Cosmetics
Every cosmetic sold in the UK or EU needs a Cosmetic Product Safety Report (CPSR) signed by a qualified safety assessor, and prices for one vary more than almost any other compliance document. This guide explains what actually drives the cost, what a proper quote should include, and the trap that makes brands pay for the same report twice.
From the assessors who write CPSRs and the Responsible Persons who have to accept them. No invented figures.
A CPSR has two halves, and the price reflects both. Part A is the safety information: the formulation with every ingredient's concentration and function, its physical and chemical characteristics, microbiological quality, stability and packaging data, the intended use and exposure, the toxicological profile of each ingredient and any records of undesirable effects.
Part B is the assessment: the reasoning of a qualified assessor, the conclusion that the product is safe for its intended use, any warnings that must appear on the label, and the assessor's signature and credentials. Part B is what makes the document legally valid. Part A is what makes Part B possible.
Most of the work, and most of the cost, sits in Part A. Gathering supplier documentation, checking ingredient restrictions against the current annexes, calculating exposure and reviewing test data takes time, and the more of it you already hold, the less you pay.
This page stays on cost. For what a CPSR is and how the assessment is carried out, see our Cosmetic Product Safety Assessment service page.
A single-phase product with ten ingredients is a short assessment. A multi-phase formulation with forty ingredients, fragrance allergens, nanomaterials or colourants restricted by annex takes longer to review and to document, and is priced accordingly.
The largest factor by far. If stability, challenge testing, microbiological results or supplier toxicology are missing, they have to be obtained or commissioned before the assessor can sign. Testing is quoted separately, and it is where cheap CPSR offers usually hide their real cost.
Shades, sizes and fragrances of the same base formulation can often be grouped under one report with a variant table. Genuinely different formulations cannot. How your range groups is one of the first things we confirm before quoting.
Existing test reports, previous assessments and a well-kept Product Information File all bring the price down, because they replace work rather than create it.
The most expensive CPSR is the one that gets rejected. Three ways it happens:
Your UK or EU Responsible Person has to accept the CPSR into the Product Information File and answer for it. If it is incomplete, unsigned or out of date, they will refuse it, and the report is redone at full price.
A CPSR written only against EU Regulation 1223/2009 does not automatically satisfy the UK Cosmetics Regulation, and the annexes have diverged since Brexit. If you sell in both, the assessment has to say so.
Part B must be signed by someone with a recognised degree in pharmacy, toxicology, medicine or similar. Marketplaces and authorities check. A cheap report with no credentials behind it is not a bargain; it is a document you will buy again.
Having your CPSR and your Responsible Person under one roof removes the first trap entirely: the report is written to the standard the RP applies, by the same team.
A quote you can compare should list the following. If it does not, ask.
Part A compilation from your formulation, supplier documents and test data
Part B assessment signed by a named, qualified safety assessor
Which markets the assessment covers: Great Britain, the EU, or both
A data review before work starts, listing what is missing and what it will cost to obtain
Any testing shown as separate line items with laboratory lead times
How variants and shades are grouped, and what a new variant costs later
Ours does all six. The review before work starts is the part most brands find most useful, because it turns a vague quote into a fixed one.
Ask your manufacturer for everything they hold: formulation with percentages, safety data sheets, certificates of analysis, allergen declarations and any stability or microbiological results. Good manufacturers have most of it, and every document you supply is one we do not have to chase or commission.
Group your range sensibly. If you are launching six shades of one base, tell us at the start so they are assessed together. If you are planning further variants, say so; it is cheaper to leave room in the report than to reopen it.
Decide your markets before the assessment, not after. Covering both Great Britain and the EU in one report costs a little more than one market and far less than two separate reports later.
Full Part A and Part B reports from qualified assessors, with a data review first so you know exactly what is missing before you commit.
We price per product, with variants grouped wherever the regulation allows, after a short review of your formulations and the data you already hold. The review is where we tell you what is reusable, what is missing and whether any testing is needed, so the quote is fixed rather than estimated.
We do not publish a rate card, because a ten-ingredient balm with complete test data and a forty-ingredient serum with none are not the same job. What we can promise is a written, per-product price with testing listed separately and nothing added once work starts.
If you are outside the UK, the CPSR is only part of the cost of selling in Great Britain: you also need a UK Responsible Person to hold the Product Information File and notify the product through SCPN. Pricing the two together avoids a report that one provider writes and another rejects.
Our UK Responsible Person cost guide explains what drives that fee and what budget providers leave out.
Every product needs one. Closely related variants, such as shades of one base formulation, can often be covered together with a variant table; we confirm from your formulations before quoting. Genuinely different formulations each need their own assessment.
Usually, yes. Good existing stability, microbiological and safety data brings the price down. We tell you what is reusable and what is missing before any work starts.
That is the most common cause of delay and extra cost. We chase supplier documentation as part of the job and quote any genuinely missing testing up front, as separate line items, so you can decide before committing.
Because providers are not all selling the same document. A complete Part A and a signed Part B from a qualified assessor, covering the markets you actually sell in, is a different product from a template with a signature. The other variables are your formulation's complexity and how much data you already hold.
Only if it contains a complete Part A, a Part B signed by an assessor with the required qualifications, and covers the regulation for the market you sell in. Many do not, and the cost of finding out is a rejected report and a second fee. Ask who is signing and what they have reviewed.
Our assessors write CPSRs and our consultants act as Responsible Person, so the report we write is one we would accept into a PIF ourselves. You get a per-product price in writing, a data review first and one team for the assessment, the file and the notification.
