Cosmetics

Cosmetic products are important consumer products with an essential role in everyone's life: apart from "traditional" cosmetic products, such as make-up and perfumes, it also includes products for personal hygiene, for example tooth-care products, shampoos and soaps.

Today's cosmetic market is driven by innovation including new colour pallets, treatments targeted to specific skin types and unique formulas concentrating on different needs. Most cosmetics products have a lifespan of less than five years and manufacturers reformulate 25% of their products every year. They need to improve products constantly in order to stay ahead in a highly competitive market where more choice and ever greater efficacy are expected by the consumer.

The European cosmetics industry is a world leader and dominant cosmetics exporter, a highly innovative sector and a significant employer in Europe. The EU's involvement concerns mainly the regulatory framework for market access, international trade relations and regulatory convergence, all aiming to ensure the highest level of consumer safety while promoting the innovation and the competitiveness of this sector.