The four formats

The powder

Updated October 2026

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The shelf A sifter, not a lid Static is the named nuisance Which affects fill consistency Caking is the storage failure Talc and its alternatives are a formulation question A body powder is usually a cosmetic References

The smallest of the four shelves, and the one where the fitment is the product.

The shelf

Fifty-four containers from 7 to 150 mL, with 81 closures. By material 45 PET and 9 PP. By form 34 packers, 17 single wall jars, 2 double wall and one honey bottle. The necks are 38-400 at 36, 33-400 at 14 and 43-400 at 4.

A sifter, not a lid

The archetype calls for a sifter fitment, and for a body powder that is what makes the product usable. Without it a jar of powder is dispensed by tipping, which is messy and wasteful.

Static is the named nuisance

Fine powder clings to the container, to the fitment and to hands, which makes filling harder and makes the first use untidy. It is worse in dry air, which is also when the product sells.

Which affects fill consistency

Powder that clings does not settle predictably, so filling by weight rather than by volume is the only way to keep the declared quantity honest across a run. The same conclusion the wax melt shelf reaches for a different reason.

Caking is the storage failure

Powders take up moisture and bridge into lumps, and then the sifter blocks. A liner that actually seals is the control, and it matters more here than the jar does.

Talc and its alternatives are a formulation question

And a reputational one in this category. Whatever the base, the ingredient list is the place it gets answered, and buyers of body powder read it closely.

A body powder is usually a cosmetic

It absorbs moisture that is already there rather than reducing sweat production, so it sits on the cosmetic side unless the claims push it over. Worth being deliberate about, because "keeps you dry" is a tempting line.

References

21 CFR 350.3, the definition: "Antiperspirant. A drug product applied topically that reduces the production of perspiration (sweat) at that site." law.cornell.edu

21 CFR 350.50, Labeling of antiperspirant drug products. Paragraph (a) requires the product to be identified as an antiperspirant; (b)(1) gives the Uses statement as a choice of one of three verbs and one of five nouns; (b)(3) and (b)(4) tie duration and "extra effective" claims to 20 percent and 30 percent sweat reduction; (c) sets four verbatim warnings; (d) sets the direction "apply to underarms only". law.cornell.edu

Written from the federal monograph, not from a formulation bench. Whether a given product is a cosmetic or a drug turns on its ingredients and its claims, and that is a determination with consequences; nothing here substitutes for getting it right for a specific formula and label.