Our
CERTIFICATIONS AND

QUALITY STANDARDS.

We offer our customers products of the highest quality. Because it is extremely important for us to have a trusting relationship with our customers and suppliers, we support the desire of our partners and consumers for independent assessments and certifications. We want to use these external evaluations to obtain additional confirmation of our high standards of quality and sustainability. We have our products tested and certified by the following organisations.

Our certificates

Cosmos

The COSMOS standard came into force in 2010 and is now the basic certification for natural and organic cosmetics in over 60 countries. It differentiates between consumer products and raw materials. It was established in Europe by five national associations: 

• ECOCERT (France)
• Cosmebio (France)
•BDIH (Germany)
•ICEA (Italy)
•Soil Association (UK). 

A distinction is made between certification and approval. For conventional, natural raw materials without significant organic components, a “COSMOS approval” is usually obtained.

A certification for raw materials with an organic component is called “COSMOS certified”. 

For cosmetic end products, certifications either as “COSMOS natural” or “COSMOS organic” are possible. The latter relates to end products with an organic component.

NaTrue

The “International Natural and Organic Cosmetics Association” is a non-profit organisation established in 2007 by the leading natural cosmetics producers in Europe. It can be seen as a type of self-regulation body, with strict guidelines for the naturalness of cosmetics products. The NATRUE seal is one of the most rigorous guidelines for cosmetics. It guarantees that the most exacting requirements are fulfilled. 

Certification is particularly widespread for end products. However, it is also possible to obtain the status “NATRUE Approval” for cosmetic raw materials. Raw materials exclusively containing substances classified as natural, nature-identical or near-natural may qualify as NATRUE-compliant.

RSPO

The “Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil” is an initiative which promotes the cultivation and marketing of sustainable palm oil. Palm oil is the most important vegetable oil in the world. It is sourced from the fruits and seeds of oil palms and thus yields two different oils with specific characteristics. Although the yield per hectare is the highest among all commercial oil plants, cropland is restricted to the species-rich tropics. It is therefore particularly important to ensure that the cultivation of oil palms is sustainable. 

Where palm oil is sustainable, cropland is not enlarged through overexploitation, standards for worker rights are complied with and the use of pesticides is reduced. One of most important certificates for this is the RSPO seal. It was established in 2004 on the initiative of the WWF and brings together numerous members of the supply chain as well as NGOs. Compliance with the rigorous requirements is assessed each year through audits. Other labels cooperate with and supplement the RSPO, for example ASD (Action for Sustainable Derivatives). 

Check our progress at www.rspo.org

Bio seal

Raw materials which, according to special requirements, have been cultivated and produced in a sustainable and environmentally-friendly manner are labelled “organic” or “biological”. The clearest difference vis-à-vis traditional production is the fact that pesticides are not used in the farming process.

The EU Bio seal is based on the criteria of EU Regulation (EC) No. 834/2007 on the organic production and labelling of organic products.

ISO 9001

ISO 9001 is a standard for quality management systems and defines the requirements for such systems. An organization must meet these requirements in order to be able to provide products and services that fulfill customer expectations as well as legal and regulatory requirements relevant to the product or service. At the same time, the management system should be subject to a continuous improvement process.

Special product properties

Vegan

(Vegan Society, V-Label)

The origin of the word “vegan” is attributable to Donald Watson, the founder of the Vegan Society, according to which “Veganism is a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude – as far as is possible and practicable – all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of humans, animals and the environment.” 

The Vegan Society originates from the United Kingdom and is one the oldest vegan organisations in the world. 

However, the V-Label was set up by the European Vegetarian Union. Because so far there is no binding statutory definition of the terms “vegan” and “vegetarian”, the terms are defined by V-Label itself. According to V-Label, food is “vegan” if all ingredients and processing aids of animal origin are excluded at all stages of production and processing, including additives, carriers, aromas and enzymes. Products are vegetarian if they are produced without raw materials from animal carcasses, particularly without meat, gelatine, bones or slaughter fats.

GMO

In the EU the use of genetically modified organisms (GMO) is clearly regulated and its labelling on food and feed products is legally prescribed. However, there is no official labelling requirement for cosmetic products. If you wish, as a consumer, to avoid products with GMO, you must rely on the information provided by manufacturers or specifically purchase certified natural cosmetics. For the production of natural cosmetics that are to be certified as such, the use of raw materials containing GMO is generally prohibited, which means that such products are not separately labelled “GMO-free”. 

Outside the EU the declaration requirement is different. In the USA, for example, the use of GMO in food and cosmetics is commonplace. For that reason, in that country products that do not contain GMO are specifically labelled. Those labels are usually also granted by private organisations. One of the best-known labels is granted by the NGO “Non-GMO Project”.

Religious requirements 

The best-known religion-related labels are “halal” and “kosher”. These terms mean “permitted” or “suitable” (for consumption), as these regulations originally concern dietary rules. With the development of modern cosmetics, interest in products with those properties increased. Both regulations have in common the rejection of products containing ingredients that originate from pigs. Examples are gelatine or activated charcoal from their bones. 

Jewish kashrut and Muslim halal organisations grant their labels for products which have been positively audited, and they can be printed on the products. Vegan ingredients are also significant for certain religious communities.  

GRAS

Food additives that are harmless to consume are marked GRAS (“Generally Recognized As Safe”) by the FDA. A product which has been thus approved is exempt from restrictions on daily consumption under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).