How does Clarins ensure its products are safe for consumers?

At Clarins, your safety is our top priority, which is why we take great care in how we make our products, verifying their safety throughout their lifespan, from their initial design and throughout their entire marketing process.

1. Compliance with international cosmetics regulations

Clarins products are developed in line with the cosmetics regulations in force in the countries where we retail. These highly stringent regulations aim to ensure consumer safety, such as by laying down ingredient white and black lists. Cosmetic regulatory bodies draw on studies conducted by panels of independent science experts (chemists, biologists, toxicologists, etc.) in order to draw up lists of approved and prohibited ingredients, all of which are regularly updated.

2. Meticulous, certified product design

We meticulously comply with regulations when choosing the ingredients that go into our products. But although regulations set the standards that all manufacturers are bound to uphold, manufacturers decide for themselves whether they want to stick to the bare minimum, or take things that little bit further. At Clarins, not only do we comply with up-to-date regulations, we also apply our own internal set of safety, effectiveness, and quality requirements, which go above and beyond those required by law.
- For each ingredient used in our formulas, we assess its impact on health, the environment, and society. These studies allow us to pick and choose our ingredients, ensuring we only work with the safest and most effective, while sometimes leading us to blacklist some ingredients. - Our phyto-chemistry, biology, and toxicology experts are constantly on the lookout for new scientific studies into the ingredients we use. - Throughout their development stages, all our formulas are subjected to over 250 tests and assessments. Dermatologists then assess them, confirm skin tolerance, and certify them as safe to use. These safety and effectiveness tests allow us to place safe, tested formulas on the market for our consumers to enjoy. Our laboratories do not test product safety on animals, except in exceptional cases where this is expressly required by law in countries where our products may be distributed. Concurrently, we contribute to research into alternative methods to animal testing, and are helping ensure these methods become accepted around the world.
In 2007, the expertise of our methods was officially recognized, with our laboratories receiving the official Good Laboratory Practices ('GLP') certification, in particular for the non-clinical safety studies we conduct on our products.

3. Cosmetovigilance and after-sales follow-up

Because our product safety policy doesn't end when our products leave our warehouses, we continue to monitor their impact once they are placed on the market and throughout their lifespan. In order to identify any potential effects that may not have been observed during our tolerance studies, we keep a close eye on our cosmetovigilance procedure, designed to pool and consolidate all consumer feedback on products. By keeping us informed of any side effects linked to our products, you will be helping improve safety for all users, and contributing, if necessary, to any preventative or corrective measures put in place: changes to product ingredient lists, directions for use, etc.