Glossary of terms for Cosmetic Development & Compliance

In every type of business sector acronyms and abbreviations are created. Below is our guide to help explain some used within the cosmetic development and cosmetic compliance work we carry out.

Bench Mark
Bench Mark; this is a product already out on the market that you feels sets that standard that you would like to emulate, this maybe where you want your product to sit price wise or style wise. It may be the texture, colour or general performance that you like. It enables us to get a feel for where you see your product.

CofA / COA
CofA or COA Certificate of Analysis these are required as for MSDS’s but are able to show acceptable margins wherein the material sits.

Compliance
All Cosmetic beauty products sold in the EU must by law comply with regulation 1223/2009. To achieve this you will need to create a PIF which will include a CSPR and product data must be entered on the CPNP. This is commonly called COMPLIANCE.

CPNP
CPNP is Cosmetic Product Notification Portal….The way that products are made available to all the poisons agencies in the countries of the EU

CPSR
What is a CPSR? Cosmetic Product Safety Report legally required for every product to be written by a toxicologist before a product can be entered on the CPNP

EX VAT
Price quoted exclude VAT

EX WORKS
The customer pays for delivery

F.I
Free issue. components such as labels, bottles, fragrance that you might buy in a larger quantity and from which we draw down sufficient for each run as it happens

GMP
Good Manufacturing Practice

IFRA
The International Fragrance Association

INCI
The International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients, abbreviated INCI, is a system of names for waxes, oils, pigments, chemicals, and other ingredients of soaps, cosmetics, and the like, based on scientific names and other Latin and English words.

IP
Intellectual Property

Mark Up
Mark up is the amount between the total cost of the product and what you end up selling it for 

MOQ
Minimum order quantity, this applies to all parts of a product

MSDS
Material Safety Data Sheet these are required for every material used in every cosmetic product

NPD
New product development

OS
Organic Status

PD
Product Development

PIF
PIF the Product Information File is required to pass to the Toxicologist for them to use the data to assess the safety of the whole product, packaging as well as fill.

PM
Profit Margin

POR
Profit on Return

RRP
Recommended Retail Price

Suitably Qualified Person
The Safety Assessment must be carried out by a suitably “European qualified” professional such as a Toxicologist, Chartered Chemist, Chartered Microbiologist or other suitably qualified person with at least 5 years’ experience of the cosmetic industry

TDS
Technical Data sheet

USP
Unique Selling Point

VMS
Vitamins, Minerals and Supplements

WSP
Wholesale price