Our Product Standards
Cosmetics are chosen to help us look and feel good, but they are also products we apply repeatedly to our bodies—sometimes every day for decades. Most consumers are not thinking about cumulative exposure, ingredient purity, trace contaminants, or how scientific understanding can change over time.
Although much is known about cosmetic ingredients, questions can remain about long-term exposure, ingredient combinations, raw-material purity, and substances that may occur unintentionally during sourcing or manufacturing. We believe consumers deserve clear information and carefully considered products so they can make informed choices about what they put on their bodies.
At Coastal Classic Creations®, our product standards consider how a cosmetic is intended to be used, the suitability of its ingredients, the quality and purity of its raw materials, supplier documentation, regulatory requirements, and available scientific information.
What “Non-Toxic” Means to Us
“Non-toxic” is not a legally standardized cosmetic term. At Coastal Classic Creations®, it describes a precautionary approach to product development: carefully considering ingredients, evaluating available supplier information, reviewing cosmetic colorant purity, and avoiding ingredients we believe are unnecessary or inconsistent with our standards. It does not mean that every other cosmetic is toxic or that any product can be guaranteed to present zero risk to every person.
How We Evaluate Our Products
Our evaluation does not depend upon a single marketing label, certification, or ingredient-rating system. We consider several factors together:
- How and where a product is intended to be used
- The function and suitability of each ingredient
- Raw-material sourcing, quality, and purity
- Supplier documentation and Certificates of Analysis
- FDA and European Union cosmetic requirements
- Manufacturing and quality-control practices
- Available scientific and toxicological information
Regulatory compliance is an essential starting point, but responsible product development also requires attention to ingredient quality, supplier qualification, normal product exposure, and changes in scientific understanding.
Lead & Heavy Metals
Lead and other heavy metals are not intentionally added to our cosmetic products. However, certain naturally derived cosmetic ingredients, including mineral pigments and colors, may contain trace levels of naturally occurring elements that exist throughout the environment.
What Is a Supplier CofA?
A Certificate of Analysis (CofA) is a batch-specific laboratory report provided by a raw-material supplier. We review these reports to verify the identity, purity, consistency, and quality of cosmetic colorants before they are approved for use in our formulas.
The cosmetic pigments and colors used in our products are sourced from suppliers who provide Certificates of Analysis demonstrating compliance with applicable FDA and European Union specifications. These materials undergo purification, quality-control, and testing processes intended to support product safety, consistency, and performance.
Modern analytical instruments can detect extremely small amounts of naturally occurring substances. The detection of a trace element does not necessarily mean that the material presents a safety concern. Regulatory specifications recognize that trace impurities may occur in cosmetic raw materials and establish limits for their presence.
Because products such as lipstick are applied repeatedly to the mouth and small amounts may be swallowed during normal wear, colorant sourcing, purity documentation, and supplier qualification are particularly important considerations.
The Cosmetic Colorant Standard
As part of our Cosmetic Colorant Standard, we review supplier documentation and Certificates of Analysis to verify that cosmetic pigments and colors meet applicable specifications for their intended use.
Colorant approval and colorant purity are related, but they are not identical. Approval means that a colorant is permitted for a particular cosmetic application. Purity documentation helps verify that the individual raw material meets applicable identity and contaminant specifications.
For more than 25 years, attention to supplier documentation has been foundational to our ingredient qualification process and our continuing commitment to transparency, quality, and responsibly formulated cosmetics.
Understanding Ingredient Transparency
Consumers encounter many cosmetic claims, certifications, and ingredient-rating platforms. These resources may provide useful general information, but they do not necessarily reveal the quality or purity of the individual raw materials used in a particular product.
At Coastal Classic Creations®, our focus is on ingredient qualification rather than relying upon marketing labels alone. Before cosmetic colorants are approved for use in our products, we review available supplier documentation, including Certificates of Analysis, as part of our Cosmetic Colorant Standard.
Supplier Certificates of Analysis may contain proprietary business information and are not always available for public distribution. We believe transparency also means clearly explaining the standards we require and the process we use to evaluate our ingredients.
No single certification, database, or rating system can fully represent the quality of a cosmetic formulation. Ingredient sourcing, supplier qualification, manufacturing practices, regulatory compliance, quality documentation, and intended product use must be considered together.
Independent Ingredient Evaluation
More than 200 Coastal Classic Creations® formulas have been reviewed through the EWG Skin Deep® cosmetics database. Independent databases can provide an additional source of ingredient information, but they do not replace raw-material documentation, supplier qualification, regulatory review, or evaluation of the complete formulation.
Research & Continuing Evaluation
Scientific understanding continues to develop. We review available scientific abstracts, toxicology reports, medical literature, chemistry databases, regulatory information, and supplier documentation when evaluating ingredients that may warrant closer consideration.
Non-Toxic & Lead-Free Lipstick
Explore lipstick formulated with plant-derived oils and waxes and cosmetic colorants selected in accordance with our product and colorant standards.
Explore the Lipstick Collection >Learn more about how we evaluate ingredients and approach non-toxic beauty.
