Is it legal to sell my homemade skincare products?

 

The good news is that you can sell your homemade skincare products as long as each individual product has a CPSR (cosmetic product safety report). You will also have to comply with a few more regulations on labelling and good manufacturing practice (how you make your skincare products), and register each product that you sell on the GB Cosmetics Notification Portal.

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None of this is as complex as it sounds! Find out about the laws on selling homemade beauty products in the UK.

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I read that I need a cosmetic safety assessment before I can sell my homemade skincare. What is this?

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A cosmetic safety assessment (or CPSR - cosmetic product safety report) is a document that will be prepared by a qualified cosmetic chemist or assessor and it will confirm that the cosmetic or skincare product that you want to sell complies with all the necessary cosmetic regulations within the UK, and that it is safe to use and sell to the public. Find out about the UK legislation for starting a cosmetics business.

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What does CPSR stand for?

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CPSR stands for Cosmetic Product Safety Report. The problem is that it gets called by many different names in the UK but they are all the same thing. Each product that you want to sell needs to have a CPSR (Cosmetic Product Safety Report). This report also goes by different names and descriptions such as Cosmetic Certification, Cosmetic Safety Assessments, CPSR Certification and Cosmetic Assessment. They are all the same thing. Find out all you need to know about getting CPSR's along with a list of recommended cosmetic chemists in the UK.

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Do I need cosmetic certification to sell on Etsy?

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Yes, you need a CPSR (cosmetic product safety report) for each and every different product you sell, no matter where you sell them. For instance, if you have five lip balms and they each have the same base recipe but each one has different essential oils in them (ie peppermint, orange etc) then you will need five different CPSR's. 

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However, as the five lip balms are all basically the same ingredients apart from the essential oils you can get your CPSR's for a cheaper price - see details on cosmetic safety assessment prices in the UK.

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I'm only selling to friends and family, I don't need a cosmetic safety assessment do I?

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Yes you do. It doesn't matter who you are selling to, if you are selling cosmetic products in the UK each product must have a cosmetic product safety report. 

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I want to set up my own natural skincare business, do I need to go on a course to learn how to make skincare products?

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Going on a course is one way of getting started, but it really depends on what type of products you are interested in making, how much development and research you want to do and how knowledgeable you want to be about the products.

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There are lots of courses on making skincare, some you attend in person and some which you can do online, it will very much depend on the time you have available and your budget. You can also buy some great books to help get you started and work your way through the process at your own pace.  

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Also check out the Brand & Go products and the DIY Natural Skincare Product Recipe page where you can either make these products and brand them as your own to sell or use them as ideas and develop them further into your own formulations.

 

Take a look at the Starting Your Skincare Business Guide. This will give you lots of advice and information on setting up and running your natural skincare business and covers topics such as deciding on your product range and target market, good manufacturing process, pricing, selling and marketing your products and much more.

 

​Once you have a product or two up and selling you can expand your product range and your business either by going on a course or by learning about product research and developing your own products.

 

It may be a good idea to try a few skincare recipes out to see how you get on and how much you enjoy doing it first. Try creating products for family and friend and get their feedback!​

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