Description
INCI Beauty is a French app and website that reads the ingredient list (INCI) of a cosmetic from its barcode, colours each ingredient by its level of concern and gives the product a score out of 20.
The app was launched at the end of 2017 by INCI Beauty SAS, a company in Cournon-d’Auvergne near Clermont-Ferrand that belongs to the same group as the price comparison site Touslesprix.com. It says its database holds more than a million products and 15,000 documented ingredients. Each ingredient gets a coloured flower, from green (no penalty) to red (high), and the score also takes into account the type of product, whether it is rinsed off, the target group, the labels and the position of each ingredient in the list. A method page dated September 2025 explains the rules, and the app suggests alternatives in the same category and price range.
The basic app is free on Android, iPhone, Huawei and Windows, in 21 languages. A Premium version costs €15 a year in the app or €1.50 a month on the web (checked in November 2026). Its funding page lists, in order of importance, advertising, Premium subscriptions and a Pro offer for brands, plus a €100,000 interest-free loan from Bpifrance and the region in 2019. Brands can manage their product compositions for free.
Strengths
- The scoring rules are published, with a colour for each ingredient, so a score can be traced back to the ingredients that lowered it.
- The scan and the score are free, and Premium costs €15 a year for those who want more.
- By its own count the database holds more than a million products, and brands can correct their compositions for free.
Weaknesses
- Advertising is its first source of income, and Tom’s Guide noted that the free version shows Google ads.
- A Slate journalist found that INCI Beauty and Yuka sometimes contradict each other: one organic shampoo scored 15.7/20 on INCI Beauty and 43/100 on Yuka.
- The score judges ingredients only, not packaging, how the product was made or the company behind it.
Who it is for
People in France who buy cosmetics in shops or pharmacies and want to check, with their phone, whether a product contains ingredients they would rather avoid.
Sources
- INCI Beauty: home, how it works, the algorithms, the app, funding, legal notice (checked November 2026)
- Slate: J’ai scanné mes cosmétiques avec deux applis différentes
- Tom’s Guide: Notation des cosmétiques, pourquoi les applications donnent des résultats différents
- L’Info Durable: Les applications pour passer nos cosmétiques au crible sont-elles fiables ?