INCI

[Lindy]

This came up in another area here and it got me wondering how everyone else does their labelling. Do you use INCI names?

Here in Canada we are supposed to do our labels using INCI but to most people it makes everything sound/read like a chemical so I label using the common names on my actual products. I am thinking of doing it with the common name followed by the INCI name just to stay totally legal rather than having the handout for each product having the INCI list, which most people don't want and aren't interested in having. I'm also supposed to label bi-lingual but, well, uhmmmmmmmmmmmmm.........

So what are others doing and how do you feel about it?

TIA

 

[andreabadgley]

What is INCI?

 

[Deda]

What is INCI?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internatio ... ngredients
International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients

It's the exact language the FDA requires you use for labeling of your soaps.

If your soap is just meant to clean and you make no claims that would require it be labeled as a cosmetic you don't have to comply with INCI labeling.

Pamper yourself. Luxuriate in life's abundance with this milk & honey soap inspired by the Canaanite mother goddess. This soap is luxurious, filled with gifts from the Mother: buttermilk to soothe your skin, vitamin-rich sweet honey to hydrate and soothe skin, and oatmeal to exfoliate and soften skin. It also contains nutritious wheat germ oil, beeswax, and nourishing oils of coconut, palm, and olive. This soap is unscented, excepting what fragrance the oats, honey, and beeswax contribute. All-natural.

I copied this from one of the soaps on your website (very nice site).
Based on your description, the FDA would consider your soaps cosmetics.

http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/cos-218.html
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/cos-lbl.html

These links to the FDA will tell you what you need to need to know to bring your products into compliance.

 

[Lindy]

INCI = International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients and for instance Vitamin E becomes Tocopherol & Shea Butter becomes Butyrospermum Parkii. I am thinking of changing my ingredient list to have both so I am within regulations, but it is going to make the ingredient list portion need a magnifying glass to read....

 

[andreabadgley]

What is INCI?

Based on your description, the FDA would consider your soaps cosmetics.

http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/cos-218.html
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/cos-lbl.html

These links to the FDA will tell you what you need to need to know to bring your products into compliance.

YIKES! Thank you Deda! This is one of those things that needed to be planned out before going into business. Guess I need to go through and reword everything.

 

[Deda]

Andrea, I think your descriptions are wonderful. Why not just label your soap to comply?

 

[andreabadgley]

Andrea, I think your descriptions are wonderful. Why not just label your soap to comply?

I haven't looked at the links you posted yet, but for some reason I thought there was some huge fee for selling cosmetics. Am I (hopefully!) wrong? Maybe I dreamed that. I'm planning on looking at those links as soon as I get my kids fed and occupied for the afternoon.

 

[andreabadgley]

Andrea, I think your descriptions are wonderful. Why not just label your soap to comply?

Thank you very much, by the way, for the complements on our site and descriptions. My husband and I have worked hard on them, and it's so nice to hear positive feedback.

 

[wonderland]

could you list INCI like this?

shea butter (INCI name), jojoba oil (INCI name)...etc...

 

[Lindy]

That's what I'm thinking about doing so that I meet the regulations and still let people know what the ingredients are in their common name form. I understnad WHY they want this and it really is to protect the public should they have an allergic reaction. It allows them to take the package with the ingredients in a common scientific standard for the doctor to double check against other things the patient has reacted to. That doesn't mean I have to like it...... :?

 

[Lindy]

Just thought I would add that in Canada soap is always considered a cosmetic and where we have to be careful is not to cross the line between cosmetic claims into drug claims. For instance we can say that something softens skin and remain under the cosmetic act but if we say it heals skin we have now stepped into the drug act and then it's going to get complicated.