Our Screening Standards
Our Screening Standards
A summary of the framework behind every product on Abevo.
Our Philosophy
At Abevo, we believe in skincare ingredient transparency, and we take a risk-averse approach to screening every ingredient before we choose to list a product. Safer, screened skincare should be the baseline. But "cleaner" and "safer" are labels any brand can claim without evidence. We don't rely on marketing claims for our screening. We read the INCI list — the standardised ingredient declaration required on every cosmetic product sold in the UK and EU — and assess what's actually in a formula, ingredient by ingredient.
Every product is screened against our standards before it goes live on Abevo. Nothing reaches the shop unassessed.
How We Screen
Our framework works in two layers:
Regulatory compliance. Every product must meet EU and UK cosmetics regulation. We treat this as a floor, not a ceiling.
Enhanced screening. Beyond regulation, we assess every product against our own framework, drawing on sources including PFAS master lists (OECD, EPA), the ECHA Substances of Very High Concern list, the EU's list of declared fragrance allergens, and current scientific literature on endocrine disruption and developmental toxicity.
What We Look For
We exclude certain substances outright — but not all for the same reason, and we think that distinction matters:
Established hazards — substances like CMR carcinogens, mercury, and formaldehyde-releasing preservatives have clear regulatory and scientific consensus behind their exclusion.
Precautionary exclusions — for some ingredient classes, such as certain PFAS compounds and chemical UV filters, the evidence is still developing. We exclude by class rather than wait for compound-by-compound proof, as a deliberate precautionary choice.
Formulation-quality standards — some ingredients, like harsh sulfate surfactants, aren't excluded because they're unsafe at regulated levels, but because gentler, equally effective alternatives exist and we hold every product we carry to that higher bar.
Disclosure standards — we don't accept "Parfum," "Fragrance," or "Aroma" as an umbrella ingredient, because it hides what's actually in a formula. Named botanical oils (e.g. lavender oil, rose oil) are fully transparent and assessed on their own merits.
Where evidence on a specific ingredient class is mixed or still emerging — including some widely-used preservatives — we say so explicitly rather than overstate the case either way.
The Categories We Screen
Every product is assessed against 30 categories in total — this is the full list:
PFAS (forever chemicals) — Zero-Tolerance
Parabens — Zero-Tolerance
Phthalates — Zero-Tolerance
Formaldehyde & formaldehyde-releasing preservatives — Zero-Tolerance
Nitrosamines & precursors — Zero-Tolerance
Undisclosed fragrance (Parfum / Fragrance / Aroma) — Zero-Tolerance
Sulfate surfactants (formulation-quality standard) — Zero-Tolerance
Talc — Zero-Tolerance
Synthetic chemical UV filters — Zero-Tolerance
Petroleum & mineral oil derivatives — Zero-Tolerance
PEG & ethoxylated compounds — Tiered disclosure (always disclosed in adult skincare; disclosure reflects manufacturing origin, regulatory context, and product type — see below. We don't allow these in Baby and Family or Pregnancy Friendly products.)
Aluminium salts (antiperspirant/deodorant use) — Zero-Tolerance
Undisclosed nanoparticles — Zero-Tolerance
BHA / BHT antioxidants — Zero-Tolerance
Ethanolamines — Zero-Tolerance
Carcinogenic azo dyes & unlisted colourants — Zero-Tolerance
Resorcinol — Zero-Tolerance
Styrene — Zero-Tolerance
Chlorinated compounds (skin use) — Zero-Tolerance
Prohibited CMR substances — Zero-Tolerance
Mercury compounds — Zero-Tolerance
Lead & heavy metals — Zero-Tolerance
Hydroquinone (leave-on) — Zero-Tolerance
Prohibited preservatives (MI/MCI) — Zero-Tolerance
Boric acid & borates — Zero-Tolerance
Tier 1 endocrine disruptors — Zero-Tolerance
Retinoids in non-adult products — Zero-Tolerance
EU-declared fragrance allergens — Advisory (Zero-Tolerance in our Baby and Family and Pregnancy Friendly collections)
Phenoxyethanol — Advisory (Zero-Tolerance in Baby and Family products)
Named botanical & protein sensitisers — Advisory
Some advisory categories are upgraded to zero-tolerance for our Baby and Family collection; Pregnancy Friendly products follow additional criteria of their own — see above.
On PEG & ethoxylated compounds (Category 11): we don't ban these in adult skincare — independent toxicology review supports their safety at cosmetic-use concentrations. We always disclose their presence, though. What varies is the detail: where a supplier has verified purity against internationally recognised safety thresholds, we say so; where a product's country of manufacture has its own regulatory ceiling, we name it; and where neither applies, we say plainly that verification isn't yet available. We also note whether a product is rinsed off or left on, since that materially affects real-world exposure. This reflects what we can actually verify, rather than treating every product in this category the same way.
What Passes, What Fails
Passes: Named botanical essential oils and hydrosols (e.g. Rosa Damascena Flower Oil, Lavandula Angustifolia Herb Oil) · Amino acid-derived surfactants (e.g. Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate) · Glucose-derived surfactants (e.g. Coco-Glucoside, Decyl Glucoside) · Sugar ester emulsifiers (e.g. Sucrose Laurate) · Non-ethoxylated glycerin-derived emulsifiers · Polyhydroxy acid (PHA) exfoliants (Gluconolactone, Lactobionic Acid) · Mineral UV filters (non-nano Zinc Oxide, Titanium Dioxide) · Plant-derived ceramides · Synthetic hydrocarbon emollients from a non-mineral-oil source (e.g. Hydrogenated Polydecene) — disclosed as being "petrochemical-derived" rather than excluded.
Fails: Undisclosed Parfum / Fragrance / Aroma · Mineral oil and petroleum derivatives (Paraffinum Liquidum, Petrolatum, Ceresin) · Synthetic chemical UV filters (Octocrylene, Oxybenzone, Octinoxate, Avobenzone) · Parabens (Methylparaben, Ethylparaben, Propylparaben, Butylparaben) · Formaldehyde-releasing preservatives · Sulfate surfactants (SLS, SLES) · Ethanolamines (TEA, DEA, MEA) · Talc,
Specialist Selections
Products in our Baby and Family and Pregnancy Friendly collections are held to additional criteria on top of our core standards, reflecting how skin, absorption, and risk differ across these groups. None of these are a medical endorsement — they're a starting point, and we always recommend speaking to a midwife, GP, or dermatologist for individual guidance.
What This Isn't
We're upfront about the limits of our framework. We don't audit manufacturing facilities or verify organic certification claims. We don't assess whether a product performs as advertised. And our assessments aren't medical advice — if you have a specific skin condition or sensitivity, please consult a professional.
Want to know more?
Contact: hello@abevo.co.uk
Last reviewed: September 2026.