During 2018 we have denied certification of 46 products which equals approximately ten percent of the products we receive.

Some has been denied certification because they contained ingredients we do not allow, others because the impurities in a used raw material were allergenic and hence we could not certify the finished product.

In the following, we have anonymized products and brands to provide an insight into the fact that our work contributes to changing access to and the occurrence of skin-friendly products.

Ingredient: Scandinavian mask. The product contained an essential oil which we do not allow.

Ingredient: Scandinavian product for eyes. The product contained Rosemary which contains an allergenic oil and therefore we had to deny certification of the finished product.

Ingredient: Scandinavian face product. The product contained a chamomile with allergens. The brand owner did not know this. The ingredient was substituted and we have certified the product afterwards.

Raw material: European hair product. The raw material contained DMAPA in a concentration we can not allow.

Food ingredient: Scandinavian product with risk of oral intake. The product for Children contained a food ingredient where we could not get the information about the size of the molecules. And since we can only allow this ingredient if the molecules are smaller than 3500 Dalton we could not certify the product.

Ingredient: Scandinavian product for Children. Contained a plant with allergenic potential. The ingredient was substituted and we certified the product afterwards.

Ingredient: European product for wound healing. The product contained natural perfume.

Ingredient: Scandinavian product for sports. The product contained an allergenic PEG-compound and we could not certify the product. The ingredient was substituted and we have certified the product afterwards.

Ingredient: European product for eyes. Contained Leontopodium Alpinum Extract, which can contain Sesquipertene lactone. We do not allow this in certified products.

Ingredient: European product for Children. Contained a Heliantus Annuus (sunseed oil) which was not refined. The ingredient has been substituted and the product is now certified.

Ingredient: Scandinavian product for eyes. The ingredient was a natural allergenic perfume. It was substituted and the product has been certified.

Raw material: European paint. The raw material contains an Isothiazolinone which we do not allow. The brand owner is still reformulating and we expect to certify the product in 2019.

Ingredient: Scandinavian skincare. The products contained perfume which we do not allow. The brand owner did not know the perfumes were allergenic.

Process: European wet wipe. The product was produced with process water where you use MI if there is bacteria growth. We do not allow MI and thus the certification was denied. The process was changed and we have certified the product.

Ingredient: American cosmetic products. Nine products were declined certification because they all contained perfume.

Ingredient: European suncare product. The product contained an allergenic plantbased ingredient. The ingredient has been substituted and the product is about to be certified.

Ingredient: Scandinavian make-up product. Allergenic plantbased ingredient that we do not allow. The ingredient has been substituted and the product is expected to be certified in 2019.

Ingredient: Scandinavian cosmetic product. The product contained plants picked directly from the wild and it has not been possible getting INCI or other information about the plants.

Raw material: Scandinavian cosmetic product. The product was denied certification because a raw material contained lemon extract.

Ingredient: Scandinavian cosmetic product. The product has been denied certification because it contains Salicylic acid which has been classified endocrine disrupting and therefore we can not allow it. The ingredient will be phased out and we expect to certify the product in 2019.

Ingredient: Scandinavian lip product. The product contains Salicylic acid which has been classified as an endocrine disruptor and therefore we can not certify the product.

Ingredient: Scandinavian shampoo. The product contains Salicylic acid which has been classified as endocrine disrupting and therefore we can not allow certification. The ingredient will be substituted and we expect certification of the product first half of 2019.

Ingredient: Scandinavian serum. The product contains Salicylic acid which has been classified as endocrine disrupting and therefore we can not allow certification. The ingredient will be substituted and we expect certification of the product first half of 2019.

Ingredient: Scandinavian lip product. The product contains mineral oils which we do not allow when there is risk of intake. The ingredient will be substituted and we expect to certify the product first half of 2019.

Ingredient: Scandinavian lip product. The product contained mineral oils which we do not allow when there is risk of intake. The ingredient was substituted and we have since certified the product.

Ingredient: European lip product. The product contains mineral olis which we do not allow when there is risk of intake. The ingredient will be substituted and is expected to be certified first quarter of 2019.

Ingredient: Scandinavian nipple product. The product contains a mineral oil which we do not allow when there is risk of intake. The product will be reformulated and we expect to certify first half of 2019.

Ingredient: Scandinavian oil. The product contains Rosemary which we do not allow since it contains and allergenic essential oil.

Ingredient: Scandinavian oil. The product contains a plant that has allergenic sesquiterpene lactones in it and we can not certify the product.

Ingredient: Scandinavian make-up product. The product contains Magnolia which is allergenic. The ingredient was substituted and the product has been certified.

Ingredient: Scandinavian cosmetic product. The product contained Magnolia which is allergenic and thus we could not certify it.

Ingredient: Scandinavian cosmetic product. The product contained an allergenic Chamomile.

Ingredient: Scandinavian lip product. The product contained a Vanilla extract which is allergenic.

Ingredient: Scandinavian cosmetic product. The product contained Vanilla extract which is allergenic and we can not certify this.

Ingredient: Scandinavian make-up product. The product contained Caramin which is allergenic. The ingredient was substituted and has since been certified.

Ingredient: European products. Two cosmetic products which both contained perfume.

Summary

We have denied certification of 46 products in 2018.

A bit more than half of them (25 of 46) were Scandinavian products that was denied certification because of allergenic ingredients. Overall, 13 percent (six products) were rejected due to raw materials. This emphasizes to us the importance of taking all ingredients in a product, including impurities in the raw materials, into account when doing the risk assessment.

One product was rejected because of the risk of a food allergic reaction. Something we expect to be increasingly happening, as more and more often food ingredients are used in cosmetic products.

18 out of the 46 rejected products have been reformulated and subsequently certified. The last 28 will not be certified.

We work every day to stay updated on the latest research, development within the EU regulations and decisions, provisions on new classifications, etc. In addition, we spend many hours investigating and dealing with all the ingredients in the products we receive for certification, and once a year we meet with our advisory board to discuss rejected products, the reasons for this and hear about their expectations for future allergens. We will also do this in 2019 and we already know that a number of products will be rejected. Fortunately, we also know that there are many product developers and brand owners who work to change the formulations so that the rejected products can subsequently be certified. This tells us that allergy certification of care products for the whole family is important.

Happy New Year.