Overview
ISO 16128-2:2017 - Cosmetics - Guidelines on technical definitions and criteria for natural and organic cosmetic ingredients (Part 2) - provides a technical framework to quantify natural, natural origin, organic and organic origin content of cosmetic ingredients and finished products. Designed to be used in conjunction with ISO 16128‑1:2016, this Part 2 standard defines calculation approaches, index definitions and practical rules (especially for extracts and various types of water) to determine ingredient and product content values. It does not cover product claims and labelling, human or environmental safety, socio‑economic topics (e.g. fair trade), packaging characteristics or regulatory requirements.
Key topics
- Indexes and definitions: Methods to calculate the natural index, natural origin index, organic index and organic origin index for ingredients.
- Ingredient categories: Applies to defined ingredient types from ISO 16128‑1 (pure substances, plant/animal/mineral materials, extracts, mixtures).
- Extract handling: Specific rules for extracts (solvent contribution, concentration, reconstitution water, and limits on increasing organic/natural content beyond starting materials).
- Water classification: Distinguishes constitutive, reconstitution, extraction and formulation water and their differing impacts on indexes.
- Calculation approaches for products: Procedures to compute natural/natural origin and organic/organic origin content of finished cosmetics - both including and excluding formulation water.
- Formulas and examples: Numerical formulas and informative annexes (A–C) with worked examples for index determination and product content calculation.
Applications
ISO 16128-2 is practical for organizations seeking consistent, science‑based quantification of natural/organic content in cosmetics:
- Cosmetic formulators & manufacturers: to calculate product natural/organic content for internal documentation, product development and supplier evaluation.
- Ingredient suppliers: to characterize ingredient indexes and provide transparent composition data to customers.
- Quality & regulatory teams: to standardize internal metrics and demonstrate how content values were derived (note: the standard does not set labelling rules).
- Certification bodies & auditors: to evaluate ingredient and product content using harmonized calculation methods.
- R&D and sourcing: to assess the impact of extraction methods, solvents and reconstitution on final natural/organic content.
Related standards
Keywords: ISO 16128-2, natural and organic cosmetic ingredients, natural origin index, organic index, cosmetics standard, ingredient characterization, natural content calculation, extracts, ISO 16128‑1.
