Cosmetic ingredient dictionary
Citric Acid in cosmetics: what it is and what it does
Citric Acid is a cosmetic ingredient that hides an unwanted smell or taste. Open Beauty Facts finds it in 7,221 products, most often shampoos.
By Bravoora teamUpdated Sources checked 2 sourcesHow we check
What does Citric Acid do in a product?
In a cosmetic product, Citric Acid hides an unwanted smell or taste, keeps the product's acidity steady and binds metals in water so the product stays stable. The EU’s CosIng database lists these jobs for it: masking, buffering and chelating.
What other names and numbers does Citric Acid have?
- CAS number
- 77-92-9, 5949-29-1
- EC number
- 201-069-1
- CosIng reference
- 32858
Which products contain Citric Acid?
Open Beauty Facts finds Citric Acid in the ingredient lists of 7,221 of the 22,021 products it has a list for, most often shampoos, hair care and bath and shower.
Products with it, by country of sale: France 2,388 · Germany 1,074 · United States 765 · Australia 421.
Counted on 13 October 2026 from Open Beauty Facts, which volunteers fill from real packs: it shows where Citric Acid turns up, not how much of the market it is.
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’.
- European Commission: CosIng cosmetic ingredient database (functions, description, EU annex entry)
- 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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