Allergic contact dermatitis: cosmetics

Cosmetics are frequent causes of allergic contact dermatitis. After metals, ingredients of cosmetic products are the most common contact allergens identified. Even in the general population, some 2-3% may be allergic to substances that are present in cosmetics and toiletries [ 1 ]. The recent introduction of mandatory ingredient labelling in the European Union [ 2 ] has greatly facilitated diagnostic procedures in patients suspected to suffer from cosmetic allergy, and the number of allergies identified may yet increase. In addition, labelling now enables these allergic patients to avoid products containing substances that will cause allergic contact dermatitis in them. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.