DIY Can Be Fun But…

When lockdowns started happening in March, just about everything went DIY (Do It Yourself) from breadmaking to haircuts to making cosmetics at home! There’s nothing wrong with a DIY hair mask or even a lipgloss made from beeswax (read our “How to Make Lipgloss” article for more info and fun).

However, there should be some caution if you’re making cosmetics at home and selling them online. If you already have a cosmetics business in your kitchen right now, then good for you!

All I want is to offer some advice about the dangers of making cosmetics at home and the risk you’re taking when you don’t work with chemists or cosmetic testing. Instead, this article is focusing on the dangers of creating a beauty brand and making cosmetics at home (DIY style) with no outside help. 

The Dangers of DIY

Starting with the science and tests, here are some of the dangers of making cosmetics at home for sale.

1. Stranger Danger! Contamination Risk for Skincare + Cosmetics containing water

First things first, does your product contain water or any preservatives? If the product does contain water and there aren’t any preservatives, you could be facing a problem. Currently, there is a trend going around of people making products at home, selling them online, and not using preservatives.

Instead, they rely on natural ingredients for natural preservatives. Such reliance isn’t such a good idea and no preservatives in products with water is a big problem.

Why? Bacteria. Products with water NEED to be tested because they are the perfect breeding ground for bacteria like black mold and staphylococcus.

Bacteria live on the skin and float in the air. If they’re in the right environment, they can grow incubate and grow...fast. That’s something you don’t want anywhere near your skin or your face.

That’s why every cosmetic containing water needs to go through USP 61 & 62 testing (i.e. microbial and viral pathogen, respectively) every single batch, to ensure the products are not contaminated at the time of manufacture.

Yes, natural preservatives exist, but they can only go so far. All formulas (regardless if they contain water) should go through challenge testing to make sure the preservative system is effective.  (More on that in the #2, below!)

Fun Fact: At Genie Supply, our tests check for escherichia coli, salmonella, staphylococcus, and gram-negative bacteria any time we make a batch or manufacture!

2. Preservatives: Can Your Products Stand the Test of Time?

Even if you’re sure that your products are not contaminated at the time of sale, can they stay that way? How do you know? How can you ensure your clientele that the products you make are safe now and will continue to be safe during their normal shelf life? What is the shelf life of your product after all?

Long story short, if you’re making a formula and it never goes through challenge testing, you don’t know the effectiveness of the preservative system. If you don’t make a batch test, you won’t know if bacteria are in it and then you won’t know what will happen from that point on. 

Fun Fact: At Genie Supply, we can recommend a shelf life based on stability testing and can ensure that your products’ preservatives will stand the test of time, due to PET (challenge) testing conducted in an ISO / GMP Facility.

3. Color Can Be Risky: Color Cosmetics: Pigments, Safety + The FDA

One other thing to consider is pigments. Here are some questions to consider:

• If you are making color cosmetics at home, are the pigments you’re using batch certified? How do you know?

• Are they safe for use on the lips? face? eyes? Do you know?

• Does your makeup contain lead or other heavy metals? How do you know?

• Are you labeling your pigments correctly? Are you following FDA labeling standards?

There’s so much to learn and know when it comes to pigments. Making color cosmetics and pigmented skincare at home can be fun and exciting, but you must purchase batch exempt pigments (or know for a fact that they’re batch-certified!) for resale. You should only use safe for lips/eyes/face pigments when making products for those areas. Heavy metal testing is not a must, but it’s a smart move.

Fun Fact: At Genie Supply, we only use batch exempt or FDA batch certified pigments from reputable sources. We can heavy metal test at any time. We follow all FDA labeling standards and only use FDA-approved cosmetic pigments.

4. What Is It? Cosmetic / Skincare Labeling + The FDA

Finally, are you following FDA labeling procedures for your cosmetics and skincare products? Even those made at home need to be properly labeled, according to FDA standards. You should use INCI nomenclature for your ingredients. If you aren’t sure what those things mean, dive in + prepare the get fully educated, or hand it over to the pros.

Fun Fact: At Genie Supply, we provide the ingredient listing for your products using INCI nomenclature!

5. Weed Skincare? Is that Legal?: CBD + THC Skincare - Are You Breaking the Law?

If you’re making handmade CBD skin care at home, are you properly testing? Does it contain THC? Is the amount legal? How do you know? Are you follow your state’s CBD labeling laws?

CBD can get very complicated, and you don’t want to accidentally cross over into THC territory, where you might accidentally be selling a Class 1 drug..

Fun Fact: At Genie Supply, we 3rd party test EVERY CBD product we make, to ensure legal and correct levels of CBD and THC. We will get the test results issued in your company name + product name so that we are not traceable from the document.

Conclusion: Too Many Factors to Account For

When making a batch or making cosmetics at home, there are lots of different factors that can go wrong. The biggest causes could be an unclean environment or an ineffective formula. While you may have more control over those things, you can’t foresee everything. Maybe you forgot to use distilled water or the ingredients you’re using have been contaminated. 

And! The Consequences Could Be Deadly…

Knowing the dangers of making cosmetics at home and selling them without essential business parts like testing is a huge risk for your brand. Worst case scenario, people get hurt - like VERY hurt - and then you have an injury lawsuit on your hands, maybe even a class-action lawsuit, where many clients join together to make a megasuit.

You may have to do a recall of all the products which means you lose out on A LOT of money, or worse.. pay an injury lawsuit, class action, or lose everything. It’s simply not worth the risk!

The Safest Way to DIY

If you’re still looking to making cosmetics at home and selling them online, please proceed with caution. We don’t want to stop you from achieving your dreams, but we also want you to succeed. Though the FDA doesn’t explicitly state that you can’t make cosmetics at home, you still have to prove the cosmetic is created and manufactured safely for use.

You must also follow FDA labeling requirements (read “Breaking Down FDA Guidelines” for reference). 

Cosmetics you can make at home should be anti-hydrogenous (like an oil-based soap). No water means a much smaller chance of bacteria growing. Since selling products with water and no testing is extremely risky, here are some other products that you should not put up for sale:

• Baby Products

• Products for Internal Use (e.g. lube)

• Sunscreen

• Acne Medications

Last, but not least, if you’re not getting your products tested, make sure you have product liability insurance. You never know what will happen in the future and you want to be prepared for whatever may come your way. 

Thinking about making the jump from making cosmetics at home to a beauty lab?

Genie Supply has your back! We have a resources tab to get you started. Look for our next blog that discusses how you can make the jump from making cosmetics at home to a fully equipped lab.

Questions, Comments, or Concerns? Feel free to contact us!