Over the last six years six of the best national certification bodies have been working on creating a European standard for organic and natural beauty products. The UK's Soil Association, Germany's BDIH, France's COSMEBIO and ECOCERT, Belgium's BIOFORUM and Italy's ICEA make up the European Cosmetics Standard Working Group. They collectively certify over 10,000 products. They've joined forces to help us distinguish between the flimsy marketing claims and the authentic truths of brands that make and sell products in the EU.

Unlike the Soil Association seal of approval products certified by Cosmos will not have to have a minimum organic ingredients. Products certified natural by Cosmos will not be able to contain parabens, phthalates, GM ingredients, and most petrochemical-based ingredients. They will have to use cleaner methods that minimise waste and create fewer by-products. It is not as strict as the Soil Associations organic standard but it is a start and is focused on the beauty and health care industry.

‘What we hope is that as things progress, the "natural" certification should serve as a stepping-stone to companies becoming certified as organic. Any sensible cosmetic company is looking at natural and organic cosmetics now - if they aren't they are getting behind the times,' said Francis Blake, director of Soil Association standards to the Ecologist recently.

The good thing about Cosmos is that it presents a unified EU body that looks specifically at natural skin care products. As more people begin to recognise and understand its significance, they will be able to make a more educated choice between fake natural products and truly natural products.

Look for beauty and health products with the seal of approval - from lipstick to cleansers to homeopathic remedies and essential oils.

For more information about the Cosmos standard click here.

Some of you may have noticed that your favourite natural sunscreen brands like Lavera have changed their sun care packaging and SPF ratings. This is because a new sunscreen labelling regime is being phased in across the EU to give us clearer information on the sunscreen products we buy.

The first thing you should know about the SPF rating on your sunscreen tube is that it is only an indication of the level of protection against Ultraviolet B rays not Ultraviolet A. Both are harmful to your health: UVB radiation is what provokes sun burn and skin cancer, UVA is responsible for ageing, impacts the immune system and contributes to skin cancer. A good sunscreen should provide coverage against both.

Sunscreen packaging labels with ‘broad spectrum' and ‘contains UVA filters' on them have made it difficult for us to know whether a product also protects adequately against both UVA as well as UVB radiation.

A sun protection factor (SPF) is a score that measures the strength of the cream against UVB radiation not UVA. So in order to help consumers choose the sunscreen with the most truly broad protection the European Commission and Colipa (The European Cosmetics Association) have proposed that the level of UVA protection provided by a product is at least 1/3 ratio of its SPF. Manufacturers must show their products meet the SPF/UVAPF ratio by displaying UVA in a circle on their packaging.

This is why some of your favourite sunscreens appear to be unavailable. Lavera's Sun Neutral SPF40 Sun Cream has new packaging and new name to SPF20 Sun Cream. The actual product formulations and ingredients are very similar - the difference being they also contain zinc oxide (highly effective product to block UV).