Hobby & Craft Forums

As the title says, can you sell soaps, bath bombs e.t.c that you've made yourself? Are there regulations?

Yes you can, and sadly (from a small scale craft point of view) there are many regulations, including having to get your products certificated which can be expensive. The proper soapers will be able to point you in the direction of all the legislation!

Oh right. Thanks. Sounds scary and probably expensive.

It is all a bit scary and expensive unfortunately - here is a link to start you off http://www.thesoapkitchen.co.uk/certification.htm.

Soaps need certifying and then labelling listing ingredients used in accordance with the legislation. Product information files also need compiling for each soap.

Am very tired so that might sound a bit garbled - will try and help more tommorrow, been a very long day.

Thanks for your help.

This is a brief over view of the regulations but it's worth you 'googling' "EU Cosmetics Directives" to find out more...

The regulations (Directives) were adopted some years ago by the EU in order to protect the public from 'manufacturers' making and selling skincare without proper safety checks. Basically the directives state that anyone selling cosmetics (which includes soaps, creams, bath bombs and anything that is made to apply to the skin whether or not it is washed off or for washing) must have a comprehensive Safety assessement done by a qualified person (usually a chemist with years of experience in the cosmetics industry). The assessment should take into account the person making the product (and whether they have the suitable experience or knowledge); the manufacturing practice and methods; and how the ingredients interact with one another - some also take into account how the product is packaged.

The directives also have regulations about proper labelling - very long and involved - and that any allergens present in the oils or fragrances are declared on the label. And also, anyone who is making cosmetics must keep a Product Information File which details batch numbers (with records of all the ingredients and their batch numbers) and MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheets - all ingredients should have these)...the PIF should be available to any Trading Standards (or other) officer who asks to see them.

And anyone selling cosmetics should have product and public liability insurance to cover any personal injury.

I do believe that qualified Aromatherapists are able to 'prescribe' treatments containing Essential Oils, to their clients - I think (but am not certain) that they do not need certificates providing the base products have MSDS'.

There are some chemists who advertise safety assessments if you google it...they can cost between £50 and £300 per certificate. Typically a certificate will show the formula; method of manufacture (recipe) and a list of the ingredients. Some chemists will allow you to list lots of fragrances or essential oils - so a Blueberry body butter is covered by the same certificate as a strawberry body butter - because the basic recipe doesn't change, just the fragrance...

Thanks for the information. It's more regulated than I ever imagined but I suppose it's a good thing really.