Podcast: Episode 18, COSMOS ORGANIC certified organic cosmetics
Audio episode, how to choose your cosmandics?
- Available on : Episode 18: COSMOS ORGANIC Certified Organic Cosmandics
Résumé
The values of organic make you want but you don't know how to be sure that the cosmandic respects them? Turn to COSMOS ORGANIC certified cosmandics!
1. What is "COSMOS ORGANIC" and who is it for?
- it is a certification of organic cosmandics
- defines a list of criteria that a product must meand in order to claim its organic character
- very well known: more than 24,000 COSMOS cosmandics across 70 countries
- is aimed at organic cosmandics brands
- born from the desire to standardize the various organic certifications that existed in Europe
- launched in 2010, mandatory in January 2017 (disappearance of other certifications in 2017)
2. What are COSMOS Organic's commitments?
The COSMOS Organic certification ensures that the product is environmentally friendly through its ingredients, production and packaging.
Through its ingredients:
- use nature's resources responsibly and respect biodiversity.
- use the principles of green chemistry to avoid polluting solvents.
- do not contain GMOs, no bioaccumulable or non-biodegradable ingredients, no ingredients derived from pandrochemicals (with the exception of a few authorized preservatives).
Product labels and communication materials are reviewed to ensure claims are true and accurate.
3. What are the criteria for a product to be Cosmos Organic?
For a cosmandic to be COSMOS ORGANIC certified, it must:
- at least 95% of its ingredients obtained by a physical process (eg oils, butters, waxes) are organic.
- at least 20% of its total ingredients are organic. If the cosmandic is rinsed off, only 10% organic ingredients are enough.
- Note : water or ingredients of mineral origin (e.g. pigments, certain sunscreens, andc.) cannot be considered organic because they are not from agriculture, they are found in minerals, therefore rocks.
4. How to formulate Cosmos Organic?
- 3 certification bodies in France: Ecocert, Cosmecert et Bureau Veritas
- eligible raw materials (PM) on the site of COSMOS
- it is possible to use MPs that do not appear on the COSMOS site if they comply with the standard and if your supplier complandes a questionnaire
💡 Formulators, download our Excel file to calculate the % of organic ingredients in your formula and the % of organic PPAI: 👇
5. What is the difference bandween Cosmos Organic and Cosmos Natural?
- COSMOS Natural = standard for cosmandics of natural origin
- COSMOS Organic = standard for organic cosmandics
- COMOS Organic plus stricte than COSMOS Natural
6. COSMOS certification, a guarantee of quality
- the brand must be audited by an external organization
- paid certification for the brand
Episode Notes
- Website : MastelCosmetics
- The Instagram account: @mastelcosmetics
- The COSMOS standard: Version 3.1
- Did you like this article? 📌 Click on the images below to pin them on Pinterest and find them later!
 |
 |
 |
Transcription
Hello, you are listening to episode 18 of Les Sous de la Cosmétique, the Podcast which reveals and explains to you with clarity and sincerity the world of cosmetics. I am Julie Magand Castel, chemical biologist and cosmetologist specialized in natural cosmetics and today we are going to talk about organic cosmetics through the COSMOS Organic certification. We will see what COSMOS Organic is and who it is for, what their commitments are, what are the criteria for a product to be COSMOS Organic certified, some tips for formulating COSMOS skincare or other COSMOS ORGANIC cosmetics , what are the differences with COSMOS NATURAL, why this certification is a guarantee of quality.
1. What is "COSMOS ORGANIC" and who is it for?
Cosmos Organic is a certification of organic cosmetics. And COSMOS is an English acronym for COSMetic Organic and natural Standard, so in French the standard for organic and natural cosmetics. To know that organic with a c at the end is the English translation for biological, so it's not organic cosmos q-u-e. I'm going to call it Cosmos organic throughout this episode, because those are the words we see on the certification. Moreover, you can find the visual of the certification in the notes of this episode on the MASTEL website. Cosmos has defined a standard with a whole list of criteria that a product must respect so that it can claim its organic character. For example, thanks to Cosmos, a product cannot be called organic if it only contains 0.1% organic oil.
It is a well-known standard with, to date, more than 24,000 COSMOS cosmetics across 70 countries. It is therefore aimed at organic cosmetics brands.
The launch of the COSMOS standard was done in 2010, but it was mandatory in January 2017, it was born from the desire to standardize the different organic certifications that existed in Europe. Before 2017, Europe had several organic certifications which each had different standards, i.e. each defined organic differently. Ecocert had a different standard from Cosmebio, different from Soil Association, itself different from Natrue. These different certifications then came together to create a single standard within Europe so that all European cosmetics have the same definition of organic.
2. What are COSMOS Organic's commitments?
The COSMOS Organic certification ensures that the product is environmentally friendly through its ingredients, production and packaging.
Its ingredients:
- do not contain GMOs therefore Genetically Modified Organisms
- use nature's resources responsibly and respect biodiversity. For risky resources such as ingredients from palm trees such as palm oil, some additional certifications are required to ensure that palm trees are replanted after cutting
- use the principles of green chemistry to avoid polluting solvents
- do not use ingredients derived from petrochemicals, with the exception of a few authorized preservatives, to avoid using non-renewable resources.
- do not use bioaccumulable or non-biodegradable ingredients
Its production must be respectful of the environment
Its packaging must be recyclable if not recycled and refillable
Cosmos also verifies product labels and communication media to ensure that claims are consistent and true.
3. What are the criteria for a product to be Cosmos Organic?
For a cosmetic to be COSMOS ORGANIC certified, it must:
- at least 95% of its ingredients obtained by a physical process are organic. Ingredients with a physical process are those with the least transformation such as oils, butters, vegetable waxes for example. So 95% of the oils, butters, waxes must be organic, which is very strict.
- at least 20% of its total ingredients are organic. If the cosmetic is rinsed off, only 10% organic ingredients are enough. You are probably wondering why this limit is so low. In fact, water or ingredients of mineral origin such as pigments or certain sunscreens cannot be considered organic because they are not from agriculture, they are found in minerals, therefore rocks. And water is the main ingredient in many cosmetic formulas, such as creams or micellar water. Besides, if you're interested, we devoted episode 3 to the ingredients of micellar water and episode 12 to those of moisturizer. So if the formula contains more than 80% water, well, it will have a hard time meeting the COSMOS organic standard and being certified organic. This is why the percentage of organic ingredients of an organic oil is generally higher than that of an organic cream, because an oil does not contain water and can therefore display up to 100% of ingredients. organic, depending on whether it contains preservatives etc.
I invite you to have a look on the MASTEL website so mastelcosmetics.com in the podcast section, episode 18 to find the diagram I made which visually explains the composition of a COSMOS Organic product.
4. How to formulate Cosmos Organic?
For professionals who go through this and who would like to formulate according to the COSMOS standard, know that there are 3 certifying bodies in France: Ecocert, Cosmecert and Bureau Veritas to which you can turn. You can also search for eligible raw materials on the COSMOS site or use other PMs that meet the standard provided your supplier completes a PM questionnaire. I will provide you with an Excel on the notes of episode 18 on the MASTEL site to easily calculate if your formula is eligible.
5. What is the difference between Cosmos Organic and Cosmos Natural?
Finally, I would like to point out that COSMOS also has a standard for cosmetics of natural and non-organic origin, unsurprisingly, it is called COSMOS Natural. The COSMOS Organic standard is much stricter because it ensures that the product is natural and organic, while the Natural standard ensures that the product is of natural origin only. The ISO 16128 standard also defines the term natural cosmetics, we will discuss this standard in another episode.
6. COSMOS certification, a guarantee of quality
To obtain the organic certification of COSMOS Organic, the brand must then appeal to an external organization which carries out an on-site audit, which reviews the INCI lists and therefore the lists of ingredients of the formulas, the technical documents before certifying the brand. This certification therefore requires a lot of time for the certifying body, which therefore invoices the mark.
I hope you enjoyed this episode and that you know more about your organic care with the COSMOS Organic certification. As I told you previously, you can find the notes of this episode and in particular a diagram which explains the composition of COSMOS ORGANIC cosmetics on mastelcosmetics.com in the Podcast section. You can subscribe to the Podcast Les sous de la cosmetiques on various Podcast platforms including Apple Podcast, Google Podcats and Spotify and follow its news on Instagram and Twitter with mastelcosmetics identifiers. Also and of course feel free to share this podcast with your friends if you think they might enjoy it - thank you. I wish you a beautiful week and give you an appointment soon for an episode, in the meantime take care of yourself.
Leave a comment