Making your own products

[xxhaylzxx]

Morning geeks,
I have been reading afew threads on people who are making their own products. I love the sound of this. My questions are how do you start with this? Have you done a course? Also what do you use as the base of all the products? Thanks

xx

 

[Blue Rose]

There are courses dotted about the country offering soap making etc. Google is a wonderful tool for finding out where they all are.

It took me hours in research so please forgive me for being reluctant to share some of the info with you all.

The base products vary, depending on what you want to make. There are numerous suppliers selling all sorts of weird & wonderful ingredients & again google is fantastic in finding these suppliers.

If you are making products to use on clients you don't need to be safety assessed per se but you will still need to adhere to EU guidelines regarding labelling of them. I think Trading Standards have all the relevant links for all that.

To get your safety assessments done can cost quite a bit of money, depending on how many types of products you want to sell.

If you only want to poodle about with making products, it would make for a very expensive hobby if you got your SA.

It can also be quite addictive which means yet more money will need to be spent on raw ingredients!!!!

 

[xxhaylzxx]

Thank you for your reply and i understand you not wanting to share all as youve researched. Just wanted abit more info and where to look. Which i will get on with pronto. Thank you for your help. I think i i will be looking into developing products to use in treatments and then go from there. Thank you muchly. xx

 

[Joanna W]

Plush Folly is a company that does distance learning for making your own products, and British School of Aromatherapy. I want to make my own products too (am a qualified Aromatherapist) but money is tight right now

 

[xxhaylzxx]

I have looked at plush folly but not sure wether a distance learning course is better or as good as a hands on course. Have you done anything with them before? Xx

 

[Joanna W]

No I haven't, you do get a tutor via email, it's not like learning massage where you need hands on training tho

 

[Blue Rose]

It was the British School of Aromatherapy where I went for my initial course then it just went from there.

 

[Joanna W]

They have a good offer on at the mo, and I still can't afford it lol Maybe if I ask for them as a Christmas present

 

[xxhaylzxx]

Thank you have been looking into it. Best get saving.

 

[jo-from-moorspa]

I would say there is a big difference between making products for yourself and making products for use on clients (and to sell to clients).

If you are making them for yourself then it can be a bit of fun and will give you a better idea of ingredients, how cosmetics work and you will have something you can tailor to your skin type.

If you are making it for others (even give aways) then you and your products will have to adhere to the Cosmetic Products (Safety) Regulations http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2008/1284/contents/made This covers all the requirements needed. You will need safety assessments for each product, a PIP file, and ideally have product liability insurance. Each product needs to be correctly labelled in accordance with the above guidelines and weights and measures guidelines. Each product will require batch numbering, micro and you to keep a retained sample.

Out of the items I mentioned above the insurance would be one of the toughest as it is costly (we pay over £5k a year). You can do it without but then any problems would be at your expense. Safety assessments do also cost, budget between £250-£1000 per product depending on how complex the product is. Micro will be about £50-80 per product per batch.

If you want some more information then just ask.

 

[Blue Rose]

I would say there is a big difference between making products for yourself and making products for use on clients (and to sell to clients).

If you are making them for yourself then it can be a bit of fun and will give you a better idea of ingredients, how cosmetics work and you will have something you can tailor to your skin type.

If you are making it for others (even give aways) then you and your products will have to adhere to the Cosmetic Products (Safety) Regulations The Cosmetic Products (Safety) Regulations 2008 This covers all the requirements needed. You will need safety assessments for each product, a PIP file, and ideally have product liability insurance. Each product needs to be correctly labelled in accordance with the above guidelines and weights and measures guidelines. Each product will require batch numbering, micro and you to keep a retained sample.

Out of the items I mentioned above the insurance would be one of the toughest as it is costly (we pay over £5k a year). You can do it without but then any problems would be at your expense. Safety assessments do also cost, budget between £250-£1000 per product depending on how complex the product is. Micro will be about £50-80 per product per batch.

If you want some more information then just ask.

Not sure where you went for your safety assessments but mine were no where near that kind of price!

I think a lot depends on the kind of products you want to sell. If you're just doing bath bombs, salt/sugar scrubs, body butters etc then it's a lot easier to get going.

There's a world of difference between making simplistic bath & body products for retail & a big budget brand skin care range with loads of complex recipes.

 

[Joanna W]

Cosmetic Safety Assessment alot cheaper than a grand lol

 

[xxhaylzxx]

I was going to say bloody hell i must be looking at a completely different thing. Yes i wont be doing a skin care range on a huge scale. Mainly scrubs, butters, lotions, bombs, fizzes etc. What attracts me is the fact that they be hand made by me to use in treatments by me. I have been doing re search and no one near me offers this so i think there is a niche for this. I know alot of people who would be interested and who prefer this than the big manufactured ranges.

 

[Blue Rose]

Cosmetic Safety Assessment alot cheaper than a grand lol

Scott is really helpful & will advise on what SA you need to get going.

 

[xxhaylzxx]

Thank you for your help.