The short answer
Every claim on a cosmetic's label, website or advertising must meet six common criteria set by Regulation (EU) No 655/2013 and retained in Great Britain: legal compliance, truthfulness, evidential support, honesty, fairness and informed decision making. Claims that a product treats or prevents disease are medicinal and not permitted at all. The evidence for each claim, or a note that it is purely descriptive, belongs in the claims section of the PIF.
Key takeaways
- A claim is any text, name, image or symbol that conveys a characteristic or function; product names and pictures count as much as bullet points.
- Evidence must be proportionate to the claim: supplier data for a moisturising claim, testing for a measurable performance claim, nothing for a purely descriptive one.
- Free from claims are permitted only when they meet the criteria; free from parabens and hypoallergenic are the two that fail most often.
- Medicinal claims, anything about treating, curing, healing or preventing a condition, take the product outside cosmetics law and no CPSR can rescue it.
- The safety assessor checks claims for consistency with the CPSR, but substantiation is the Responsible Person's job and lives in the PIF.
- Influencers you pay, reviews you quote and photographs you use are all your claims.
A maker we worked with had a perfect product. Well formulated, beautifully assessed, cleanly labelled. On the website, one line under the product photo read soothes eczema and heals dry cracked skin. That line, written by a well meaning friend who did the copy, would have turned a cosmetic into a medicine in the eyes of any regulator and made the CPSR beside the point. Claims are where marketing and regulation meet, and they are the part of compliance most often written by someone who has never read the rules. Regulation (EU) No 655/2013 sets six common criteria that every cosmetic claim must satisfy, retained in Great Britain and enforced through the Cosmetic Products Enforcement Regulations 2013 alongside advertising law, and Article 11 of the Cosmetics Regulation requires proof of the effect claimed to be held in the Product Information File.
This guide is for the person who writes the words as much as the person who makes the product. It explains what counts as a claim, the six criteria with plain examples of what passes and what fails, how much evidence each kind of claim needs, the special rules for free from and hypoallergenic, the medicinal line and why it matters so much, how natural, organic, clean and vegan are judged, what images and testimonials commit you to, how the safety assessor and the CPSR interact with claims, and how to build the claims table that keeps the PIF complete. By the end, that line under the product photo will be one you could defend.
What counts as a claim
A claim is any text, name, trademark, picture, figurative sign or symbol used in labelling, making available or advertising that explicitly or implicitly conveys a characteristic or function of the product. Moisturising is a claim. So is the product name Radiance Serum, a photograph of dewy skin, a leaf symbol that implies natural origin, a percentage from a trial, a star rating, and a caption on a social post. Claims made by influencers you pay are yours. Reviews you quote become yours when you quote them. The scope is deliberately wide, and the criteria apply everywhere the claim appears, not only on the pack.
The six common criteria, with examples
| Criterion |
What it requires |
Passes |
Fails |
| Legal compliance |
No claim that the product is authorised or approved by an authority, and no claim that legal compliance is a benefit |
Compliant with UK and EU cosmetic regulations, stated neutrally |
OPSS approved; safe because it meets the law |
| Truthfulness |
The claim must be true; ingredient claims must reflect ingredients present in a meaningful way |
Contains shea butter, where shea is present at a functional level |
Contains shea butter, at a trace added for the claim |
| Evidential support |
Adequate, verifiable evidence proportionate to the claim |
Moisturises, supported by supplier data and formulation logic |
Reduces wrinkles by 40 percent, with no test |
| Honesty |
No exaggeration of the effect; imagery must reflect real results |
Softer feeling skin |
Erases wrinkles overnight |
| Fairness |
No denigration of competitors or lawful ingredients, no implying a lawful ingredient is unsafe |
Formulated without added fragrance |
Free from toxic parabens |
| Informed decision making |
Claims clear, understandable and relevant to the target consumer |
Suitable for dry skin |
Jargon designed to impress rather than inform |
In practice
Read your product page aloud and after each sentence ask: is that true, can I prove it to the degree it deserves, does it exaggerate, does it put down a lawful ingredient or a competitor, and would the customer understand it? Most claims that fail do so on the second and fourth questions.
How much evidence does a claim need?
Evidence must be proportionate, and this is where the rules are more sensible than people fear. The Commission's technical guidance recognises that claims range from purely descriptive statements, which need no substantiation beyond their truth, through ingredient and general function claims supportable by formulation logic and supplier data, to performance and comparative claims that require testing on the finished product. These different types of claims are all cosmetic product claims in the eyes of the cosmetics regulation, and each is judged against the same underlying principles. Claim substantiation is therefore a sliding scale rather than a single standard. A body butter described as rich and nourishing needs nothing more than being rich and nourishing. A claim that it is moisturising is supported by the emollients and humectants it contains and supplier substantiation for them, which is how ingredient claims are normally handled when they are made about cosmetic products. A claim that it increases skin hydration by thirty percent needs an instrumental study on the finished product, and the same applies to objective claims such as a stated reduction in fine lines. A claim that it outperforms the leading brand needs a comparative test, and a comparison that cannot be backed up becomes misleading advertising. The PIF records, for each claim, which of these applies and where the evidence is filed.
Free from claims
Free from claims are permitted only where they meet all six criteria, the six common criteria set out in the Commission's framework, and the Commission's technical document on free from claims explains when they do not. A claim is not acceptable where it implies a lawful ingredient is unsafe, so free from parabens and paraben free fail on fairness because parabens are legally permitted and assessed safe; where it is a legal requirement anyway, so free from prohibited substances is meaningless; where it is misleading, such as free from fragrance on a product scented with essential oils; or where it denigrates a whole category. Acceptable free from claims are those that convey genuinely useful information for a consumer's choice: free from alcohol for someone avoiding it for religious reasons, free from animal derived ingredients for a vegan, free from gluten for someone who wants that reassurance, provided each is true and specific. The same discipline applies to green claims, where a statement about the environment or about a product being not tested on animals must be accurate and evidenced, and where the Advertising Standards Authority regularly rules against vague or exaggerated wording. The test is whether the claim helps a consumer decide or frightens them about a competitor.
Hypoallergenic and sensitive skin
Hypoallergenic may be used only where the product has been designed to minimise its allergenic potential and the Responsible Person holds evidence to that effect: the absence of known allergens including fragrance allergens above thresholds, a formulation approach that reduces sensitisation risk, and ideally supporting data. It does not mean allergy free and must never be presented as a guarantee. Suitable for sensitive skin is a related claim that needs a similar rationale and, in its stronger forms, testing on a sensitive skin panel. A product containing a fragrance with several declared allergens cannot sensibly carry either claim, and the safety assessor will say so in writing.
The medicinal line
A cosmetic's purpose is limited to cleaning, perfuming, changing appearance, protecting, keeping in good condition or correcting body odour. A product presented as treating, curing, healing, relieving or preventing a disease or condition is presented as a medicine, and no CPSR can make it a cosmetic again. Treats eczema, heals wounds, cures acne, relieves pain, anti inflammatory, kills bacteria and boosts collagen production are medicinal or borderline. Soothes dry skin, helps skin feel calmer, suitable for blemish prone skin, comforting and smoothing are cosmetic. The distinction is about the claimed effect, not the ingredient, and it applies to essential oil and aromatherapy claims just as firmly: a calming lavender scent is cosmetic, relieves anxiety is not. Our free Marketing Claim Checker flags the phrases that cross the line, and our guide to TRA versus CPSR explains the neither category of products that are medicines or biocides.
Natural, organic, clean and vegan
Four claims dominate small brand marketing and each stands on different ground. Natural and organic have no legal definition in cosmetics law, so they are judged on truthfulness, honesty and informed decision making: a product described as natural should be substantially composed of ingredients of natural origin, and a percentage claim needs a defined method behind it. Certification schemes provide definitions and evidence, and a certified claim is far easier to substantiate than an unqualified one. Clean has no definition at all and invites the fairness objection that it denigrates products not so described; use it carefully or not at all. Vegan is a factual claim about the absence of animal derived ingredients and processing aids, substantiated by supplier statements for every ingredient. Cruelty free is complicated by the fact that animal testing for cosmetics is already banned, so the claim must not imply a competitive advantage that does not exist. In every case the claim goes in the PIF table with its evidence.
Before and after imagery and testimonials
Images are claims. A before and after photograph implies a result the product delivered, and it must be genuine, unretouched in any way that exaggerates the effect, and representative of what a consumer can expect; the Advertising Standards Authority has ruled against cosmetic brands on this point repeatedly. Testimonials and reviews used in advertising must be genuine and must not make claims the brand could not make itself: a customer saying the cream cured her eczema, quoted on your website, is a medicinal claim by you. Star ratings and percentages from consumer trials need the trial behind them, with its size and method recorded in the PIF.
Ask yourself
Which of your claims came from a supplier's marketing sheet? Suppliers write about their ingredient; you are claiming about your product. An ingredient's published benefit at ten percent does not substantiate a claim on your product at one.
How claims interact with the CPSR
The safety assessor does not substantiate your claims, but Part A section 10 confirms that claims are consistent with the safety assessment, and Part B may restrict claims the assessment does not support. A product assessed for adults cannot claim to be suitable for babies. A product whose fragrance carries several declared allergens cannot claim to be hypoallergenic. A claim of overnight results implies a leave on exposure the assessment must have used. Send your claims list with your CPSR submission; discovering a restricted claim after the packaging is printed is the most common avoidable reprint. Our preparation checklist includes claims for that reason.
Building the claims table for the PIF
Section four of the PIF, proof of claimed effect, is best kept as a single table with one row per claim: the claim as worded, where it appears, its type, the evidence or a note that it is descriptive, the document reference, and the date added. Include the product name, imagery and symbols. Add a final row confirming that no medicinal claims are made anywhere, including social media. When marketing adds a claim, the table gets a row before the claim goes live, and the PIF change log records it. Our PIF template has the structure and our PIF example walkthrough shows a completed table for a body butter.
A worked example: rewriting a product page
Take the facial oil from our opening. The original page read: soothes eczema and heals dry cracked skin, chemical free, hypoallergenic, clinically proven to reduce wrinkles. Four claims, four problems. Soothes eczema and heals is medicinal. Chemical free is untrue, since everything is a chemical, and unfair. Hypoallergenic fails because the oil contains a lavender essential oil with four declared allergens. Clinically proven has no clinical trial behind it. The rewrite: a nourishing blend of rosehip and jojoba that leaves dry skin feeling softer and more comfortable; lightly scented with lavender essential oil; formulated without synthetic fragrance or mineral oil; suitable for use morning and night. Every phrase is true, proportionate, non denigrating and supported by the formulation and supplier data already in the PIF. The product did not change. The page became defensible, and it still sells.
Advertising rules on top of cosmetics law
In the UK the Advertising Standards Authority applies the CAP and BCAP Codes to cosmetic advertising, including social media and influencer content, with particular attention to efficacy claims, before and after imagery and health claims. The Codes require objective claims to be substantiated with evidence held before the claim is made, and ASA rulings on cosmetics are frequent and public. EU member states apply equivalent national advertising law. Meeting the six common criteria generally satisfies both, but a claim that passes cosmetics law on the label can still be ruled misleading in an advert if the advert exaggerates it.
Common claims failures
- Paraben free and similar free from claims. Fail fairness by implying a lawful ingredient is unsafe.
- Hypoallergenic on a fragranced product. No design rationale; the assessor will object.
- Healing, treating, anti inflammatory, antibacterial. Medicinal; the product leaves cosmetics law.
- Percentages with no study. Evidential support fails.
- Natural or clean with no definition. Truthfulness and informed decision making questioned.
- Claims on the website not in the PIF table. Article 11 evidence gap.
- Influencer and review claims unchecked. They are your claims.
What to do this week
- Print every product page, label and recent post and highlight each claim.
- Run each through the six criteria; strike anything medicinal.
- Build the claims table and file the evidence you have.
- Send the list to your assessor with your next submission.
- Brief whoever writes your copy, and your influencers, on the medicinal line.
A label and claims review before print, and the free Marketing Claim Checker before every campaign, catch these at the cheapest moment. The perfect product deserves words that are as sound as the formula.
Official sources and legislation
About the author
Phoenix Safety Consultants is a cosmetic compliance consultancy with offices in London, Estonia and Pensacola, Florida. Our safety assessors and toxicologists prepare Cosmetic Product Safety Reports, Toxicological Risk Assessments, Product Information Files, Safety Data Sheets and UK and EU notifications for brands of every size. Talk to the team on WhatsApp at +44 7346 009332 or at Compliance@phoenixcosmeticsafety.com.
Disclaimer: This article is general information, not legal advice. Regulations change and product decisions depend on your exact formulation, claims and market. Have your product assessed by a qualified professional before sale.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the common criteria for cosmetic claims?
Six criteria under Regulation (EU) No 655/2013, retained in Great Britain: legal compliance, truthfulness, evidential support, honesty, fairness and informed decision making. Every claim on the label, online or in advertising must meet all six.
Do I need evidence for every claim?
Evidence must be proportionate. Purely descriptive claims need only to be true; ingredient and general function claims need formulation logic and supplier data; performance and comparative claims need testing. The PIF records the evidence for each.
Can I say my product is paraben free?
Generally not. Parabens are lawful and assessed safe, so a free from parabens claim implies a lawful ingredient is unsafe and fails the fairness criterion. Free from claims are acceptable only where they give genuinely useful, non denigrating information.
Can I call my product hypoallergenic?
Only if it has been designed to minimise allergenic potential, for example by excluding known allergens including fragrance allergens above thresholds, and you hold evidence. It does not mean allergy free and cannot be used on a product with several declared allergens.
What claims make a cosmetic a medicine?
Any claim to treat, cure, heal, relieve or prevent a disease or condition, such as treats eczema, heals wounds, anti inflammatory or kills bacteria. Such claims take the product outside cosmetics law and no CPSR can fix that.
Does the safety assessor check my claims?
The assessor confirms claims are consistent with the safety assessment and may restrict claims the assessment does not support, but substantiation is the Responsible Person's job and the evidence lives in the PIF.
Where do I keep evidence for my claims?
In the claims section of the Product Information File, as a table listing each claim, where it appears, its type, the evidence or a descriptive note, and the date, with a confirmation that no medicinal claims are made.
Are influencer posts and customer reviews my claims?
Yes, where you pay the influencer or quote the review in your marketing. Anything they say about the product that you could not say yourself becomes a claim you must substantiate or remove.
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