There were 52 of you in this contest, and many of you were brilliant! Congratulations to all, some questions were not so easy, even if all the answers (or almost all!) could be found in our PRO online content and/or in CosmeticOBS ebooks!
Today, all the answers having been reviewed and analyzed, we can give you the right answers… and the names of the winners!

The right answers

Question 1: The safety of Triclocarban must be assessed by France in 2020 as part of the CoRAP. On what grounds?
Answer: For its reprotoxic and endocrine disruptor potential.
The answer could be found in the article CoRAP 2019-2021: 100 substances to be evaluated, as well as in the ebook Endocrine Disruptors Ingredients.

Question 2: Which competent authorities are active in Russia in the field of cosmetics? And in which areas are they competent?
Answer:
• The Federal Consumer Protection and Public Welfare Service (Rospotrebnadzor) which manages product registration, consumer protection, supervision and enforcement of technical regulations
• The Federal Service of Accreditation (FSA) which is responsible for the registration of declarations of conformity and the accreditation of laboratories and certification bodies
• The Federal Agency on Technical Regulation and Metrology (Rosstandart) whose role is to publish harmonised methods, in particular via standards
The answer could be found in the article Cosmetic regulation in Russia.

Question 3: The 2nd Omnibus Regulation on CMRs has been notified to the WTO and is due to be adopted at the end of 2019. How many new entries will be added to Annex II to Regulation 1223/2013?
Answer: 31
• Annex I to this Regulation indicates that 13 new entries are added to Annex II to Regulation 1223/2009.
• Its Annex II amends 2, deletes 1 and adds 18 others.
13 + 18 = 31 !
The answer could be found in the article The 2nd European CMR Regulation notified to the WTO, publised on 19 June 2019, as well as in the ebook Best-Of 2019 (Part I).

Question 4: At the last Perfumes and Cosmetics Congress in Chartres in 2018, Salvatore D’Acunto, Head of Unit - Health Technologies and Cosmetics of DG Grow, announced the adoption of a text “quite soon”. It was in fact published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 8 May 2019. Which text is it?
Answer: The glossary of common ingredient names for use in the labelling of cosmetic products
The answer could be found in the article European regulatory news, published on 19 November 2018, as well as in the ebook Best-Of 2018 (Part II).

Question 5: The SCCS has published its Final Opinion on Butylphenyl methylpropional (BMHCA, Lysmeral). According to its conclusion, may the substance be considered safe for use in cosmetics?
Answer: In the words of the SCCS, “On individual product basis, Butylphenyl Methylpropional (p-BMHCA) (CAS 80-54-6) with alpha-tocopherol at 200 ppm, can be considered safe when used as fragrance ingredient in different cosmetic leave-on and rinse-off type products. However, considering the first-tier deterministic aggregate exposure, arising from the use of different product types together, Butylphenyl methylpropional at the proposed concentrations cannot be considered as safe.”
The answer could be found in the article Butylphenyl Methylpropional: Final Opinion finale of the SCCS, published on 16 May 2019, as well as in the Ingredient sheet - Butylphenyl methylpropional.

Question 6: In 2017, the total turnover of the entire French cosmetics sector amounted to 45 billion euros. What is the amount of the cosmetics manufacturers’ participation in this figure?
Answer: 24 billion euros
The answer could be found in the article Cosmetics sector: a major player in the French economy, published on 8 July 2019.

Question 7: Nano-titanium dioxide can come in several forms (quasi-spherical, plates, rods…). What application does it have when it’s in the form of rods?
Answer: UV filter
The answer could be found in the article Nanomaterials: the right characterization to comply with regulations, published on 23 January 2019, as well as in the databook Nanomaterials - DATABOOK 2019.

Question 8: The Green Dot on labels is no longer mandatory in France. In which European countries is it still the case?
Answer: Spain, Portugal, Greece and Cyprus
The answer could be found in the article Controversial ingredients, Cosmetics Regulation and ISO Standard16128: the FEBEA’s answers, published on 5 December 2018, as well as in the ebook Best-Of 2018 (Part II).

Question 9: Some UV filters are allowed at different concentrations in Europe and the United States (example: Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane/Avobenzone - Europe: 5% - USA: 3%). What are the permitted percentages for Ethylhexyl Triazone?
Answer: The concentration of Ethylhexyl Triazone is limited to 5% in Europe; this filter is not approved in the US.
The answer could be found in the article Datasheet: UV-filters and sunscreens, published on 11 July 2018, as well as in the databook Sun Products - The DATABOOK 2019.

Question 10: The CosmeticOBS editorial team attends many professional events, congresses, fairs… At one of them, two of its members will soon be present, Laurence Wittner to give a lecture, and Jasmine Salmi to lead a round table. What event is it?
Answer: LuxePack Monaco Jasmine Salmi moderated the round table “To each skin its own formulation”, and Laurence Wittner gave a lecture entitled “To do or not to do… with cosmetic ingredients”.

The winners

1st Prize: Pauline Ferereira, from Institut Scientis
• She obtained a score of 19.5/20. She won a free pass to the two-day Perfumes and Cosmetics 2019 Congress - in partnership with the Cosmetic Valley (value: €1,296 VAT included).

2nd Price: St Barth Laboratory
• St Barth Laboratory obtained a score of 18.5/20. An article “portrait and presentation of the company” will be produced and published on CosmeticOBS (value: invaluable ;-).

3rd Prize: Gwenaelle Vernay, from Edencos
• She obtained a score of 18/20. She won three ebooks to choose in the CosmeticOBS Library (average value: €300 VAT excluded).

4th Prize: ex-aequo Juliette Fincias, Julia Gourlaouen and Chloé Violin
• They obtained a score of 17.5/20 and each won two ebooks to choose in the CosmeticOBS Library (average value: €200 VAT excluded).

5 Awards: ex-aequo Aela Derrien, Christina Jorge and Cyntia Rahmani
• They obtained a score of 16/20 and each won an ebook to choose in the CosmeticOBS Library (average value: €100 VAT excluded).

Congratulations to all of them! And see you next year for the 3rd edition of this competition!