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Cosmetic ingredient dictionary

Chitosan in cosmetics: what it is and what it does

Chitosan is a cosmetic ingredient that leaves a thin film on skin, hair or nails. It can be made from crustaceans. Whether it is vegan depends on the make. Open Beauty Facts finds it in 9 products, most often hair care.

By Bravoora teamUpdated Sources checked 2 sourcesHow we check

Heads up

for a shellfish allergy profile

What does Chitosan do in a product?

In a cosmetic product, Chitosan leaves a thin film on skin, hair or nails and holds a hairstyle. The EU’s CosIng database lists these jobs for it: film forming and hair fixing.

film forminghair fixing

What other names and numbers does Chitosan have?

CAS number
9012-76-4
CosIng reference
75065

Does Chitosan come from a food allergen?

It can. Chitosan can be made from crustaceans or another way, and a label rarely says which, so a profile that avoids crustaceans gets Heads up. Cosmetic labels use INCI names and no food-allergen rule applies to them, so the name is the only clue.

Is Chitosan vegan?

It depends on the make. Chitosan can be made from shellfish or another way, and a label rarely says which, so a vegan profile gets Heads up.

VeganHeads upIt can be made from shellfish or another way, and a label rarely says which.
VegetarianHeads upIt can be made from an animal source, and a label rarely says which.
Shellfish allergyHeads upIt can be made from crustaceans.

Read the crustaceans and molluscs guide

Which products contain Chitosan?

Open Beauty Facts finds Chitosan in the ingredient lists of 9 of the 22,021 products it has a list for, most often hair care, toothpastes and sensitivity toothpastes.

  • Hair care2
  • Toothpastes1
  • Sensitivity toothpastes1

Products with it, by country of sale: Germany 3 · Spain 2 · United States 2 · France 1.

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

On these listsFrom food allergens

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

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