Personal Care Products and Cosmetics FAQs

Cosmetics are products designed to enhance or alter appearance, such as makeup, perfumes and moisturizers. They are applied externally and do not claim to change or affect the body’s function.

Personal care products are items used for hygiene and grooming, including skin care, hair care and oral care products. They are designed to maintain cleanliness and health, and may have functional or therapeutic claims.

The distinction between the two is important for compliance, ingredient differences and regulatory oversight.

Yes, cosmetics and personal care products are regulated. How they are regulated varies by country; NSF has experts in many parts of the world to help businesses comply with local and global regulations.

The fastest and easiest way to check the safety of cosmetics and personal care products is to look for an NSF mark on the label. In addition to scanning for the mark on the label, consumers can use NSF’s online directory to look up certified products and use the NSF Sport app to scan for products that have earned NSF Certified for Sport®.

In general, it is considered safe to buy cosmetics and personal care products online, but there are often bad actors who try to take advantage of consumers looking for these products. The surest way to check the safety of the cosmetic and personal care products you order online is to look for products that have been certified by NSF.

NSF offers several main certifications for cosmetic and personal care products:

• NSF/ANSI 455: Called a “Good Manufacturing Process” certification, or GMP certification, NSF/ANSI 455 demonstrates that quality systems and processes are in place in the manufacturing of cosmetics and personal care products to make consistent and safer products and include annual inspections/audits to ensure ongoing compliance. Products with this certification may display the NSF GMP mark.
• NSF 527: Personal care products can be certified to NSF Guideline 527, which has been built based on global testing protocols and methods for ISO, European Commission, Health Canada and US FDA criteria. Products with this certification may display the NSF Contents Certified mark.
• NSF 305: NSF offers certification to the only American national standard that defines labeling and marketing requirements for organic personal care products, NSF/ANSI 305: Personal Care Products Containing Organic Ingredients. The standard applies to products intended for external use on any part of the body, e.g. cosmetics, oral care products, moisturizers, lotions, soaps and bath beads. Certified products must contain a minimum organic content of 70% by weight. Products with this certification may display the NSF Contains Organic Ingredients mark.
• NSF 306: Typically referred to as NSF Certified for Sport®, NSF 306 is a specialty certification that screens for 290+ banned substances to decrease the risk of positive doping tests. This certification is especially important for amateur and professional athletes, as well as members of the armed forces, law enforcement or any job where an individual is routinely drug tested. Products must be certified to NSF/ANSI 173 to be eligible for NSF 306. Products with this certification may display the NSF Certified for Sport mark.

NSF evaluates each formulation for ingredient acceptability, conducts a formula and label claim verification, and performs testing for purity, identity, contaminants and adulterants. The program ensures personal care products intended for topical use ingredients that are accurately identified and represented on the label.

Testing involves scientifically valid methods to verify the identity, purity, quality, strength and composition of ingredients and finished products.

Certification, on the other hand, is a mark of approval that indicates a product meets established standards and is free from unsafe levels of contaminants and adulterants. NSF’s certification programs provide a seal of approval that supplement manufacturers and brands can use to communicate to public health officials and customers that their products meet established standards.