On 14 July 2026 the regulator for industrial chemicals in Australia — AICIS, which is where cosmetic ingredients sit — published a decision about retinal.
"From 27 June 2026, Retinal (retinaldehyde; CAS 116-31-4) importation and manufacture can no longer be authorised under the AICIS exempted or reported categories if it has any consumer end use, including as a cosmetic ingredient."
In ordinary language: anyone bringing retinal into Australia to put in a consumer product now has to hold an assessment certificate first. It is not a proposal and it is not coming. It has been in force since 27 June.
"We recently completed a targeted human health hazard assessment of retinal that found it has developmental toxicity. Because retinal has now been classified as a developmental toxin, retinal introductions for consumer use are no longer eligible for the exempted (very low risk) and reported (low risk) categories."
Developmental toxicity means risk to a developing pregnancy. That is the finding, and it is the whole of the finding. It is not a conclusion that anyone who has used retinal has been harmed, and the notice does not say so.
Three things, because the gap between what a decision says and what it sounds like is where most of the worry lives.
It is not a recall. Nothing has been withdrawn. Nothing you own has been declared unfit.
It does not tell you to stop. The obligation lands on importers and manufacturers. It says nothing about clinics, shops, or the person with the bottle.
It does not touch retinol. The notice is explicit:
"This regulatory requirement does not apply to introductions of retinol (CAS 68-26-8) and retinol esters that are on the Australian Inventory."
Retinal and retinol are close relatives and are constantly spoken of as one thing. Here they are not one thing. The decision is about retinal only.
Our page on actives in pregnancy has named the vitamin A family in full — retinol, retinal, retinyl esters and the prescription-strength versions — in the set-aside list since it was written. All of it, for the duration, and usually while trying to conceive.
The regulator has now reached the same position, in its own language, for its own reasons, on one member of that family. That is a confirmation of advice we already give, not a change to it.
We would rather say that out loud than leave it sitting there. A clinic that only mentions regulation when the regulation is flattering is not being straight with anyone.
Glow stocks eight retinal products, between $85 and $195. This is not a story about somebody else's ingredient.
We are continuing to stock it. The finding is not a recall, nothing has been declared unfit, and it changes none of the advice we already give — the whole vitamin A family stays set aside in pregnancy, as it always has here. If our position changes, this page will change with it.
For most people reading this, the answer is that nothing changes. That is worth saying plainly rather than inventing a task.
Not pregnant, not trying. Keep going as directed. The decision does not ask anything of you.
Pregnant, or trying. Set it aside — as our pregnancy page has always said — and raise it with your GP or midwife at your next appointment. That was true before this notice and it is true now.
Would rather not use retinal at all from here. That is a reasonable thing to decide, and it does not need a justification. Retinol sits outside this decision entirely and we stock it. Say so at your next appointment and we will change the plan.
They are different steps of the same conversion. Retinal is one step closer than retinol to the form skin actually uses, which is why it is often described as working faster. Neither is the stronger or the better one in every case, and which suits you is a conversation rather than a ranking. There is more on our retinol page.
The decision itself is short and public: AICIS — retinal introductions for consumer use now need assessment.
Written and reviewed by Taliha-Paige Maggs, RN — AHPRA NMW0002013176. Published 10 September 2026.
1. Retinal introductions for consumer use now need assessment — AICIS, 14 July 2026. 2. Actives in pregnancy — Glow Cosmetique. 3. Retinol — Glow Cosmetique.