CTPA - Cosmetic Toiletry & Perfumery Association

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Oralcare

Cosmetics don’t just help us to care for our skin and hair, they can help us to keep our teeth in top condition too. Toothbrushes have been around for 5,000 years although they looked very different from those we are used to using with our toothpaste now! In 3,000 BC people would chew on sticks to clean their teeth, and some people still do today in certain parts of the world, especially where water is scarce.

In the 16th century the first bristle toothbrushes appeared in China, made of wood or bone with hog-hair bristles. The idea was imported into Europe by traders, though generally only the richer classes would have bothered to clean their teeth.

Probably the most important oralcare development was the discovery, during the 19th century, that fluoride can help to keep teeth healthy.

Thankfully today there are a myriad of products to keep our teeth clean, shiny and white. In this section you can read about how toothpaste, mouthwash and toothwhiteners work and also the major oral health problems that oralcare products can help to prevent.

The Cosmetic, Toiletry and Perfumery Association (CTPA) is an association of manufacturers of cosmetic, toiletry and perfumery products, founded in 1945 to promote the interests of members, primarily with government. That remit has now extended to include the European Commission and many other regulatory bodies, national and international groups.

Members are manufacturers (full members), raw material suppliers and suppliers of services (associate members). Our Council is made up of senior industry representatives from small, medium, large and multi-national companies. Activities are funded through membership subscriptions.

The focus of our work centres on scientific, regulatory and legislative issues. We have a constant dialogue with the UK Government and this process is repeated at European level through COLIPA, the European trade body and internationally through an extensive network of national association contacts.

Visit the CTPA main website »

The Cosmetic, Toiletry and Perfumery Association (CTPA) is the voice of the cosmetic, toiletry and perfumery industry in the UK. Our members vary from small and medium-sized companies to large multi-nationals and include manufacturers, raw material suppliers and service providers.

Our primary goal is to promote good working practice to ensure that consumers are provided with the very best products. To this end, we co-ordinate the industry's viewpoint on key issues such as science, innovation and safety and maintain an open dialogue with government, both at UK and European level, as well as with international regulatory authorities and key opinion formers.

CTPA recognises that the consumer has a right to understand the processes that industry and the regulatory bodies go through to ensure the safety and efficacy of cosmetic and toiletry products. Over the years we have steadily increased our focus on providing the public with direct access to the industry's perspective and progress on safety, science and innovation.

In April 2008 we launched our consumer information website, www.thefactsabout.co.uk, which provides scientific facts about common ingredients used in cosmetics and the industry's perspective on common safety questions as well as information on how products are regulated to ensure safety and efficacy.

Further information on the work of the CTPA is available from our main website www.ctpa.org.uk which also houses the full set of legislation under 'Cosmetic regulations'.