The criteria for assessing the natural or organic quality of foods are different from those applied to cosmetics. Unlike agro-food, there is no definition of a “natural” or “organic” product in cosmetics, nor a consolidated EU legislation.

For this reason, several private and voluntary standards – each with their respective definitions and labels – have been specifically created to offer greater guarantees on the composition and quality of a cosmetic product, as well as to address the lack of common, harmonized parameters for natural and organic cosmetics.

Among these standards, NATRUE is nowadays a benchmark for the European and international markets of organic and natural cosmetics. The NATRUE label, created in 2008, sets a high standard and ensures, to both consumers and producers, that only quality natural and organic cosmetics with the highest levels of natural and organic ingredients can be NATRUE certified.

From 2017, Ecogruppo Italia is a “NAC” (NATRUE Approved Certifier), which means that we have official permission to certify ingredients and finished products according to NATRUE criteria, after having undergone a careful and rigorous control.

The NATRUE standard is applicable to both raw materials and finished products intended for cosmetic use. Formulation approval is also available: it is intended for third-party manufacturers who want to sell their formulas to brand owners so they can use them under their own brand name.

Only natural, nature-identical and derived natural raw materials may be used in the formulation of natural and organic cosmetics in compliance with NATRUE requirements. This is how NATRUE defines them:

  • Natural raw materials: unmodified substances from nature obtained physically (e.g. from plants) or from microorganisms (e.g. from fermentation).
  • Derived natural raw materials: substances modified from those found in nature using allowed chemical reaction processes. Derived natural substances must only come from natural ingredients (no synthetics).
  • Nature-identical raw materials: substances that are reproduced in the lab but that can be found in nature. NATRUE only allows a selective list of pigments, minerals and preservatives, and only when strictly necessary to ensure consumer safety and the purity of ingredients.

It is mandatory that all raw materials intended to be used in NATRUE certified finished products are certified or approved. What is the difference? It all depends on the type of raw material:

If it does NOT come from organic farming (natural, derived natural substances):

APPROVAL: only documentation check is needed (on-site inspection not required)

If it comes from organic farming (natural, derived natural substances):

CERTIFICATION: documentation check + on-site inspection

Finished products can lead to two different levels of certification (natural or organic cosmetic). The NATRUE standard establishes that, with products certified as “organic cosmetics”, at least 95% of the ingredients of plant and animal origin contained in the product must come from certified organic agriculture or from controlled spontaneous harvesting.

CERTIFICATION: documentation check + on-site inspection

Manufacturers have until January 31, 2024 to formulate their finished products using NATRUE approved or certified raw materials.

 

As confirmation of its serious commitment to fight greenwashing, the NATRUE label can only be granted if at least 75% (i.e. 8 out of 10) of the products of the same brand or sub-brand are NATRUE certified: this rule prevents brands from marketing one or two NATRUE certified “hero products” while keeping the rest of the line as conventionally formulated ones, which can be misleading for consumers as they might believe that all the products of the brand are certified as natural or organic cosmetics under the NATRUE Label.

NATRUE REQUIREMENTS AND DOCUMENTATION:

NATRUE Label criteria: requirements to be met by natural and organic cosmetics (last updated: 2021)
 Annexes to NATRUE criteria (last updated: 2021)
 How to certify your finished products with NATRUE
 How to certify your raw materials with NATRUE
General conditions for the NATRUE certification (last updated: 2022)
Info request sheet
To download the NATRUE agreements and the Label Usage Guidelines CLICK HERE

You can check all NATRUE certified products directly on the NATRUE database.
For more information, please visit the official NATRUE website (www.natrue.org), or send us an email.