The Organic Shop range is BDIH Certified Organic, as well as being recognised by the international standard COSMOS NATURAL AISBL. This however excludes the Body Desserts range, which may include synthetic colours and fragrances. 

BDIH 

BDIH (Bundesverband Deutscher Industrie-und Handelsunternehmen) is the one of the eldest and most stringent European Organisations for certifying cosmetic products. Based in Germany, the organisation was founded in 1986 and is comprised of over 440 producers and distributors of cosmetics, food supplements, nutritional foods and over-the-counter medicines. They have developed a comprehensive set of guidelines for certifying natural cosmetics and have now tested over 2,000 products. 

The following guidelines form the basis for a product to be BDIH certified. 

1. Raw materials of plant origin
   Raw materials of plant origin must originate from certified organic raw material, provided they consist of or are obtained from plants that are listed in Annex 1. The definitions and restrictions contained in Annex 1 are binding with regard to this.

2. Raw materials of animal origin and animal protection
   
   Raw materials of animal origin
   It is allowed to use substances that are produced by animals (e.g. milk or honey). It is not allowed to use raw materials obtained from dead vertebrates (e.g. emu oil, mink oil, marmot fat, animal fats, collagen or living cells). 
   
   Animal testing and end products
   It is prohibited to carry out or commission another party to carry out animal testing – not only when manufacturing products, but also when developing and controlling the end products.

3. Raw materials of mineral origin
   The use of inorganic and mineral salts, acids and bases (e.g. magnesium sulphate or sodium chloride) is generally allowed, except for those listed under point 5.

4. Production processes allowed
   Alongside physical processes – including extraction with water, vegetable alcohol, carbon dioxide, vegetable fats and oils, and glycerine obtained from these – enzymatic and microbiological processes as they occur in nature are also allowed for the production of natural cosmetics.
   
   In addition, substances may be obtained from natural substances such as fats, oils and waxes, sugar, starch, cellulose, proteins, polysaccharides and vitamins by means of hydrolysis, hydrogenation, oxidation, reduction, esterification or other methods of cleavage and condensation.

5. Substances not allowed
   Substances from the following groups are not allowed to be used:

• Organic-synthetic dyes
• Synthetic fragrances
• Ethoxylated raw materials
• Silicones
• Paraffin and other petroleum derived products

If these preservatives are used, the following addition is necessary: “preserved with... [name of the preservative]”.

1. 8. Fragrances
   

COSMOS NATURAL STANDARD

The COSMOS Standard is a new association certifying cosmetic products, which was founded in 2010 by 5 leading European Certification organisations, including BDIH (Germany), ICEA (Italy), Soil Association (UK), Cosmebio and ECOCERT (France). This certification recognises that the cosmetics market and the cosmetics industry are international, and therefore both consumers and companies are best served by a single international standard, as this is the only way to ensure the same clarity, integrity and consumer trust in all countries and markets, coupled with manufacturing efficiency and sustainable development.

‘COSMOS ORGANIC’ or ‘COSMOS NATURAL’ will always appear right below the logo/mark of the responsible certifier or association, so you will be able to recognise your already known and trusted local or national organisation that participates in the COSMOS-standard. Organic Shop is certified as organic by the German organisation BDIH. 

In addition, you will find on the label the percentage of organic ingredients in the product.  This is the percent organic of the whole product, but as some products contain a lot of water and mineral ingredients that can never be organic, you may also see the per cent of organic less these two ingredient categories.