Description
NATRUE and Cosmébio are two labels for natural and organic cosmetics, NATRUE common in Germany and across Europe, Cosmébio in France, whose criteria are published and whose products are checked by independent certification bodies.
NATRUE is run by an international association of natural and organic cosmetics makers with more than 60 members and partners. Its label has two levels, natural cosmetics and organic cosmetics, and allows only natural, near-natural and nature-identical ingredients, without genetic engineering. A brand may use it only if at least 75 % of its products are certified. NATRUE writes the standard but doesn’t certify: independent bodies check the products. Its site counts more than 10,700 certified cosmetics and raw materials and has a database by country.
Cosmébio is a French association founded in 2002, with more than 500 member companies and over 16,000 labelled products. Since 2017 new products follow the international COSMOS standard, which requires at least 20 % organic ingredients in the whole product, or 10 % for rinse-off products. Each year Bureau Veritas, Cosmécert, Ecocert or IFC inspect the products, and cosmebio.org has a free search by product and brand. Neither label rates whether a cream works or what it costs.
Strengths
- The criteria are published, and the checks are done by certification bodies rather than by the brands themselves.
- Both have free databases on their websites, so a product or brand can be looked up before buying.
- COSMOS gives a clear minimum of 20 % organic ingredients, and NATRUE requires most of a brand’s range to be certified, not one product.
Weaknesses
- Both associations are made up of the companies whose products carry the labels.
- A test portal cited by Utopia found the NATRUE label relatively weak on palm oil.
- Their figures don’t match from page to page: Cosmébio gives 16,300, 16,000 or 7,390 products depending on where you look.
Who it is for
People in Germany, France and the rest of Europe who buy shampoo, cream or deodorant and want to tell a checked natural or organic product from one that only looks green.
Sources
- NATRUE: home, criteria, members, certified world (checked November 2026)
- Cosmébio: home, the label, the association, products (checked November 2026)
- Utopia: das NATRUE-Siegel
- Utopia: Naturkosmetik-Siegel
- Weleda: NATRUE