Specialised Products
Baby & Children's Cosmetics
Safety assessment for products intended for babies and children, where the regulatory bar is higher: dedicated exposure modelling, restricted ingredients and the strictest microbiological standard.
Products for babies and young children are assessed to a higher standard than adult cosmetics, and a safety report that does not say so explicitly is incomplete.
A dedicated assessment
The SCCS Notes of Guidance require specific treatment of children, and of children under three in particular, because their skin barrier, surface-area-to-weight ratio and exposure patterns differ from adults. The safety assessor models exposure for the child population directly rather than extrapolating from an adult. A number of Annex III restrictions carry explicit “not to be used in products for children under three” conditions, and certain fragrance and preservative choices are effectively closed off.
The strictest microbiology
Products for children under three, like products for the eye area and mucous membranes, fall into the most demanding microbiological category under ISO 17516, with tighter limits than general cosmetics. We confirm preservative efficacy to ISO 11930 and microbiological quality against that stricter category before the product goes anywhere near a shelf. Claims such as “hypoallergenic” carry their own substantiation burden.
Relevant services
CPSR
From £70 · 2 to 3 days
The Cosmetic Product Safety Report is the safety assessment required under Article 10 and Annex I of Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 before a cosmetic product may be placed on the UK or EU market. Prepared and signed by a qualified safety assessor.
Learn more →Testing
From £75
Stability, microbiology, photoprotection and analytical testing carried out in our three in-house laboratories. Analytical work is not contracted out; results pass directly to the assessor preparing your CPSR.
Learn more →Frequently asked questions
What is a CPSR?
A Cosmetic Product Safety Report (CPSR) is the safety assessment required by Article 10 and Annex I of Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 before a cosmetic product is placed on the UK or EU market. Annex I sets out two parts: Part A, the cosmetic product safety information (composition, physico-chemical and microbiological characteristics, stability, exposure and the toxicological profile of each substance), and Part B, the safety assessment, in which a qualified assessor states and reasons the conclusion on safety. It is the pivotal scientific document held within the Product Information File.
What is a Preservative Efficacy Test (challenge test)?
A Preservative Efficacy Test, also called a challenge test, demonstrates that a product's preservative system controls microbial growth across its life. Oxford Biosciences performs it to ISO 11930 for £165: the product is inoculated with the five specified challenge organisms (Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans and Aspergillus brasiliensis), and viable counts are enumerated over a 28-day window against the Criterion A or B log-reduction thresholds. Typical turnaround is six weeks, reflecting the protocol duration plus enumeration and reporting.
What testing does Oxford Biosciences provide?
Oxford Biosciences operates three in-house laboratories supporting Annex I, sections 3 to 5 of Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009. Services include microbiology (Preservative Efficacy Test to ISO 11930, Microbial Content Test to ISO 17516:2014), real-time and accelerated stability and packaging compatibility, photoprotection testing (in vitro and in vivo SPF and UVA-PF under the current ISO series), and analytical work including heavy metals by ICP-MS, antioxidant capacity by the DPPH assay, and GC/MS constituent analysis of essential oils, hydrolats and perfumes. Analytical work is not contracted out.