Bath Bomb Advise

[Sammyblot]

Really helpful info... thanks

[HoneyOnTheSun]

What a nice post! I also have problems with labeling!

[Nikkitaplant]

Ingredients

Thank you for the recommendation, Caroline

I'll try and summarise the position with regard to making, labelling and selling bath bombs and soaps...

ASSESSMENTS
* You will need some kind of safety assessment from a qualified person (usually a chemist who has spe******ed in the field of cosmetics manufacture. I recommend Scott of Cosemeticas Safety Assessments He has a range of reasonably priced assessment packages starting at £40 ish...

* Your assessment will include a list of ingredients, fragrances, colours and some (safe) essential oils...you can use any of the ingredients in your bath bomb/soap etc but you don't have to use them all - remember the assessment is not a recipe!

* If your assessment doesn't include something - you can't use it and still be insured. The assessment is the assessor's statement of opinion that the ingredients, when combined are safe for the purposes they were intended. If you were ever sued because your product caused someone a problem, the assessor may be required to stand up in court and stand by his assessment of safety - so it is a serious matter...

* My other bit of advice is Never, ever buy an assessment package that restricts you to one or two suppliers...This is less common nowadays but you used to purchase assessments from a couple of companies that had their name on the assessment - if the company goes bust you would have to get new assessments And it's not good business practice to tie yourself to one supplier...

INSURANCE

* I recommend Ian Wallace who will provide a very good insurance for crafters....get the assessments first - he will ask if you have them

* The insurance will usually include Public Liability and Product liability insurance - both of these are important...but I don't have the time and space to explain them both - google it and read (at least) some summaries...

LABELLING

* There is a raft of legislation about cosmetics labelling, but it's really not as complicated as it may seem.

• You need to list the ingredients in order of volume - so if you bath bomb contains more Sodium than anything else Sodium goes first.
• You need to use the INCI name (usually latin but often the chemical name) - INCI stands for International Nomenclature for Cosmetics Ingredients (nomenclature simply means "use of a name"). So Sodium is Sodium Bicarbonate - Water is Aqua - Corn Starch is Zea Mays - find yourself a directoryI found this after a quick google search...there are others that are more information, some are less - just find one that works.
• Colours - need to be identified by their CI (Colour Index) number - the colours you purchase should have a CI number. Some manufactuers make pretty generic ingredients labels for soaps and bath bombs and will put something like this CI +/- 11680, 77266, 42090, 19140, 15985, 14700, 17200, 77891 - this means that that bath bomb MAY contain a blue colour or a yellow or a red etc - I prefer to put the actual colour used...
• If you mix red and blue to get your purple you can put CI 12345/12456 to indicate you've used both red and blue (where the numbers are the CI numbers of your red and blue) if that makes sense...
• Fragrance Oils should be of cosmetic grade and can be identified by the word Parfum.
• Essential Oils MUST be identified by their INCI name i.e. Lavender Essential Oil = Lavandula Augustifolia (there are often different versions of EO's so make sure your INCI name is the right one)...
• ALLERGENS - You need to make sure that your label includes any allergens that may be present in the fragrance or Essential Oil...it would take too long to explain how you calculate this but the MSDS for the fragrance/essential oil, should have a list of the allergens present and in what percentage and you should then be able to calculate how much of that allergen is present in the finished product. This is very important especially for those who suffer from allergies...they rely on the correct labelling to be safe...

PRODUCT INFORMATION FILES

* This is one of the biggest tasks for anyone making and selling their own products - and it is an ongoing piece of work.
* When you make a batch of bath bombs or soaps, you need to record the batch numbers of the ingredients and you need to give your batch a batch number - and put it on the label.
* My PIF's include an image of the product, the packaging of the product - a label and a list of the suppliers of each ingredient...
* Your assessor should be able to help more with PIF's but suffice it to say that, if Trading Standards knock on your door they can require that you produce your PIF (they would usually give you 3 days or more to produce it)....
* And the reason for the PIF? So that, if something went horribly wrong, you can trace back any suspecting materials you may have used and the suppliers can go back through their supply chain...

Hope some of this is helpful

I am not sure if this post is monitored or looked at with how old it is.

However, I have a question in regards to this:

* Your assessment will include a list of ingredients, fragrances, colours and some (safe) essential oils...you can use any of the ingredients in your bath bomb/soap etc but you don't have to use them all - remember the assessment is not a recipe!

Is this a list of the assessors chosen ingredients or can I provide a list that i would like to use? For example I have a number of essential fragrant oils I would like to use (Mystic Moments Fragrant Oil Starter Pack - Home Sweet Home - 5 x 10ml

) but I am unsure if this phrase meant they will assess the oils i want to use or that they tell me what i can use?

Thank you, I hope that makes sense!

Nikkita

[Yvonne01223]

Hi, would you tube have any information, I had no idea until yesterday I would need to get mine checked!! luckily I haven't sold any yet, as only just started to make these..

I have how-ever bought some wholesale ones to sell so would I still have to have these tested?

[woolnstuff]

there is an article at soapmaking magazine co uk which links to the eu regulations governing this issue, you will have to search around their website for it as I can't post links yet(not enough posts) perhaps use their website search feature and type in cosmetic legislation

[mark99]

Try visiting bathbomb.com