Soap & Cosmetic Labeling by Marie Gale

A book entirely devoted to the task of labeling soap and cosmetics - correctly! A must have for anyone who is serious about selling their soaps, cosmetics, and other creations.

(From the back cover) "So you've just developed an awesome soap or cosmetic product. You gave it out to friends and family who raved about it and urged you to put it on the market. You checked on what that would take and that's when you hit the wall of rules and regulations. Thud! Does that mean you've hit a dead end? Absolutely not!"

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Marie Gale is well known in the soap making world - indeed, a bit of a soap celebrity. She's been the president of the Handcrafted Soap Makers Guild since 2003, as well as the owner/operator of both Chandler's Soaps and For Soapmakers.com. All of this adds up to someone who knows what she's talking about and, like many of us soapmakers who took the leap into selling our products, had to responsibly learn the rules and regulations that applied to our industry - which up until now meant wading through pages and pages and pages of technical information and legalese.

I only wish I had had this book when I got started!

Gale has done our homework for us and put it all in one place. The book explains, in easy to understand "plain English", how to correctly label everything from soap to lipstick to lotion and more. Marie has digested and compiled the various regulations from:

• Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act
• Fair Product and Labeling Act
• Uniform Weights & Measures Law
• Uniform Packaging and Labeling Regulations
• and even gives links to State Laws

Not only does this book talk about who makes the laws and why, and what should and shouldn't go on the label, but it also goes into nice detail about what size the letters need to be and where the labels need to go. It covers warning statements, fragrance, flavor and colorant considerations, other label claims (like "organic", and "non-toxic") and unregulated terms like "hypoallergenic" and "natural."

And in addition to all of this information, Gale has added a great appendix of colorant info, measurements, and INCI names - and even more useful - gives owners of the book and online link to receive updates as laws change or are clarified. The links page alone is worth the price of the book!