Florida Bath and Body Licenses and Regs

[Bann51]

Hi. I plan on relocating to Florida. I make soap, body butter and bathing salts. Now I heard I have to pay through the nose if I make anything other than soap. I don't have to where I live now. I'm a very small soap maker. How do you all manage? I hear licenses are very expensive and regs are tough. Thanks for your response!

 

[Lin19687]

Depends on how much you are talking about when you say 'through the nose"
Ins, Lic for a Biz and Regulations are relatively that same in most US states

BTW, Florida is over run with soap makers

 

[earlene]

These links may help regarding Florida's regulations:
https://www.mariegale.com/florida-regulations-changed-2017/

Remember that you have to follow both Federal and State regulations, and when they do not agree, you must adhere to teh strictest regulation. So if the State regulation is stricter, that is the one you follow. However if the Federal regulation is more stringent than the state's, the you must adhere to the Federal.

These are links to Florida's licensing and regulations pertaining to licensing and cosmetics and drugs:

http://www.myfloridalicense.com/DBPR/services-requiring-a-dbpr-license/

http://www.myfloridalicense.com/DBPR/drugs-devices-and-cosmetics/cosmetic-manufacturer/

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0400-0499/0499/0499ContentsIndex.html&StatuteYear=2018&Title=->2018->Chapter 499

This link is for a workshop presentation for Florida regulations, which includes a video:

https://greenerlifeclub.com/florida...osmetic-act-presented-by-kimberlee-ann-nagel/


Edit:

The last link is from the workshop on March 28, 2015. But the link above that one is the current Florida regulations, so it is more current.

 

[Bann51]

Thank you Lin 19687 for your response. Thank you so much Earlene. I read them all. I also heard on the video that you do not need a license to sell soap in Florida. More than likely a business license. However, you do need a license if it is a cosmetic. In the two states I lived in, you did not have to get a license for selling body butter or bath salts. Therefore, no fee. You paid a license to do business as most require states. So unlike Florida, you did not have to pay $800 ever 2 years and an inspection fee for cosmetics. I will dig further as to what specific items are defined as cosmetics. Do they have to have the addition of water, etc? This was very helpful and I will watch their other videos. Earline (note spelling) was my grandmother's name. She made natural remedies. She'd have a hard time today. However, she didn't sell them! She just rubbed them on us kids! And they worked!
Thanks again to the both of you!

 

[earlene]

You are welcome, Bann51. It's always nice to meet someone who has/had with family with the same name. I even once met an Earlene with the same spelling as me in my own town, and this is such a tiny town in the midWest, it was a real surprise, to say the least. She didn't actually live here, but worked here. I haven't seen her in about a decade, though, so she moved on to another job somewhere else.

I am not sure I understand your question about water. As to the Florida regs, I only know what I have read & heard as a result of others here at SMF who did & do live in Florida. But since some of those regs in Florida eased up a couple of years ago, it sounds like it's not as bad as it was. But I don't live there, or do business there, so have not had a real need to keep up.

I do hope someone who actually does business in Florida comes along to share their experience with you. If not, at least Essential Depot is in Florida & it was their website that hosted that video on the Florida Regs, so they might be worthwhile getting to know.

 

[Bann51]

Hi Earlene. I'm sorry I missed your second response to me. I only knew 3 Earline's in my life and 2 were related. Now I know of 4. Thanks! As for the water, the presenter said products that contained water, excluding soap, were regulated because water can be a contaminant.
This is because it can cause bacteria to grow. I have to do more research. So I'm wondering if bath bombs, salts, candles or wax tarts are under any type of regulation. I'll reach out to Marie Gail on her site. Thank you again for communicating with me!

 

[earlene]

Yes, water can be a contaminant. I doubt that wax tarts/melt tarts or candles are in the category of personal care products, so doubt they would be regulated in the same way as cosmetics, but of course there are safety concerns for every consumer product, so you might want to check on that for those 2 products.

Bath bombs & bath salts are personal care products, so regulated as cosmetics in Florida per Marie Gale:

Quote:

March 2, 2018 Reply
Marie Gale
Bath bombs are cosmetics and to legally manufacture them in Florida, you need to be licensed as a cosmetic manufacturer (unless, of course, you are making them for yourself and not selling them). That’s true even if you give them away with another purchase — you are still manufacturing them and the consumer still has to purchase something in order to get them.

See this link and the questions & answers section; some responses are as recent as April 2019 regarding Florida regulations, including discussion by someone in your exact position:

https://www.mariegale.com/florida-regulations-changed-2017/