Cosmetic Safety Assessment Costs in the UK: What to Expect

A cosmetic safety assessment in the UK is the formal evaluation behind a Cosmetic Product Safety Report (CPSR) — the document a qualified safety assessor signs to confirm your product is safe to sell. The cost varies widely depending on the product's complexity, how many products you're assessing, and how well-prepared your information is before the assessor starts. The single biggest cost lever is preparation: the more complete your ingredient and formulation data, the less the assessor has to chase, and the lower the bill.

This guide explains what the assessment covers, what genuinely drives the price, and the practical steps that keep it down — without pretending there's a single headline figure, because there isn't.

This covers GB (Great Britain) cosmetic requirements. Northern Ireland follows EU Cosmetics Regulation. This is not legal advice.

What You're Paying For

Under the UK Cosmetics Regulation (retained Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009), you cannot legally sell a cosmetic — soap, bath bomb, lip balm, moisturiser, anything applied to the body — without a CPSR. Selling without one is a criminal offence.

The CPSR has two parts:

• Part A — Safety Information: compiles the product's composition, physical and chemical properties, microbiological quality, impurities, packaging, intended use, exposure, and the toxicological profiles of the ingredients.
• Part B — Safety Assessment: the qualified safety assessor's professional judgement on whether the product is safe, based on Part A. This is the part that legally requires a qualified assessor — you can't write it yourself.

When you pay for a "cosmetic safety assessment", you're paying for the assessor's time evaluating Part A and producing Part B — plus, depending on the quote, some or all of the Part A compilation. Our guide to soap and cosmetics safety assessments covers what's in each part in more detail.

What Drives the Cost

Costs vary widely, and these are the factors that move them:

Product complexity. A simple cold-process soap with a short, well-understood ingredient list takes less assessor time than a multi-ingredient emulsion with actives, preservatives, and a long fragrance allergen list. More ingredients and more interactions mean more to evaluate.

Number of products. Assessors often price more favourably per product when you submit a range together, especially products that share a base formulation. Assessing ten variations of one recipe usually costs less per product than ten unrelated products.

How much Part A you've prepared. Some assessors quote for Part B only and expect you to compile Part A; others compile everything. The more complete and accurate your data going in, the less billable time the assessor spends, so good preparation directly lowers the cost.

Whether testing is needed. Water-containing products (lotions, liquid soaps, anything stored wet) typically need preservative efficacy (challenge) testing, which is a separate lab cost on top of the assessment. Anhydrous products (solid soap, lip balm) often don't.

Reformulations. Changing an ingredient or concentration may need a reassessment. Ask up front whether minor changes are a full re-assessment or a lower-cost amendment — this affects your ongoing cost, not just the first one.

How to Keep the Cost Down

The assessment itself is a fixed professional service, but you control much of the input cost:

1. Have INCI names for every ingredient. Each ingredient must be identified by its International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients (INCI) name. Your suppliers should provide these. "Lavender oil" isn't enough; the assessor needs "Lavandula Angustifolia Oil".
2. Provide an exact quantitative formulation. The precise percentage of every ingredient in the finished product. The assessor evaluates safety at the concentrations you actually use.
3. Collect current Safety Data Sheets. Up-to-date SDS documents from your suppliers give the assessor the toxicological data for Part A without them having to source it.
4. Group similar products. Submit related products together rather than one at a time to benefit from range pricing.
5. Stabilise your recipe first. Get the formulation right before you assess it. Assessing a recipe you then change means paying for a reassessment.

A maker who turns up with complete INCI lists, exact percentages, and current SDS documents is in a completely different cost position from one who hands the assessor a rough recipe and a box of unlabelled oils.

What the Assessment Doesn't Cover

The CPSR is not the only cost or obligation. Before you sell, you also need to:

• Notify the product through the SCPN service — the government Submit Cosmetic Product Notification service, operated by the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS). The CPSR is a prerequisite, not a substitute.
• Maintain a Product Information File (PIF) for each product, kept for ten years after the last batch is placed on the market.
• Label the product correctly — cosmetic labelling has its own requirements (INCI list, batch code, PAO or best-before, responsible person). See our cosmetic labelling requirements guide, and the free Cosmetic Labelling Checker to verify a label.

For the full path from idea to legal sale — registration, responsible person, SCPN, labelling, PIF, insurance — see our guide to selling cosmetics from home in the UK, and our overview of cosmetic safety solutions for how the pieces fit together.

Where a Tool Fits

A CPSR must be signed by a qualified safety assessor — that's a legal requirement no software replaces. What software can do is the preparation that drives the cost: keeping your formulations, INCI names, and ingredient data organised and consistent so you hand the assessor clean, complete information. CraftCert helps you manage that formulation and labelling work; the safety assessment itself still goes to a qualified assessor. See pricing for what's covered.

FAQ

How much does a cosmetic safety assessment cost in the UK?

There's no single figure — it depends on product complexity, how many products you assess together, how complete your information is, and whether lab testing (like challenge testing) is needed. Simple, well-prepared products cost less; complex or poorly-documented ones cost more. Always check what each quote includes (Part A, Part B, or both).

Can I do my own cosmetic safety assessment?

You can compile Part A (the safety information), but Part B — the safety assessment itself — must be carried out and signed by a qualified safety assessor. That part cannot legally be self-certified.

Is the CPSR a one-off cost?

The initial assessment is, but reformulating a product may require a reassessment, and you still have ongoing obligations (PIF upkeep, SCPN notification, labelling). Ask your assessor whether minor changes need a full re-assessment or a cheaper amendment.

Related Guides

• Soap and cosmetics safety assessments: what UK makers need to know
• CPSR certification UK
• Cosmetic safety solutions for UK makers

Sources

• GOV.UK — Regulation 1223/2009 and the Cosmetic Products Enforcement Regulations 2013 (Great Britain)
• GOV.UK — Submit a Cosmetic Product Notification
• GOV.UK — Making Cosmetic Products Available to Consumers in Great Britain