Technology can transform cosmetics business and ensure complete compliance

The new EU cosmetics regulations have been in place for a little while now but there are still certain challenges facing many businesses with regards to compliance and making sure assessment and files are logged correctly.

A number of companies still struggle to understand the requirements fully and are only partially compliant, according to Bowen, whose company, Cosmetri, has developed a web-based app with a particular focus on SMEs.

Challenges​

Cosmetri are by no means the only company offering such a solution, but Bowen says that Cosmetri is designed as a business tool for SMEs who make their own products and require an easy-to-use suite of tools for formulation, workflow efficiency and EU compliance.

The platform is a secure web-based software application for empowering cosmetics businesses, with features including: product formulation, task management, cost control, PIF generation, ingredients alert, batch protocols, production reports, and team workflow.

Bowen tells us that Cosmetri aims to become the most trusted and widely used software for cosmetic businesses, and plans to roll out further features and tools over the coming months, as well as offering global compliance.

“The challenge for us has been to offer a solution that we consider affordable for most of these customers,”​ he tells CosmeticsDesign-Europe.com.

“What made this possible for us is the availability of the CosIng data in the public domain. We would love to extend Cosmetri to offer global compliance checks, but are still negotiating a realistic price for access to the data without us needing to push up our prices beyond the reach of our target customers.”​

Managing compliance​

Bowen adds that using the right approach can also help to better organise how cosmetics firms manage compliance and create formulations, doing away with spreadsheets, which are traditionally used.

Software, such as Cosmetri’s concept can also help to ensure the safety of finished products which Bowen says is still of concern as he believes that the general perception that because we have the regulations, safety is no longer an issue, could be counter-productive.

“Consumers may have greater trust and are less pro-active in inspecting the labels for harmful ingredients, assuming that the regulations have taken care of this. It is important to make sure everyone, including SMEs are fully compliant,” ​he says.