What controls and verifications are carried out as part of cosmetic certification?

What controls and verifications are carried out as part of cosmetic certification?

As the owner of a beauty salon or spa, making the right choices when it comes to cosmetics is essential.

Only problem: it is sometimes complicated to know the quality of cosmetics before testing them.

So how do you know if a cosmetic product will please your customers or not?

There are many clues. The opinions of other institutes, the ethics of the supplier... But also the cosmetic certifications!

Small logos affixed to the cosmetic label, certifications are real guarantees of quality for beauty professionals.

They are awarded by certifying bodies, which carry out studies on site and on the formulation of cosmetics, to find out if they deserve to be certified.

Each certification follows very precise specifications , bringing together requirements on the composition, on the origin of the products, on the absence of animal products, etc.

But in all cases, the control procedure is the same: tests, on-site checks, a report and an official decision.

Green Spa gives you all the information on the checks carried out by the certifying bodies!

Upstream controls by the verifying body

First of all, using a certifying body is the role of cosmetic brands.

A certification body will never contact a brand to offer the certification in question.

The approach must come from the producing brand, which must then follow the specifications, and collaborate closely with the certification body.

The brand requesting to be certified must then send a certification request.

This request includes in particular the creation of an entire file including detailed information sheets for all cosmetic products.

These sheets specify the ingredients that compose them, the dosage of the ingredients in question, their traceability , their origin, etc.

Thanks to this document, the certification body will be able to verify numerous elements:

  • The cosmetic design formula , which notably involves studying the content of natural and organic ingredients
  • The label, which includes all the obligatory information and must leave no room for doubt
  • The materials used in the packaging of the product

Everything then depends on the specifications of the certifying body. In all cases, experienced experts take care of this phase.

And only if everything is in shape can they move on to the next step.

Verifications directly on site

The next step is to travel to the cosmetics production site . It is therefore a control which is carried out directly at the factory.

This verification step makes it possible to analyze the veracity of the information communicated upstream, but also other elements which cannot be verified on paper.

During this audit , the assigned expert will carry out a rigorous verification of the manufacturing process, the cleaning products that are used, but also the storage of raw materials and finished cosmetics.

These numerous control stages make it possible to award cosmetic certifications only to brands that demonstrate flawless involvement and impeccable compliance with requirements.

The slightest problem results in a refusal of certification.

Good to know :

Depending on the certifying bodies, it may also happen that experts control the means of communication used by a brand!

If the latter uses terms like “ organic ” or “ natural ” wrongly, they may get a slap on the wrist.

The very first thing to do for the brand is therefore to turn to a certifying body .

These are independent organizations , which control the different stages of cosmetic production and decide whether to grant it certification or not.

The cosmetics manufacturing brand must therefore choose the certification it wishes to obtain and contact the certification body linked to it.

To ensure that they do not contact the organizations for nothing, brands have access to the specifications of each certification.

During contact, the manufacturer can then question the certification body about the prices charged, and request an inspection date.

Closing the cosmetic certification process

Once these two steps are completed, the expert writes a report.

In this report, we find all the information collected during the testing phases. And to preserve the impartiality of the organization, it is not the expert in question who makes the final decision.

The latter simply transmits his report and his observations to the certification body. Then other experts make the decision!

The latter is communicated as quickly as possible, but can take a few weeks or even a few months.

It all depends on the quantity of studies that the organization must carry out, but also on the collaboration and responsiveness of the company wishing to obtain cosmetic certification.

It is thanks to all these requirements that you can rely on the quality guaranteed by cosmetic certifications.

Want to know more ? Green Spa gives you all the information:

  • Cosmetic certification: how does it work?
  • The different cosmetic certifications: which ones to prioritize?