Consumers across Europe and the US can now view fragrance ingredient information for over 3,000 home, beauty and personal care products from Unilever’s portfolio, including popular household brands such as Dove, Axe, Comfort TIGI, TRESemmé, Vaseline and OMO.

The personal care company has announced that it delivered on its commitment to voluntarily disclose fragrance ingredients across its home, beauty and personal care products in Europe and the US by the end of 2018. Launched in early 2017, the company’s pledge to disclose fragrance ingredient information down to 0.01% of the product formulation was an industry first, paving the way and encouraging many other companies to do the same.

Dove 60th 6 Bar Pack; brands under Unilvever include Dove, TIGI and Vaseline. (Photo: © Dove / PRNewswire)

According to the company, the move now allows shoppers to make informed decisions about the scented ingredients in their products, which are commonly listed merely as ‘fragrance’ in the US and as ‘Parfum’ in Europe. In the US, details about its ingredient lists are available via the digital platform SmartLabel, an industrywide digital platform providing easy access to information about products. In Europe, the ‘What’s in our Products’ section on Unilever websites includes information on the company’s approach to developing safe products, explanations of ingredient types and answers to common questions. In addition, an online search tool is available to support people with fragrance allergies to find suitable products for them.

"We are more committed than ever to transparency and building trust in Unilever and our brands," said Amanda Sourry, president of Unilever North America, in a statement. "With the completion of our fragrance disclosure initiative, people now have access to more detailed ingredient information for the products they use and love from Unilever. We are very happy to see that other companies in the industry have announced plans to disclose fragrance ingredients in the future."

The move is the latest indication that the beauty industry is adapting to calls for increased transparency from consumers. In September 2017, fellow personal care giant Procter & Gamble announced plans to share "all fragrance ingredients down to 0.01 percent" across its product portfolio in the US and Canada by the end of 2019. Last year, a global study dubbed the FIT Transparency Perception Assessment Survey found that more than 40% of beauty consumers felt that they did not get enough information from brands about ingredient safety, with 72% of respondents claiming they would like brands to explain the exact effects of the ingredients in their products.