Cosmetic certification?

[vzerquvxinwibteka]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the forum and have a quick question about cosmetic certification & aromatherapy products.

Obviously you wouldn't need certification for a product you create specifically for a client, but would you need cosmetic certification for an aromatherapy product you sell to the market generally - like a massage oil / face cream / body lotion? Is it classed as a cosmetic when it's largely used for therapeutic purposes?

TIA!


Carol

 

[Jisha]

Hi Carol

There are specific legal requirements regarding making products and if you haven't attended any training on this i recommend you do a course. Aromantic may be able to help you

Here is a link to their site http://www.aromantic.com/courses/legal.htm

The same applies to making soaps i.e. keeping records of ingredients where you got them from, recipes, etc etc.

Love Binah
xxx

 

[nikon45z]

Hi Binah

Thanks for your reply!

I'm aware of cosmetic certification in general (I'm a soap maker, so all my soap recipes are chemist assessed & certified), but I just wasn't sure if aromatherapy products were classed as cosmetic or therapeutic.

Thanks again!

 

[ixeraurwipuiuoekt]

Hmm ... I just came across this:

"What is a Cosmetic Product?

The Regulations define a cosmetic product as being:
"any substance or preparation intended to be placed in contact with the various external parts of the human body (the epidermis, hair system, nails, lips and external genital organs),
or with the teeth and the mucous membranes of the oral cavity,
with a view exclusively or mainly to cleaning them, perfuming them, changing their appearance, correcting body odours, protecting them or keeping them in good condition,
except where such cleaning, perfuming, protecting, changing, keeping or correcting is wholly for the purpose of treating or preventing disease".
The last part of this definition means that products used solely as medicines are not covered by these Regulations.
What about Aromatherapy Products?


These can be medicines, cosmetic products or neither of these, depending on their intended use. If they are not medicines or cosmetic products, then they are controlled by the General Product Safety Regulations. Please ask your local Trading Standards Service if you require more guidance on aromatherapy products."

on http://www.hants.gov.uk/regulatory/tradingstandards/cosmetics.html.

So maybe Aromatherapy products aren't cosmetic products then?? Probably a question for trading standards! I wonder what "depending on their intended use" means...

 

[? Christina angel baby ?]

Hi Carol,

If you are selling aromatherapy products, whether cosmetic or therapeutic to anyone other than a client you have to go through the same procedures outlined in your previous post as per your soaps. I have worked as an aromatherapist for an organic skincare company and they had to follow to do the same, it's a lot of extra work.

Love Binah
xx

 

[Jesse S]

Hiya

I can understand that with regards to skincare products as that's clearly a cosmetic product .... but what about products like massage oils? They're not really cosmetic - certainly not under the official definition below. What about roller balls (for applying to pulse points etc.)?

I'd ask my cosmetic chemist, but I imagine he'd be keen to have as much as possible certified seeing as it's all extra earnings to him!!!

 

[mandm68]

BTW how much does your cosmetic chemist charge per product? I can see this could get very expensive as an initial outlay and would all have a knock on effect on costings for the end product.

Yes, I'm afraid massage oils apply too - unless of course they are for your clients as a part of their treatment.

Love Binah
xxx

 

[nqkbelzy]

firstly,
how do you get a cosmetic chemist? I want to make ubtans to sell to my students.

I would also like to do sea salts mixed with essential oils for my students.

 

[Alarma]

My chemist charges a fixed rate per certification and each certification is very flexible - e.g. I have one certification that covers ALL variations of my soaps (solid & liquid) from a list of potential ingredients, bases etc. I can pay a small fee to add extra ingredients etc. to my assessment.

I wouldn't like to post his rates (as it isn't my place to do so!), but there are lots of chemists out there who offer different things for different fees - it's worth contacting each to discuss your requirements. There's some information on http://www.thesoapkitchen.co.uk/certification.htm including a link at the bottom where you can send them an email and they'll send you a list of cosmetic chemists to contact.

You're right, Binah, that it's a big initial outlay (most chemists charge between £80 and £200 + VAT per assessment) so it's important to think about whether it's really going to be cost-effective to do it! Plus, of course, there's the gigantic paper trail that goes alongside it - joy

 

[chyvrjid]

Yes! If you create a product and you want to introduce in market then Certification is needed. I think its necessary.