Listerine

About Listerine

Listerine was created in 1879 by Joseph Lawrence, a doctor based in St. Louis, and named after the British surgeon Sir Joseph Lister. Today the brand belongs to Kenvue. Its classic mouthwash formulas are built around four essential-oil components: eucalyptol, menthol, methyl salicylate and thymol.

Essential-oil components on the label

The 29 Listerine products in INCIMondo are mouthwashes. Three of the four essential-oil components the classic formulas are built around – MENTHOL, THYMOL and EUCALYPTOL – are among the five most frequent ingredients after water, together with SORBITOL and POLOXAMER 407, a surfactant that helps dissolve the oils in the rinse.

The usual cosmetic flags are all negative here: fragrance ingredients, parabens, silicones and denatured alcohol (ALCOHOL DENAT.) are absent from all 29 formulas.

Reading a mouthwash label

In oral care, flavour is declared as AROMA rather than PARFUM, while components such as MENTHOL or THYMOL appear under their own names. Listerine dates back to 1879, but formulas evolve, so the bottle in your hand is the reference.