There has been a soaring interest and demand of consumers in natural and organic cosmetics—sustainable beauty—in the current Personal Care and Beauty market. This was brought about as consumers become more aware and responsible for the cosmetics they apply daily, together with their increased effort to use the best, harmless products for their skin and the environment. Click here to read more about sustainable beauty.
Evidently, cosmetic brands are aware of this trend as seen from numerous beauty products labelled ‘natural’ and ‘organic’ on market shelves. Nonetheless, with little regulation and no definition of parameters that define a ‘natural’ or an ‘organic’ cosmetic product, such terms have been used for granted by numerous companies as part of their marketing strategies, making it difficult for consumers to accurately determine the products that are indeed organic or natural.
Therefore, certifications, labels, and standards serve as easily-distinguishable guarantees for consumers which signify a true natural or an organic cosmetic product. They also represent the companies’ commitment to sustainability, which further translates into the transparency of their products.
In this article, we will share major natural and organic cosmetic certifications and labels.
COSMOS
The COSMOS-standard is a prestigious international certification for organic and/or natural cosmetics that was developed by BDIH (Germany), COSMEBIO & ECOCERT (France), ICEA (Italy), and SOIL ASSOCIATION (UK). It not only indicates the use of sustainably sourced natural and organic ingredients that had no synthetic chemicals added while farming, but also signifies to consumers that the products are safe for humans and the environment.
It classifies the ingredients of a cosmetic product into 5 categories: water, minerals and ingredients of mineral origin, physically processed agro-ingredients, chemically processed agro-ingredients, and other ingredients. Additionally, it prohibits the use of nanomaterials, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and their derivatives, and animal testing, while regulating the use of palm oil, palm kernel oil, and its derivatives.
This standard offers both certifications and approvals for both finished products and ingredients.
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Label
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Indicates
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COSMOS NATURAL
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Finished products
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which is made up of natural origin ingredients. which comply with all aspects of the standards, but fail to meet the minimum organic percentages.
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COSMOS ORGANIC
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in which at least 95% of the weight in the total product contains organic origin ingredients.
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COSMOS CERTIFIED
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Ingredients
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which are physically processed and chemically processed with organic content that meets the COSMOS-standard.
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COSMOS APPROVED
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Raw materials
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that are non-organic content that are approved to be used according to the COSMOS-standard.
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SOIL ASSOCIATION
Soil Association Certification is an internationally trusted mark of organic certification from the UK which indicates the highest standards of ingredients’ sustainability and transparency. Today, more than 160 organic and natural beauty and wellbeing producers across 20 countries have been certified. It offers a wide range of certifications for various sectors: food & drink, forestry, farming, beauty & well-being, and fashion & textiles. Moreover, as mentioned above, Soil Association, together with 3 other international partners created the COSMOS-standard.
Soil Association Health & Beauty standard is for non-cosmetic products such as household cleaning products, intimate health products, and products in the medical category.
NATRUE
NATRUE is an international certificate that signifies high-quality natural and organic cosmetics, which indicates that at least 75% of the product (water excluded) is made up of natural or organic ingredients which are non-genetically modified organisms. Therefore, it aids in the easy identification of true natural and organic cosmetics for consumers while actively contributing to keeping greenwashing off the market.
The NATRUE certificate is available for both finished products and raw materials.
There are two certification levels for finished products: Natural or Organic.
- Cosmetic products certified Natural by NATRUE contain minimum levels of natural substances and maximum levels of derived natural raw materials as set by NATRUE’s guide.
- Cosmetic products certified Organic contain at least 95% of natural ingredients of plant and animal origin.
NATRUE also divides the permitted ingredients into 3 categories: Natural, Natural-identical, and Derived natural substances.
- Natural substances are substances of botanic, inorganic-mineral, or animal origin, and their mixtures with each other.
- Nature-identical substances may only be used when natural substances cannot be recovered with adequate techniques.
- Derived natural substances may only be used when the desired function cannot be gained from natural substances.
Click here to find all NATRUE’s certified products.
ISO 16128
ISO 16128 is a guide that is used internationally to define organic and natural ingredients and finished products.
It consists of 2 parts:
- ISO 16128-1 provides definitions of natural and organic cosmetic ingredients and finished products. It also defines and restricts other ingredient categories that may be required for natural and organic product development.
- ISO 18128-2 provides criteria for ingredients and finished products to be considered natural or organic. It outlines mathematical formulas to calculate natural, natural origin, organic, and organic origin indexes for ingredient categorization, as well as the respective contents of products given the ingredient characterization.
This allows for the calculation of:
- Natural index
- Natural origin index
- Organic index
- Organic origin index
of cosmetic ingredients.
It also states that an ingredient must contain more than 50% of natural or organic raw materials to be in the natural or organic origin index respectively.
EU ECOLABEL
The EU Ecolabel is a label of environmental excellence throughout the entire life cycle of goods and services – from raw material extraction to production, distribution, and disposal. While working in accordance with the ISO 14024 standard, it also promotes innovative product development that is durable, easily repaired, and recyclable.
As such, products with this label indicate that they reduce the impact on the environment by fulfilling the strict biodegradability requirements and resulting in minimal packaging waste.
Lastly, the Ecolabel is available for cosmetics, textiles, paintings, and detergents, and its criteria for cosmetic products are structured by the European Commission.
View our natural and biodegradable preservatives.
View our Natural and Biodegradable Preservatives.
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