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What to look for when buying from an Indie Beauty Brand

by Shauna Gallagher

I was prompted to write this blog when I recently came across yet another person selling skincare products and not adhering to legislation. E.U. Cosmetic Regulations 1223/2009 have been enforced since July 2013. When I started out this information was not readily available but now with the internet and how popular the indie beauty industry is it’s not difficult to educate yourself there are courses and support networks and if you are making beauty products to sell it is most certainly your responsibility to comply with legislation!

Rant over I promise but it got me thinking how does a consumer know if a brand is meeting the requirements they need to? So I’ve put together a few tips on what EU brands should be doing

  1. Check the label first - look for an address on the label – if you look on The Natural Beauty Pot’s products you will see the business name and postcode as space is often tight but it means that every product is traceable back to me “the responsible person”.
  2. The product weight whether in grams or mls
  3. The ingredients list INCI (International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients) these are the internationally recognized names to identify cosmetic ingredients. Terminology such as “Made with pure essential oils” is not suffice for an ingredient list, each ingredient is to be listed in order of weight including any allergens.
  4. For items which come without packaging such as Bath Bombs the information MUST be directly beside the product at time of purchase. This is a bug bearer for me if I can fit the ingredients list onto lip balm packaging so can everyone else!!

Every cosmetic product on the EU market must have a CPSR (Cosmetic Product Safety Report) which is compiled by a toxicologist, if a product contains water it will require additional testing. Once the CPSR is completed a PIF (Product Information File) is put together it is then registered on the CPNP (Cosmetic Product Notification Portal).

Don’t be afraid to ask questions, curiosity is how we learn! Never have I been offended by someone asking if my products have been tested.

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