Helping soap and cosmetic handcrafters navigate the rules and regs.
Find out more about all aspects of soap and cosmetic labeling, regulations, legislation, and news!
Oooh, pretty! Shiny! Sparkles! Glitter! But can you put it in soap or cosmetics? The FDA regulates color additives that may be used in cosmetics, and “glitter” is not on the list. In fact, the FDA says that glitter is not an approved color additive. BUT, you can see glitter in all sorts of commercial…
Soap is a chameleon – it can be many things depending on what you claim it can do. It is the CLAIM that determines what the product is, and that, in turn, determines what REGULATIONS/LAWS apply. Soap can be a drug: if you make claims that it (or any of the ingredients in it) is intended…
Babyganics is now the last in a long line of cosmetic companies sued for false advertising over organic-type claims. Last month there were two suits filed against Babyganics, one for falsely advertising and implying their products are organic and one by a mom who alleged that her toddler sustained chemical burns from Babyganics tear-free shampoo. I…
The FDA just updated their Warning Letters Address Drug Claims Made for Products Marketing as Cosmetics Claims page with yet more warning letters. That makes twenty-five warning letters issued so far in 2016. And of those, 18 were issued in just the last 3 months! Compare that to nine warning letters in 2015 and only…
When you say that an product ingredient can heal, you are making the same claim for the product itself, so it becomes an unapproved new drug.
When describing your product, keep in mind that the whole point of “claims” is that they are providing information to the consumer about the intended use. Technically it’s not the claim, but what the consumer perceives to be the intended use of the product that determines whether it is a drug or cosmetic. If your…
Once again we’re discussing ingredient names, but this time in the name or identity of the product, not in the ingredient declaration.
It is the intended use of the product that determines what it is. Oddly enough, it can be the exact same product formulation, but it could be classed as different types of products depending on what you say is its intended use. What is it? If the intended use is… To cleanse and it is…
In order to not confuse our travel adventures with my posts on Labeling and Good Manufacturing Practices (and in order to give Jere a place to post about our travels), we have started a new blog just covering our travel adventures. Come join us at Roaming the Back Roads (www.roamingthebackroads.com). You can find maps, summaries…
If you are following international news, you probably heard that Brexit was approved and Great Britain will be leaving the European Union. What does that have to do with cosmetics? Well, honestly, I don’t know all the ins-and-outs of how the process of their leaving the EU will work, but I was struck by a…
If you’re following chemical news, you may have heard that reforms of the Toxic Substance Control Act of 1976 were just signed into law by President Obama. A pretty concise summary of the changes in existing law is available here. In very, very brief summary, the revisions to the TSCA passed in 1976 include giving the…
While most of my writing has been on the subject of United States regulations, the truth is that nearly all major countries have very comparable laws when it comes to labeling soap and cosmetics. The US is a bit more lenient when it comes to soap, and to registration and pre-approval. The reason for the…
