We all know that the list of ingredients is mandatory on a cosmetic product’s label. We know the main principles… but it is not that easy to be fully compliant with the Regulation! This issue was the subject of a whole sequence during the breakfast organized by FEBEA for its members on the topic of labelling on 23 March 2012. With some advice to support it.
The principle was stated in the Cosmetics Directive and reaffirmed in Regulation 1223/2009, which replaced it on 11 July 2013: “Transparency is needed regarding the ingredients used in cosmetic products. Such transparency should be achieved by indication of the ingredients used in a cosmetic product on its packaging.”
The basic rules
In its Article 19, about labeling, the Cosmetics Regulation is clear: “Cosmetic products shall be made available on the market only where the container and packaging of cosmetic products bear the following information in indelible, easily legible and visible lettering…,” among them: (g) a list of ingredients.
The ingredients, all the ingredients
As a reminder, an ingredient is “any substance or mixture intentionally used in the cosmetic product during the process of manufacturing.”
The following shall not, thus, be regarded as ingredients:
• Impurities in the raw materials used
• Subsidiary technical materials used in the mixture but not present in the final product
As for the “true” ingredients, the list shall be exhaustive; none shall be forgotten.
The descending order
It is added in Article 19 that “The list of ingredients shall be established in descending order of weight of the ingredients at the time they are added …
