it in a demo. The order follows the four groups above, not a score.

Vendor	Documented beauty features	Ingredient model	Multilingual	Source
inriver	Dedicated health and beauty page; SKU-level traceability; FAQ on adjusting data per market for ingredient restrictions and labeling rules; automated syndication	"Flexible modeling for unique ingredient lists" and component data; INCI not named	Automated localization for language, regulations and channel requirements	inriver, health and beauty
Salsify	Shades, formulations, ingredients and claims in one governed system; DAM for swatches and tutorials; GDSN data pool; syndication to retailers, marketplaces and DTC	Ingredients and claims as governed attributes; INCI not named; beauty compliance not documented on the page	Translations routed through workflows for human review (customer example)	Salsify, fashion and beauty
Akeneo	No dedicated beauty page found; CPG page names cosmetics, legal compliance, supplier onboarding and 500+ retailers and marketplaces; regulations page names INCI; PZ Cussons beauty brands live in under 3 months (2022)	Not documented beyond INCI being named as a standard	New channels and locales, translations	Akeneo, CPG, data regulations, PZ Cussons
Centric PXM	PIM, DAM, syndication to 1,000+ channels and digital shelf analytics; integrated compliance checks against claim errors; supplier onboarding portal	Not documented in PXM; formulas and ingredients sit in Centric PLM	AI translation and localization per market and channel	Centric PXM
Quable	Beauty page: ingredients, claims and visuals accurate in every market; built-in DAM; web, marketplaces and print	Not documented (INCI, allergens not on the page)	Content per market and language	Quable, beauty and cosmetics
Equadis	Beauty page; GS1-certified with its own GDSN data pool; distribution of product data and assets to retail, e-retail, apps and social networks; based in Switzerland	Not documented on the beauty page	Not documented on the page	Equadis, beauty and cosmetics
WisePIM	Beauty page; variants by shade, size and formulation; AI identifies claims and certifications at import; a compliance attribute group	INCI lists in structured fields; allergens as a custom attribute with bulk tagging	70+ languages; AI translations from the same fields	WisePIM, beauty and personal care
Emfas	Beauty page; shades as variants with shade name, hex code and images; swatches next to product data; volumes and claims as attributes	Long-form text fields for ingredient lists, certifications and compliance data	Localized attributes per market; translation rules with a base language and glossary per language	Emfas, beauty
Katana PIM	Beauty page; ingredients, packaging, compliance details, certifications and safety data in one place; volume and usage instructions	Ingredients as structured, validated data; INCI not named	Multilingual product data adapted to local regulations	Katana PIM, beauty and cosmetics
Pimcore	No dedicated beauty page found; customer story DOBI-Inter: about 12,000 beauty products from 200 brands, a hair dye line with more than 120 shade variations, Microsoft Dynamics NAV integration	Not documented for cosmetics	Not documented in the story	Pimcore, DOBI-Inter

Three points stand out. Only WisePIM and Emfas say on their own pages which kind of field holds the ingredient list, and only WisePIM says the INCI list sits in structured fields. The large platforms (inriver, Salsify, Akeneo, Centric PXM) document beauty at the level of "ingredients" and "compliance", which means you configure the model yourself or with a partner. And none of the PIMs documents CPNP notification; on our sources, that sits with formulation tools such as Coptis. To compare the big three directly, see Akeneo vs inriver, Akeneo vs Salsify and inriver vs Salsify.

Which one fits which starting point?

Your starting point	Start with	Why
Brand selling direct and on marketplaces, mid-market	WisePIM, Emfas, Katana PIM	Beauty variant model and multilingual content out of the box; add Quable if you want a built-in DAM
Brand selling to retailers that require GDSN data	Salsify, Equadis, Centric PXM	Own GDSN data pool or retailer syndication documented
Multi-brand group across many countries	inriver, Akeneo, Salsify	Localization per market and channel, supplier and brand onboarding, broad connector ecosystems
Retailer or drugstore with many supplier brands	Akeneo, Centric PXM, Salsify	Supplier onboarding (Akeneo Supplier Data Manager, Centric PXM onboarding portal) and retailer-side syndication
Manufacturer with a formulation or PLM tool	inriver, Akeneo or Pimcore next to Coptis, beCPG or Lascom; Centric PXM if you run Centric PLM	The formula stays upstream; you need a PIM that takes a structured ingredient feed by API
Small brand with formulas from a contract manufacturer	WisePIM, Katana PIM	The PIM becomes the main record; see also the best PIM for small businesses

On Centric: the Centric PXM page names PLM among the systems it integrates with, but we found no page that documents a ready-made connection between Centric PLM and Centric PXM. Ask for it. Food brands face the same split between recipe and published data; see PIM for food and beverage.

What should you ask every vendor?

Run these with a sample of your own products, including one with many shades and one sold in the EU and the US.

1. Show an ingredient list as structured data. One record per ingredient with name, position, nano flag and allergen flag, or one text field? Can you find every product that contains a given substance?
2. Show two markets. The same product with an EU ingredient list and a US one, with different names and order rules, and the label texts in two EU languages.
3. Show the import from our formulation tool. Which format, which API, and what happens to claims and translations when the formula changes?
4. Show a claims workflow. Approved wording per market, a link to the evidence, an approver, and a block on publishing unapproved claims.
5. Show shades. A product with 30 or more shades, each with its own images, swatch and, where needed, its own ingredient list.
6. Show the compliance fields. Responsible person, CPNP status per market, FDA listing data, and how a product without them is stopped from going live.
7. Show the retailer output. The feed to your two most important retailers or marketplaces, and GDSN if a retailer asks for it.
8. Show the audit trail. Who changed an ingredient list or a claim, when, and which version was published where.

Our PIM requirements checklist turns questions like these into a scored RFP, and how to select the right PIM gives the full selection method. For the role of DAM and PXM next to the PIM, see PIM vs MDM vs DAM vs PXM. If you want AI to write the copy from these fields, compare the options in best PIM AI features 2026.

How we evaluated

We started from the vendors that buyers and AI answers name for beauty and cosmetics, and kept those for which we could open a vendor-owned page: an industry page, a product page or a customer story. For each, we noted what the page documents on beauty features, the ingredient model and languages, and wrote not documented where the page says nothing. Formulation and PLM tools are described in their own role and not ranked as PIMs. Regulations come only from primary sources: EUR-Lex and the European Commission's cosmetics pages for the EU, fda.gov for the US. All pages were checked on 3 November 2026. We did not use competitors' guides or third-party reviews as evidence for a vendor feature. The vendor-to-group mapping is our editorial judgment.

PIMvendors is an independent PIM selection platform. The order of the tables follows the four types of system, not a score. Vendors change their pages often, so confirm features in a demo with your own data. The free PIM Scan filters vendors on your own requirements.

Sources

• EUR-Lex, Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 on cosmetic products, primary legal text; EUR-Lex was not fully available on 3 November 2026.
• EUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) No 655/2013 on common criteria for the justification of claims, primary legal text; EUR-Lex was not fully available on 3 November 2026.
• European Commission, cosmetics legislation, checked 3 November 2026.
• European Commission, Cosmetic Products Notification Portal (CPNP), checked 3 November 2026.
• European Commission, cosmetic ingredient database (CosIng), checked 3 November 2026.
• European Commission, technical document on cosmetic claims, version of 3 July 2017.
• FDA, Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022 (MoCRA), checked 3 November 2026.
• FDA, registration and listing of cosmetic product facilities and products, checked 3 November 2026.
• FDA, summary of cosmetics labeling requirements, checked 3 November 2026.
• FDA, cosmetic ingredient names, checked 3 November 2026.
• inriver, the PIM for health and beauty, checked 3 November 2026.
• Salsify, PXM for fashion and beauty brands, checked 3 November 2026.
• Akeneo, PIM for CPG, product data regulations and PZ Cussons press release (22 July 2022), checked 3 November 2026.
• Centric Software, Centric PXM and cosmetics and personal care, checked 3 November 2026.
• Quable, PIM for beauty and cosmetics, checked 3 November 2026.
• Equadis, beauty and cosmetics, checked 3 November 2026.
• WisePIM, PIM for beauty and personal care, checked 3 November 2026.
• Emfas, beauty, checked 3 November 2026.
• Katana PIM, PIM for beauty and cosmetics, checked 3 November 2026.
• Pimcore, DOBI-Inter AG customer story, checked 3 November 2026.
• Coptis, ensure global regulatory compliance, checked 3 November 2026.
• beCPG, documentation, checked 3 November 2026.
• Lascom (Aptean), cosmetics and PIM explainer, checked 3 November 2026.