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Acrylates Copolymer

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No meaningful concern for most people; irritation is possible but rare.

What it is

Acrylates Copolymer is the INCI name for a family of synthetic polymers built from acrylate monomers, not for one defined substance: the Cosmetic Ingredient Review's assessment of the group covers 126 of them. In this catalogue it appears only on Korean jelly and bubble masks, always in the first nine rows of the list, which is where the ingredients that build a formula's structure sit. Nothing in the sources here describes an effect on skin.

How it shows up on a label

High on the list of Korean jelly and bubble masks, above the line where INCI order stops meaning anything - a structural ingredient rather than a trace one.

What it does well

  • Reviewed as safe, with a condition attached

    The panel's conclusion for the group is that the 126 acrylates copolymers are safe in cosmetics in the present practices of use and concentration described in the safety assessment when formulated to be non-irritating. That last clause is the substance of it: the conclusion rests on the finished formula, and is not a blanket clearance for the polymer at any level.

    Moderate evidence

Worth knowing

  • A group name, not a single ingredient

    'Acrylates Copolymer' on a label does not say which polymer of the family is in the pot, and an ingredient list carries no concentrations. What the name reliably tells you is the job it is doing - structure - and little else.

    Matters most toAnyone trying to compare two jelly masks by their polymers.

Where the EU stands

No specific restriction

No specific EU restriction is recorded for this ingredient. Whatever it appears in must still pass the safety assessment that Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 requires of every cosmetic sold in the EU.

Sources (1)

Every link goes to the original: a journal, a PubMed record or an EU document.

  1. [1]
    Quick Reference Table: ingredients found safe in the present practices of use and concentration

    Cosmetic Ingredient Review · 2024

    The Cosmetic Ingredient Review's table of conclusions, updated 8 October 2024, lists Acrylates Copolymer as safe, citing International Journal of Toxicology 21(Suppl 3):1-50, 2002 and a final report of December 2018, and gives the group conclusion: the 126 acrylates copolymers named are safe in cosmetics in the present practices of use and concentration described in the safety assessment when formulated to be non-irritating. Checked 6 September 2026.

Masks that contain Acrylates Copolymer