Cosmetic ingredient dictionary
PCA in cosmetics: what it is and what it does
PCA is a cosmetic ingredient that holds water in the skin or the product. Open Beauty Facts finds it in 62 products, most often skincare.
By Bravoora teamUpdated Sources checked 2 sourcesHow we check
What does PCA do in a product?
In a cosmetic product, PCA holds water in the skin or the product and moisturises the skin. The EU’s CosIng database lists these jobs for it: humectant and moisturising.
What other names and numbers does PCA have?
- CAS number
- 98-79-3
- EC number
- 202-700-3
- CosIng reference
- 77186
Which products contain PCA?
Open Beauty Facts finds PCA in the ingredient lists of 62 of the 22,021 products it has a list for, most often skincare, hair care and body care.
Products with it, by country of sale: Germany 13 · United States 8 · Turkey 8 · France 6.
Counted on 13 October 2026 from Open Beauty Facts, which volunteers fill from real packs: it shows where PCA 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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