Understanding Cosmetics Labelling

Some interesting information found online, which can help you a) use safe products; b) determine the products’ origins (and possibly identify repackagers); c) find product ingredients to help avoid health or allergic conflicts; and d) determine its safe/useful lifespan.

These points are required by US law, by the FDA and by the Department of Weights and Measures. Knowing this can help you spot repackaged products, contact the actual manufacturer if there’s a health problem, and see which “original” products from your favorite indie MMU company really are their own creation. (Interestingly enough, I think that many of the cosmetics companies I purchase from need to add some information to their labels to be fully in compliance.)

Key takeaways I got from this are that cosmetics' labels must indicate the actual manufacturer and a way to contact them, the actual amount of the product included in both metric and imperial (metric has to go first to comply with EU labelling laws - I did not know that), the ingredients in the product (not the ratios, but they must be in order from most-used to least-used), and any warning statements for contraindicated use or placement (not to be used around the eyes, not lip-safe, et cetera). So if Estee Lauder - makers of several brands including MAC Cosmetics - manufacture their products in London and then distribute them through various retail outlets, their labels have to indicate the point of origin as being London. And if a product's package says "Manufactured by XXX, Distributed by YYY" and XXX and YYY don't match, then you have one of two situations: a product bought from a third-party private label manufacturer like Lady Burd ("Manufactured by XXX, Distributed by Indie Company YYY"), or a huge conglomerate that has their manufacturing lab under one name, and their various brands listed as the distributors (ie, "Manufactured by Estee Lauder Cosmetics, Distributed by MAC Cosmetics Canada".) Some of this stuff is just good common sense and sound ethics, like listing ingredients that may cause allergies or potential health wrinkles; but I didn't realize how much of it was encoded into law both in the US and the EU (I didn't realize that metric quantity-numbers had to come first, for instance.) I also now realize, in hindsight, that quite a few companies with whom I deal don't have enough information on their packaging. As of November 2009, The SheSpace doesn't indicate quantity on their eyeshadow labels. Neither does Pure Luxe - at least not on their 5-gram jars - though they do include ingredients and contact info. Simply Naturals is another company whose labelling lacks some required information. Aromaleigh and Meow Cosmetics both list ingredients, quantity, contact info...everything required by law. (Well...I *think* they list everything required by law. I don't have any of my Aromaleigh Sonic Rocks! jars to check and see if the not-lip-safe colors contain that warning.) References: Essential Wholesale's Cosmetic Label Tips (PDF); US Food and Drug Administration's FD&C Act; US FDA Information - Key Legal Concepts: "Interstate Commerce," "Adulterated," and "Misbranded"; Understanding Your Cosmetics Labels by Estee Lauder (EL-label-specific, but still helpful)

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