Standard and Certification for Personal Care Products

• Natural Personal Care Ingredients Panel (NPCIP) Standards is a set of guidelines that will dictate whether a product can be deemed “all-natural”, “100% natural”or natural.  NPCIP does not address “organic” or “certified organic”.  NPCIP is world-wide in its application… And It Is FREE!
• The NPCIP consists of several people with varying backgrounds and many years in the personal care industry.  From international marketers and brand managers to organic / natural brand managers to manufacturers of raw ingredients to manufactures of finished product, including contract and private label manufacturing.
• Much deliberation has gone into the development of these standards.  Many definitions exist as to what is natural.  The public, market, society, ethics, morals, economics, politics, regulations, lobbyists, and religions, can influence the definition of  ‘natural’.  NPCIP has finally determined the real definition and now makes available the definitive list.
• NPCIP does not involve itself with endless debates about the derivation, process, safety, efficacy, renewability, environmental and regulatory issues.  We invite inquiries and suggestions via our contact page. We will respond accordingly.

What is “Natural”:

• A ‘natural’ ingredient is one that comes from or is made from Flora, Fauna or Mineral with as few  processing steps as reasonable / possible.
• A ‘not natural’  ingredient is one that the NPCIP deems to have too many processing steps or by excessive peer / social pressure it is considered ‘not natural’.  ‘Not natural’ ingredients can be used only when there is not a feasible or available natural alternative ingredient or a specific regulation dictates otherwise (FDA, EPA, USDA, EU, etc.).
• Total use of allowable ‘not natural’ ingredients may not exceed 5% of the total formula.
• NPCIP has mixed viewpoints regarding some of the not-natural listings.  As of Feb 25, 2010 the list stands as shown.  Any changes to the standards will be listed on this site and email notifications will be sent to each qualified NPCIP ‘certified natural’ seal user as well as the email subscribers to NPCIP.

All products that are labeled or branded “All Natural” or “100% Natural” must:

• Be made with only all natural ingredients (from the NPCIP natural list) (including water and salts).

All products that are labeled or branded “Natural” must:

• Be made with at least 95% all natural ingredients (from the NPCIP natural list) (including water and salts) and the balance of ingredients must contain only ‘not natural’ ingredients specifically allowed under this standard.

All products that are labeled or branded “ % (percentage) Natural” must:

• Identify the percentage of natural ingredients (from the NPCIP natural list) by weight-by-volume (including water and salts). The products may include ‘not natural’ or ‘restricted’ ingredients.

Other requirements:

• Companies must be transparent, fully disclosing their ingredients accurately and truthfully.  Safety and effectiveness of ingredients and formulas is the responsibility of each manufacturer.

NPCIP Anonymity:

• No names, cities, states, phone numbers, addresses, panel member names or company names are available to anyone.  This assures you that no lobbying, coercion, or undue pressure is put on any member to make biased reviews.  If you have comments, please send them to us via the contact page.  Thank You