Product reformulation as part of our continuous drive for excellence and innovation

Our brand is committed to supplying the best performing, highest quality and safest materials to artists and creatives around the world, and has a long history of doing so. Increasingly, we are also confronted with regulatory changes, such as the reclassification of hazards by many local authorities. Products that have been subject to this reformulation carry a label that states "improved formulation" on the front and links to this website via QR code (on the back).

What happened?

One of these reclassifications concerned a substance in '2-ethylhexanoic acid and its salts', which has now been classified as a reproductive toxicant (according to the EU/UK) if its final concentration in the product mixture is more than 0.3%. The regulation came into force from the 1st of December, on products containing more than 0.3%. This compound is commonly found in driers used in many oil colours and additives, including ours. We would like to inform you about this with the utmost transparency. We of course meet this requirement and adjusted in 2023 the formulations which exceeded the limit. However, it is also part of our tradition to constantly explore and discover how our products can do even more for the artist. Therefore, we have not only revised the formulations where required by legislation, we also used this opportunity to achieve other advantages.

What’s affected?

The following products are involved. Note that the different versions below represent different language variants of the same product:

 

 

What does that mean for the artist?

The artist will notice a visual difference at first glance. However, the essential properties and performance will remain the same. We are pleased to announce that the new formulation also contributes to maintaining the brightness and luminosity of oil colours more than ever before. To demonstrate this, you can see below that our Artists' Oil in Titanium White remains brighter when mixed with an exceptionally high proportion of medium (up to 1:1) and does not darken as much over time.

Artists can continue to use quantities of the old formulation that have already been purchased and have not yet been utilised. But as always, work must be done in an appropriate and careful manner, and direct contact with the substances must be avoided, which also applies to most other professional colours and painting mediums.