CI numbers in an ingredient list (CI 77891, CI 77491 …)

It is a colorant, named by its Colour Index number instead of a chemical name. The regulation requires Colour Index names where they apply, and Annex IV lists which colorants are allowed and under what conditions.

How to read it

Some common ones, as Annex IV lists them: CI 77891 titanium dioxide (white), CI 77491 iron oxide red, CI 77492 iron oxide yellow, CI 77499 iron oxide black, CI 77007 lazurite (ultramarine blue), CI 75470 carmines (red), CI 42090 a blue dye and CI 19140 a yellow dye. Several carry a food-additive reference in Annex IV — E 171, E 172, E 120, E 133, E 102 — because their purity criteria are the same as for the food colour. Annex IV can also restrict use: CI 10006 only in rinse-off products, CI 10316 not in eye products.

What it does not promise

It does not promise that the colour is natural or synthetic — CI 77491 is an iron oxide, CI 75470 comes from insects — and it does not promise that a colorant listed after [+/-] is in your shade. It does not tell you whether a colorant suits your skin: the Annex IV conditions are legal limits for makers, not personal advice.

This page explains what a symbol or mark on the pack means in law or in the scheme’s own rules. It is not advice on whether a product or an ingredient is safe for you or suits your skin: for that, read the product’s warnings and ask a pharmacist or doctor.

What it looks like: The letters CI followed by a five-digit number in the ingredient list, such as CI 77891, CI 77491 or CI 42090, usually near the end.
Legal reference: Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009, Article 19(1)(g) and Annex IV
Also called: CI 77891; CI 77491; Colour Index number; C.I. number

Good to know

Titanium dioxide (CI 77891) appears twice in the regulation: as a colorant in Annex IV and, footnoted there, as a UV filter in Annex VI. In a sunscreen’s ingredient list it can be doing either job.

Other marks with the same shape

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…

Sources

Each document was fetched and read on the date shown. Written in our own words; quotations are the documents’ wording.

Legal text — EU Official Journal text, reproduced by legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives): Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 — Article 19, Labelling (as adopted) — Article 19(1)(g): ‘Colorants other than colorants intended to colour the hair may be listed in any order after the other cosmetic ingredients … The CI (Colour Index) nomenclature shall be used, where applicable.’ 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) — Annex IV ‘List of colorants allowed in cosmetic products’: entries with a Colour Index number, colour and conditions — 77891 Titanium dioxide, white (E 171, footnote: UV-filter use see Annex VI No 27); 77491/77492/77499 Iron oxides red/yellow/black (E 172); 77007 Lazurite, blue; 75470 Carmines, red (E 120); 42090 blue (E 133); 19140 yellow (E 102); 10006 ‘Rinse-off products’; 10316 ‘Not to be used in eye products’. 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) — Article 2(1)(m): ‘colorants’ means substances which are exclusively or mainly intended to colour the cosmetic product, the body as a whole or certain parts thereof, by absorption or reflection of visible light. Checked 2026-09-26.