Avon - The Company for Women - Corporate Responsibility

Safety & Public Perceptions

We are confident in the safety and efficacy of Avon products, and we respond to inquiries from Representatives, customers, the media and organizations about our products, ingredients and safety evaluations. With online social media gaining in popularity and reach, it is easier than ever for misleading statements about product safety issues to find their way to a broad audience, regardless of credibility or source. It can be a challenge for us to educate people on sometimes scientific information in a manner that is both easily understandable and reassuring, and it can be difficult to respond effectively to false or unfounded claims when we may not be able to identify or contact the initial source, or when the information has been broadly disseminated.

We address these challenges by responding to consumer concerns directly and encouraging consumers to visit www.cosmeticsinfo.org, a website that provides detailed information culled from independent scientific sources and studies on the ingredients most commonly used in cosmetics and personal-care products. The website, developed by The Personal Care Products Council (PCPC), of which Avon is a member, provides a wealth of primarily third-party information on thousands of cosmetic ingredients, which account for approximately 90 percent of the ingredients used in cosmetic and personal-care products available today. The content of the site includes peer-reviewed and government-funded research studies from many countries. The content of these studies and the results are not created by the PCPC, but are simply reported on the site. More ingredients will continue be listed over time.

For further information, stakeholders can also refer to the Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR), which reviews and assesses the safety of cosmetics ingredients and publishes the results in peer-reviewed scientific literature. The CIR Expert Panel comprises independent physicians and scientists who meet the same conflict-of-interest requirements as members of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committees.