Dr Nathalie Mathy, Ph.D

As owner of your cosmetics brand, you become the responsible person for your cosmetic products. That is whether you make them in your own lab, outcontract the production or buy them overseas.

It is important for you to realise that you have a number of rules and regulations to follow if you want to sell your cosmetics in Europe. (It's the law  according to EU regulations n°1223/2009)

Here they are:

• have a safety evaluation (assessment)  for each product performed by a safety expert (Cosmetic Product Safety Report)
• create a product information file  (PIF) for each product
• create a label/packaging with all the  legally required information
• notify each product on the European cosmetic portal (CPNP)
• stock and transport your products appropriately
• report any serious adverse effects due to your cosmetics to the appropriate authorities
• remove your products from the market if the need arises

The Cosmetic Product Safety Report MUST be performed by a safety assessment expert and will check the ingredients in your products

You may want to take care of the remainder of the the reponsabilites if you feel you are able to do so, or you want to outcontract these tasks.

If your budget is limited, it may be a good idea to do as much as you can yourself: for example designing the packaging, submitting the CPNP notification, and so on.

Did you know that this rule also applies to any recipes you may use during cosmetic workshops? Your recipes and the final product need to be safe for the end consumer.