Environmental impacts and concerns over animal welfare are two key reasons why customer preferences tend to lean towards natural, organic and herbal products. Whilst examining animal alternatives and by taking a look at the beauty industry impact, emerging trends like vegan beauty continuously gain ground within the cosmetic industry.
EU No1223/2009 cosmetic regulation states that cosmetics & personal care products should demonstrate preservation efficacy, as cosmetic preservative systems should ensure product robustness and consumer safety throughout product life cycles. Preservative Efficacy Testing (PET) also known as Challenge Testing is the appropriate tool to substantiate antimicrobial preservation efficacy against microbial contamination. Cosmetic Challenge test is a mandatory test applicable to cosmetic products at early RnD stages and prior their placing in the marketplace.
Vegan cosmetics are products that do not contain any animal products or animal derived ingredients. The expanding demand for personal care products along with increasing awareness for natural and plant-based products drives the vegan cosmetics market to constantly growth.
But how can cosmetic brands achieve the creation of safe products and simultaneously comply with vegan ethics? To meet legislation requirements without compromising vegan ethics QACS has developed a vegan-testing approach by replacing all animal-by ingredients with a selection of plant-based ingredients. Growth properties of plant-based media are directly comparable with the growth properties of the traditional media, allowing the optimal growth of a wide range of microorganisms.
With QACS cosmetic challenge testing methods the claim vegan is now feasible.