Ready to start creating labels for your cosmetic products?
There are a lot of legal requirements for cosmetic labels. But don't worry, we’re going to go through all of the information you need to include on your labels.
So let’s get started…
Contents
- How Will Your Label Look?
-
What Information Must Be On The Label?
- 1. Name and Address of the Responsible Person
- 2. Country of Origin (For Imported Products)
- 3. Product Weight or Volume
- 4. The Best Before Date or Period After Opening
- 5. Warning Statements and Precautionary Information
- 6. A Batch Number
- 7. The Product Function
- 8. List of Ingredients
- 9. Product Allergens
- 10. Directions of Use
- 11. Certified Organic Products
- Avoid Misleading Information
- How Are You Going to Produce The Labels?
- Final Thoughts
How Will Your Label Look?
The label is the first thing customers see, so it needs to grab their attention.
Think about it, if your products are going to be on a shelf in a shop next to loads of other similar products, how are you going to make yours stand out?
First, you need to make sure you know the exact size and shape the label will be. This will be determined by the type of packaging you are using and the packaging size. If you get the sizing wrong at the start, it will be expensive to fix later on.
You’ll then need to think about the colours, font and text size. The answer to these will depend on your branding and your niche. Does your brand already have a distinct colour scheme or style to it? But also think about what your audience and niche are looking for and what would stand out to them.
If you are creative, then you can design the label yourself with a design software. But don't worry if not, there are many professional designers out there ranging in price that will bring your ideas to life.
So now you know how the label will look, you need to make sure you have all of the important information on there!
What Information Must Be On The Label?
I know this may not be the most exciting part of making your cosmetic product labels, but it is the most important part so don’t skip it!
In a nutshell, you must have this information on your label:
- Name and Address of the Responsible Person
- Country of Origin (For Imported Products)
- Product Weight or Volume
- The Best Before Date or Period After Opening
- Warning Statements and Precautionary Information
- A Batch Number
- The Product Function
- List of Ingredients
- Product Allergens
But what does all of this mean? Let’s go through it…
1. Name and Address of the Responsible Person
The label must include the name and address of the responsible person, accountable for the product’s safety and compliance. If you are selling products to Northern Ireland, you will also need a Northern Ireland address or EU address.
The responsible person can be:
- the manufacturer
- the importer
- the distributor, if they label the product as their own (for example, using their brand name)
- an appointed company or person (who is named by the manufacturer or the importer)
If you are a small company, you are likely to be the responsible person, unless you want to pay for someone else to do it for you.
2. Country of Origin (For Imported Products)
If the cosmetic product is manufactured outside the UK, you must state the country of origin e.g. Made in France.
3. Product Weight or Volume
The label must show the weight or volume of the cosmetic product excluding the weight of the packaging. This can be displayed in grams (g) for solid products or millilitres (ml) for liquid products.
You may be tempted to put the ‘e’ mark on the label, however this is not mandatory. The ‘e’ mark means ‘estimate’. If you put this on your label, then you are saying the weight listed is an average. However, if you have this on your label, you must be able to demonstrate that you are checking the weight of the products and recording those checks.
You do not need to put the ‘e’ mark on your label, as long as the weight of the product is not under the weight you have put on the label. If the label says 100g, it must be 100g or slightly more. It cannot be any less than 100g!
4. The Best Before Date or Period After Opening
The expiry date or PAO will be provided when you get your cosmetic product safety report done by the cosmetic assessor.
The label must indicate the best before date or expiry date of the product, if the product is not confirmed stable for 30 months.
If the product is confirmed stable for at least 30 months, then you can show the Period After Opening (PAO).
5. Warning Statements and Precautionary Information
The label must include warning or precautionary statements to alert consumers of potential risks, hazards or safety precautions.
One type of warning that you may need on the label is a usage warning, which informs consumers about specific precautions or instructions for the safe use (e.g. avoid contact with eyes). Another type of warning is an allergy warning, which states any allergens, or ingredients that may cause allergic reactions, the products might contain.
6. A Batch Number
Your label must include a batch number for traceability in case of quality issues or a product recall. You can read more about how to record batches here!
7. The Product Function
You will need to state the cosmetic product's function (e.g. moisturiser, body butter) on the label if it is not already made clear on the packaging.
8. List of Ingredients
You must list every ingredient in the product on the label. The cosmetic ingredients should be listed in order of weight, starting with the ingredient with the largest content. They should also be written in their INCI name (for example, for sunflower oil, you would need to write the INCI name which is Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil).
If there are colourants in your ingredients list, they must be listed using their Colour Index (CI) numbers (for example, red iron oxide would be listed as CI77491).
For fragrance, these need to be listed as “Parfum”, but known allergens must still be declared separately if they exceed certain thresholds. If you are using essential oils in the product, you can also list each essential oil in their INCI names.
If the ingredients contain any nanomaterial ingredients, they must be followed by ‘(nano)’.
Here’s an example of how to list ingredients on a label:
The coloured lines show how each ingredient would be listed on the label.
9. Product Allergens
If the product contains fragrance or essential oils, you must list any allergens that they contain, if they exceed certain thresholds.
These are the two thresholds you need to look at:
- Leave on products - Allergens must be below 0.001%
- Wash off products - Allergens must be below 0.01%
If allergens exceed these percentages in the essential oil, they must be listed on the label.
10. Directions of Use
Putting the directions of use on the label is not a legal requirement. However, for some cosmetic products we would recommend including instructions on the label, if the way to use the product is not obvious.
11. Certified Organic Products
If you are selling certified organic cosmetics, the labelling requirements will be determined by the body that certifies your cosmetic products.
Avoid Misleading Information
When creating your cosmetic product label for the first time, it is so important you do not put misleading information on the product label. If any of the following information is on your label, it must be accurate:
- Product quantity or size
- The products price
- What the product is made of
- How, where and when it was made
- What you claim the product can do
- The people or organisations that endorse it
You don’t have to put all of this information on the label, but if you do you must ensure it is accurate and correct.
When it comes to labelling cosmetic products, you need to be extra careful about what you claim the product can do.
You must be able to back up any claims you make about your product. If you are claiming the cosmetic product has a certain function you have to be able to provide scientific evidence.
Whether it is a small claim like ‘the product is moisturising’, or a large claim like ‘the product has UV sun protection’, you must have scientific proof that the claims you are making are true. Depending on how big the claim is, will determine the level of scientific evidence you have to supply.
How Are You Going to Produce The Labels?
Once you know what is going on the label and how the label will look, you need to think about how it will be produced.
You’ve got two options. You can either print the labels yourself, or outsource and get them printed professionally. But there’s pros and cons for both.
Printing Your Own Labels
If you only want to print a small amount of labels and if you don’t mind having simple, lower quality labels, then this is the best choice for you.
Printing labels inhouse means you have a lot of flexibility to edit the information on the label (for example, if a batch number needs changing, you can simply update it on the system and print the new labels). You also don't need to commit to buying thousands of labels for your first order, you can make as many as you need.
However, there will be a lot of upfront costs. You’ll need to buy a label printer, printer ink, plain labels and download suitable software. You can also buy colour label printers, but these are very expensive. It is possible to buy paper with lots of precut labels on it for a standard home printer, however it is not going to look great. It can also be time consuming and the quality of the finished label may not be as good as professional printers.
So if you're selling cosmetics with simple packaging, a simple label would be fine. But if you are selling high end products, this may not be the best option for you.
Outsourcing to Professionals
If you are at the stage where you want thousands of labels printed or you want really good quality graphics, then you'll want to use a label company.
Getting your labels printed professionally is great if you need a large amount of labels and it is much less time consuming. The overall quality of the labels are also likely to be much better than inhouse labels.
However, if you only want a small amount of labels printed it can get very expensive. Essentially, the more labels you order, the lower the cost per label. So you can imagine, if you order a low amount of labels, the cost per label will be very high. It may also get difficult when you need to change information on the label (like a batch number), as you will have to wait for the updated labels to be printed and delivered.
Combination of Both
If you want the high quality finish of professionally printed labels but you want the flexibility of printing labels inhouse, then you could combine the two.
What I mean is, anything on the label that won’t change (like the logo, the design or the company address) can be professionally printed. Then you can print the changeable details (like the batch numbers, product names, weight etc.) onto the label yourself.
This method of doing labels gives you full flexibility, which is great for products that have many variants. However, it does mean you have both the upfront costs of printing labels yourself, as you’ll need to purchase a thermal label printer, and the cost of professionally printed labels.
Final Thoughts
Creating your own cosmetic labels can feel like a big task, but it is worth it when you can put your unique labels on products you are proud of!
Before you start, take your time with the process. You don’t want to discover something has been missed at the very last minute. While it’s important to love how your label looks, it’s even more important to ensure it includes everything it legally needs.
Now that you understand what information must be included on your labels, as well as the different options available for producing them, you can start drafting your label designs with confidence!
Continue Reading
Now you know how to label your cosmetic products, why not continue reading?
- Want to start your own soap business? Read our in depth guide here!
- Looking for a new face cream to try? Make your own calendula face cream with our recipe!
- Interested in making your own lash serum? Try our 100% natural lash serum recipe!
Let us know how you got on with your cosmetic labelling in the comments below!
