GOLD
Gold is elemental gold used in cosmetics as a metallic material with a golden colour. Rather than indicating a botanical extract or a treatment active, the name refers to the metal itself incorporated into the formula, often as very small particles or as a decorative finish.
GOLD: what it is
Gold is elemental gold used in cosmetics as a metallic material with a golden colour. Rather than indicating a botanical extract or a treatment active, the name refers to the metal itself incorporated into the formula, often as very small particles or as a decorative finish.
When used as a colourant in the European Union, CI 77480 identifies gold in that specific application. The designation helps distinguish it from gold salts and from other gold forms used in technological settings; similar names do not automatically mean that the product contains the same raw material.
GOLD: what it does in cosmetics
Gold is most directly used to give a product a golden tone. It can be included in makeup and finishing products to create visible colour or glimmer, without turning the cosmetic into a skin treatment.
Gold can also be used to modify slip and the surface finish of a formula: in practical terms, how the product spreads and the look it leaves on the surface. In the European Union, gold listed as CI 77480 is an Annex IV colourant with a purity criterion; that listing does not establish treatment of acne, wrinkles, dark spots, or disease.
GOLD: conditions and care
In the European Union, Gold as CI 77480 is listed in Annex IV of permitted colourants and must meet the purity criterion specified for that entry.
Restrictions and conditions of use
Products containing this ingredient
See which products include it and the name used in each composition.
