The Label Report

What 2074 everyday products reveal about the labels you buy

Name: The PlainBody Label Report
Creator: PlainBody
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

We grade every ingredient on the actual evidence and score every product on one rubric. That gives us a consistent dataset across 2074 popular products and 691 profiled ingredients. Two stories fall out of it: where the genuine concern hides, and how much of the feared list the evidence does not support.

Updated July 2026. By PlainBody Editorial.

42%

of products hide their scent as an unlisted "fragrance" blend

28%

of the shampoos and conditioners use a formaldehyde-releaser or MIT

of the "scary" ingredients carry fears the evidence does not support

10/10

of our cleanest products contain a commonly feared, low-concern ingredient

The concern that actually matters is hiding in plain sight

Fragrance is the most common cause of cosmetic contact allergy, and 42% of the products we scored list it only as an undisclosed “fragrance” or “parfum” blend, so you cannot see which allergens you are getting. Among leave-on products, 36% carry a fragrance blend. Meanwhile 4% of products still use a formaldehyde-releasing preservative, a class with real, cited contact-allergy concern, concentrated in hair care.

Most of the feared list is not backed by the evidence

Of the 691 ingredients we have profiled against the published safety reviews, 45 (7%) carry our commonly-feared, low-concern verdict: parabens, silicones, sulfates in rinse-off products, fatty alcohols, mineral oil, and the rest of the usual suspects. Only 10 carry genuine restricted or limited-concern verdicts. And 10 of our ten cleanest products contain at least one commonly feared, low-concern ingredient, which tells you how little the fear lists have to do with what actually matters on a label.

How the scores fall

The median product scores 87 out of 100. Most everyday products are fine; the bottom of the distribution is where the fragrance blends, sensitizing preservatives, and hidden allergens cluster.

90 and up

891

80 to 89

523

70 to 79

384

60 to 69

161

Under 60

115

By category

Category	Products	Median score
Cleansers	236	91
Moisturizers	286	92
Serums	339	91
Toners	125	92
Sunscreens	228	87
Shampoos	96	73
Conditioners	106	79
Body wash	144	77
Body lotion	165	81
Deodorants	101	78
Masks	91	88
Foundations	61	95
Lip color	38	83
Eye makeup	58	95

Cite this report

The findings are free to reference, in a story or a study, with a link back to this page.

PlainBody Editorial. (2026). The Label Report: what 2074 everyday products reveal. PlainBody. https://plainbody.com/report

How we built this

Every figure is computed live from the 2074 products and 691 ingredient dossiers in our database. Concern verdicts are graded against published safety reviews (CIR, EU SCCS, CosIng, FDA), never hazard-score lists. Full method: how we score. Cosmetic information for general education, not medical advice.