Beautyfull Club: Let’s start first by reframing the topic in history.
Laurence Mulon: You are right. It must be recalled that the first natural cosmetics were made in Germany in the 1920s ... with Weleda in 1922 and Dr. Haushka (Wala) in 1929. The first French brands only appeared in 1972 with Phyt’s and Paltz in 1976. And also bear in mind that between 1920 and 2000, these products were intended for a niche market (organic circuits), no specific regulations had been set up for them. From 2000 to 2005, to provide customers a true quality of workmanship and to defend their interests, European players in the natural and organic cosmetic industry decided to work together. From their alliances and common history came out several specifications and labels. And since 2005, marked by several media events, bio cosmetics have emerged from their elitist circuit to conquer other markets.
Beautyfull Club: You might first remind us, "what is exactly a label?"
Laurence Mulon: It’s a sign identifying quality. It meets a number of qualitative criteria defined by specifications and controlled by an independent third party company approved by Authorities. That’s certification. In fact a label is comprised of specifications, a certification and a logo. Each label has a Certification Body and specifications or repository of its own. A repository is a technical document that describes the characteristics that must present an industrial product or service and the rules for monitoring the compliance to these characteristics.
Beautyfull Club: A word on the European cosmetic repositories!
Laurence Mulon: In Europe, more than a dozen labels are used on packaging of natural and organic cosmetics. Each label has its own characteristics and its own levels of certification.
Beautyfull Club: How do we navigate our way through all these labels?
Laurence Mulon: The table below provides a most comprehensive summary of the situation.
- TABLE A (listing all the labels and their identification signs)
Beautyfull Club: Clearly as the table reads, the profusion of labels and national logos, could only bring confusion in consumers’ minds!
Laurence Mulon: It was obviously necessary to organize all these country-initiated initiatives. Two of them emerged at a European level: 
Firstly, a repository to harmonize national approaches based on consensus: in 2003, the creation of the European group of harmonization between the six national organizations resulted, late 2009, in the publication of the Cosmos-standard. Secondly, a European label created by several German manufacturers and published in 2008: the NaTrue label.
Cosmos Standard: To give everyone satisfaction
Beautyfull Club: A word on European Cosmetics repositories and the Cosmos Standard.
Laurence Mulon: The Cosmos standard offers two levels of certification: natural and organic. This standard was developed by a workgroup including associations of professionals, each of them having their own national specifications. Obviously concessions were made to satisfy everyone regarding the nature of ingredients and manufacturing processes involved. The result is hardly accessible to uninitiated readers, especially concerning the different calculations of the organic percentage in ingredients and in the cosmetic product. Globally, as part of the Cosmos principle, the indication of bio value corresponds to the bio plant introduced (plant water included). The ratio plant/extract or plant/final product must be considered. A number of ingredients will be concerned during a transitional period of three to five years. 2013 will concern ingredients obtained from a physical process. Note that 100% of available ingredients in organic agriculture will have to be certified "organic". 2015,will concern ingredients obtained through a chemical process. 30% of these ingredients must be organically produced. But some questions remain unresolved, such as the one concerning the choice of the logo, which is not yet settled. The novelty lies in the introduction of the 12 principles of green chemistry (see Table B)
Beautyfull Club: Packaging is obviously concerned by the Cosmos Standard.
Laurence Mulon: Indeed! Remember that this approach is part of sustainable development. So primary and secondary packaging must be designed to minimize direct and indirect impacts on the environment during their whole life cycle. Of course the industry must use as many recyclable or reusable materials as possible and select materials with components which are also recyclable. This is why, the relevance of using cases, unit-doses or wet wipes should be reassessed in this context. Plans should be made to have evidence provided during the certification stage for each element of the packaging. Some materials are prohibited, such as PVC-based plastics and their derivatives, polystyrene and any materials containing constituents derived from GMOs, biodegradable plastics based on corn starch .... Of course, a certificate of compliance to Cosmos may be requested from the supplier of the package. A review on the appropriateness of the components will occur every three years, given the evolution of knowledge.
Beautyfull Club: The company must also have an "environmental approach"!
Laurence Mulon: Yes, of course! It concerns the manufacturing and packaging process. Compliance with ISO 14 000 is accepted or any national environmental approach, including all waste/effluent process and life cycle products. The carbon footprint is taken into account.
Label Na True: German specificity
Beautyfull Club: a word on the NaTrue label.
Laurence Mulon: It offers three level of certification: Natural cosmetics Partly organic natural cosmetics Organic cosmetics This label presents a novelty. It introduces the concept of product categories inside of which are defined specific certifications criteria: 13 categories have been defined. Main drawback, the use of nature-identical ingredients obtained from conventional chemistry. The use is limited to cases where natural substance extraction is not technically feasible. The nature-identical ingredients are part of a positive list. Currently 282 cosmetic products are certified. The certified companies are essentially German (Weleda, Primavera-Life, Wala, Laverana, Andrea Bioderman Mineral, Belt’s bioprodukte, Logocos, Marie W. Dr Scheller, Kneipp-Werke, Ocean-Basis, Peter Greven Physioderm). Concerning packaging and support materials, the label sets requirements on packaging and support materials which are part of sustainable development. It emphasizes on limiting packaging. Products must be designed for multiple use (except samples). Unit-doses must be limited. Depending on technical advances, the label will favor recyclable packaging, packaging made of renewable materials. The use of halogenated plastics is prohibited. Eventually compressed gas containers are not certifiable.
