Product Categories
Colour Cosmetics
Compliance for foundations, lipsticks, eyeshadows and mascara. Colorant approval and heavy-metal trace limits are the defining issues for makeup.
Colour cosmetics live or die on their colorants. Every colourant used must appear in Annex IV of Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009, within the stated purity criteria and any restrictions on where it may be used, and must be declared on the label by its Colour Index number.
Heavy metals
Pigments and mineral fillers carry trace heavy metals as technically unavoidable impurities. Article 17 requires these to be kept as low as reasonably achievable, and we verify them by ICP-MS for lead, arsenic, mercury, cadmium and antimony. This matters most for lip products, which are partly ingested, and for eye-area products, where microbiological quality also comes under closer scrutiny.
Exposure and the assessment
The safety assessment weighs the route of exposure for each product: a lipstick is treated differently from a powder, and a long-wear formula differently from a wash-off one. Pigment sourcing and batch-to-batch consistency feed directly into that conclusion. Make-up also sits within the EU microplastics restriction, Regulation (EU) 2023/2055: lip, nail and make-up products may contain intentionally added synthetic polymer microparticles only until 17 October 2035, and must carry the statement “This product contains microplastics” from 17 October 2031.
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 →Labelling
From £195 · from receipt of artwork
Independent review of packaging artwork against Article 19, and of product claims against the six Common Criteria of Regulation (EU) 655/2013. Label review £195; per-claim review from £125; substantiation dossiers from £1,495.
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 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.
What must appear on a cosmetic label?
Article 19 of Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 sets out the mandatory particulars: the Responsible Person's name and address, the nominal content, the date of minimum durability or the period-after-opening (PAO) symbol, precautions for use, the batch number, the product function, and the list of ingredients in INCI nomenclature. In Great Britain the same requirements apply through the Cosmetic Products Enforcement Regulations 2013, and since 1 January 2026 the UK Responsible Person's details must appear on the label of products sold in GB. Oxford Biosciences reviews packaging artwork against these requirements for £195.