Health and beauty standards

Guidance on certifying organic and natural health and beauty products to the COSMOS standard and Soil Association health and beauty standards.

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          These standards set out the requirements for organic and natural health and beauty products certified to the internationally recognised COSMOS standard and for Soil Association health and beauty certified products.

          From 1 March 2024, COSMOS version 4.1 was applicable to all products and ingredients.

          On 1 September 2025, a second sub version was published (v4.2), again with editorial changes.

          Note, all products and ingredients that meet version 4, automatically meet version v4.1 and v4.2. There are no criteria changes in v4.1 or v4.2. The up-to-date transition dates have been written in v4.2.

          Soil Association Certification certifies products to the COSMOS-standard for products that are considered cosmetic products by definition in the Cosmetic Regulation (EC) No. 1223/2009.

          Soil Association health and beauty standards are applicable to personal care products, pet products and other products that cannot be considered cosmetic products by definition in the Cosmetic Regulation (EC) No. 1223/2009. 

          Standards and guides

          Download the standards and technical guides below.

          Standards

          COSMOS standard criteria

          Updated 01 Sept 2025

          Sets out the COSMOS standard requirements for organic and natural cosmetics, including ingredient sourcing, processing, labelling and certification criteria.

          • Beauty and wellbeing
          • Products
          • Labelling
          Download (913.76 KB)
          Standards

          COSMOS standard technical guide

          Updated 01 Sept 2025

          Guidance on how to interpret and apply the COSMOS standard, including detailed requirements for ingredients, processing, labelling and certification.

          • Beauty and wellbeing
          • Labelling
          • Products
          Download (1.15 MB)
          Standards

          Soil Association organic standards for health and beauty care products

          Updated 11 Jun 2025

          The Soil Association’s organic standards for health and beauty products which fall outside of scope of COSMOS.

          • Beauty and wellbeing
          • Products
          • Labelling
          Download (5.35 MB)
          Summary

          Summary of changes to Soil Association organic standards for health and beauty care products

          Updated 06 Jun 2025

          A summary of recent changes to the Soil Association Health and Beauty standards, outlining what’s changed and what certified businesses need to know.

          Download (127.79 KB)
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          Beauty and wellbeing certification

          Find answers on organic and natural certification, how the certification process works, and common questions about ingredients and labelling.

          Find out more
          Apply

          Beauty and wellbeing

          Request an application form and find out how certification works, what’s required, and the support available to help you apply.

          Supporting documents for COSMOS

          The COSMOS labelling guide, technical guide, standard and control manual have been updated in accordance with the launch of COSMOS v4.2.

          Standards

          Summary of changes to the COSMOS standard

          Updated 01 Sept 2025

          Summarises the key changes introduced in the latest version of the COSMOS standard, highlighting updates that may affect certification, ingredient requirements, processing and labelling.

          • Beauty and wellbeing
          • Products
          • Labelling
          Download (220.84 KB)
          Standards

          Guidance on changes to the COSMOS standard

          Updated 01 Apr 2025

          Guidance explaining the changes introduced in the latest version of the COSMOS standard, helping businesses understand what has changed and how it may affect certification and compliance.

          • Beauty and wellbeing
          • Products
          • Labelling
          Download (4.4 MB)

          You can also download the supporting documents and view the COSMOS database on the COSMOS website.