What does this symbol on my cosmetics mean?
Find it by its shape. 1. Pick what you see on the jar, tube or can. 2. Match it. 9 symbols and notations come straight from EU law or an official recommendation; 6 certification logos are explained from their owners’ own criteria.
Tap a shape — the marks that use it appear here.
Open jar or hourglass — 2 marks
Hand and book — 1 mark
A letter: ℮, ∃ or UVA — 3 marks
The estimated sign ℮ (next to 50 ml or 200 g)A small, rounded lower-case e, at least 3 mm high, printed right…The reversed epsilon ∃ on aerosol cansA small rounded mark like a backwards ε (or a curly 3), printed on…UVA in a circle on sunscreenThe letters UVA inside a plain circle, printed near the SPF number…
Notes in the ingredients — 3 marks
May contain [+/-] in an ingredient listAt the end of the ingredient list of lipsticks, eyeshadows, nail…(nano) after an ingredientThe word nano in round brackets straight after an ingredient name…CI numbers in an ingredient list (CI 77891, CI 77491 …)The letters CI followed by a five-digit number in the ingredient…
A certification logo — 6 marks
Leaping Bunny (cruelty-free)The brand has a fixed cut-off date after which neither it nor any…The Vegan Society’s Vegan TrademarkThe product and its ingredients involve no animal product,…V-Label (vegan or vegetarian)Vegan: no ingredient, processing aid, carrier, aroma or fragrance…EU Ecolabel (the flower with an ℇ)The product meets the Commission’s environmental criteria for its…COSMOS ORGANIC and COSMOS NATURALCOSMOS ORGANIC: at least 95 % of the physically processed…NATRUE label (natural or organic cosmetics)Natural: minimum levels of natural substances and maximum levels…
Recycling arrows or red diamond — 5 marks
Möbius loop (three chasing arrows)The maker’s claim that the pack is capable of being recycled — not that your…Explained on its own page →The Green DotThe producer paid into a packaging recovery scheme. It does not mean the pack is…Explained on its own page →Triman (France)France’s sign that the pack must be sorted; the Info-tri panel next to it says where…Explained on its own page →GHS flame on a spray canFlammable: on hairspray, dry shampoo and deodorant sprays, the aerosol is classed as…Explained on its own page →GHS exclamation markLess severe health hazards, such as skin or eye irritation or an allergic skin reaction.Explained on its own page →
The four things people ask most
- 12M in an open jar means usable for 12 months after you open it. It is printed instead of a date on products that keep for more than 30 months unopened (Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009, Article 19(1)(c)). See period after opening.
- An hourglass and a date is a best-before date, used on products that keep for 30 months or less. See date of minimum durability.
- ℮ next to 150 ml is about the fill, not the product: the average pack holds at least 150 ml, and no pack may be more than twice the tolerance short (6.8 ml for 150 ml). See the estimated sign.
- Cruelty-free is not vegan. Leaping Bunny covers animal testing only and says it is not a vegan certifier; the Vegan Society’s trademark and V-Label cover animal ingredients too. See Leaping Bunny.
What this page does not cover
- No ingredient safety or skin advice. These pages say what a symbol or mark means in law or in its scheme’s rules. They do not say whether an ingredient is safe, whether a product suits your skin, or what to use for a condition: read the product’s own warnings and ask a pharmacist or doctor.
- EU rules first. The legal symbols are the EU’s (Great Britain kept the same three Annex VII symbols). Other countries label cosmetics under their own rules, which are not covered here.
- No logos. Certification marks are registered by their owners, so they are described in words and never drawn or shown. Brand logos and shop-own labels are out of scope.
- Recycling and hazard marks on cosmetics — the Möbius loop, Green Dot, Triman, the GHS flame on aerosols — have their own pages; their tiles above link there.
Sources
Every document below was fetched and read on the date shown. Legal texts are cited as adopted or in the consolidated version named; scheme criteria are the owners’ current published documents. Each page lists what its sources show.
- Legal text — EU Official Journal text, reproduced by legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives): Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 on cosmetic products — Annex VII, Symbols used on packaging/container (as adopted) Checked 2026-09-26.
- Legal text — legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives): Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 — Annex VII, latest version in force in Great Britain Checked 2026-09-26.
- Legal text — EU Official Journal text, reproduced by legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives): Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 — Article 19, Labelling (as adopted) Checked 2026-09-26.
- Legal text — EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the European Union): Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 — consolidated text of 1 May 2025 Checked 2026-09-26.
- Legal text — EU Official Journal text, reproduced by legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives): Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 — Article 2, Definitions (as adopted) Checked 2026-09-26.
- Legal text — EU Official Journal text, reproduced by legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives): Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 — Article 16, Nanomaterials (as adopted) Checked 2026-09-26.
- Legal text — EU Official Journal text, reproduced by legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives): Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 — Annex IV, List of colorants allowed in cosmetic products (as adopted) Checked 2026-09-26.
- Legal text — EU consolidated text of 26 July 2019, reproduced by legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives): Council Directive 76/211/EEC on the making-up by weight or by volume of certain prepackaged products (consolidated PDF) Checked 2026-09-26.
- Legal text — legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives), EU text as at 31 December 2020: Council Directive 75/324/EEC on aerosol dispensers — Article 3 Checked 2026-09-26.
- Legal text — legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives), EU text as at 31 December 2020: Council Directive 75/324/EEC on aerosol dispensers — Article 8, labelling Checked 2026-09-26.
- Legal text — legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives), EU text as at 31 December 2020: Council Directive 75/324/EEC on aerosol dispensers — Annex (construction, labelling, tests) Checked 2026-09-26.
- Legal text — EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the European Union): Commission Recommendation 2006/647/EC of 22 September 2006 on the efficacy of sunscreen products and the claims made relating thereto Checked 2026-09-26.
- Industry recommendation — Cosmetics Europe (formerly Colipa), the European cosmetics trade association: Colipa Recommendation N°23: Important usage and labelling instructions for sun protection products (24 February 2009, PDF) Checked 2026-09-26.
- Scheme owner — Leaping Bunny Program (operated in the US and Canada by AAVS for the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics): The Leaping Bunny Difference Checked 2026-09-26.
- Scheme owner — Leaping Bunny Program (operated in the US and Canada by AAVS for the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics): Leaping Bunny — Company FAQ Checked 2026-09-26.
- Scheme owner — Cruelty Free International: Our Approval Programme (Leaping Bunny) Checked 2026-09-26.
- Scheme owner — The Vegan Society: Vegan Trademark Standards Checked 2026-09-26.
- Scheme owner — V-Label GmbH: Annex 1: Criteria for the V-Label, INT-V-Label-Criteria-V02.02 (last update 20 January 2025, PDF) Checked 2026-09-26.
- Scheme owner — EU Official Journal text of the EU Ecolabel regulation, reproduced by legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives): Regulation (EC) No 66/2010 on the EU Ecolabel — Article 2, Scope (as adopted) Checked 2026-09-26.
- Scheme owner — EU Official Journal text of the EU Ecolabel regulation, reproduced by legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives): Regulation (EC) No 66/2010 on the EU Ecolabel — Article 6, General requirements for EU Ecolabel criteria (as adopted) Checked 2026-09-26.
- Scheme owner — EU Official Journal text of the EU Ecolabel regulation, reproduced by legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives): Regulation (EC) No 66/2010 on the EU Ecolabel — Article 9, Award of the EU Ecolabel (as adopted) Checked 2026-09-26.
- Scheme owner — EU Official Journal text of the EU Ecolabel regulation, reproduced by legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives): Regulation (EC) No 66/2010 on the EU Ecolabel — Annex II, Form of the EU Ecolabel (as adopted) Checked 2026-09-26.
- Scheme owner — European Commission, owner of the EU Ecolabel (EUR-Lex): Commission Decision (EU) 2021/1870 establishing the EU Ecolabel criteria for cosmetic products and animal care products Checked 2026-09-26.
- Scheme owner — COSMOS-standard AISBL: COSMOS-standard, Cosmetics organic and natural standard, Version 4.2 (1 September 2025, PDF) Checked 2026-09-26.
- Scheme owner — NATRUE, The International Natural and Organic Cosmetics Association: NATRUE Label criteria: requirements to be met by natural and organic cosmetics, Version 3.9 (PDF) Checked 2026-09-26.