Everything that has to be on the label

A cosmetic label is more prescribed than a food label in one respect and freer in another, and the prescribed part is the ingredient declaration.

The checklist

Statement of identity. What the product is.

Net quantity of contents, on the principal display panel.

Ingredient declaration, in INCI names, in descending order of predominance.

Name and place of business of the manufacturer, packer or distributor.

Warnings and directions where necessary for safe use.

And if the product carries an SPF or a therapeutic claim, a Drug Facts panel, because it is no longer only a cosmetic.

INCI is the hard part

Every ingredient by its INCI name, descending by weight until the one percent threshold, after which order is free.

Marketing names do not substitute. "Aloe" is not a declaration. Nor does a romance description replace the list, however much better it reads.

This is the element that makes a 30 ml bottle difficult, because the list is long and the names are long, and it cannot be abbreviated to fit.

Panel placement on a small bottle

Identity and net quantity on the face. Ingredients, business details and warnings on the face or the information panel.

Check the printable panel dimensions before ordering bottles. A design that does not fit is a bottle problem rather than a design problem, and the ingredient list is not negotiable.

Where the bottle genuinely cannot carry it, the usual answers are a carton or a peel-back multi-layer label, both of which are decisions to make at packaging selection rather than after.

Worth adding

A batch code on every unit, which is what makes a problem traceable and containable. A period after opening, which customers look for in this category. And storage guidance where the formula genuinely needs it, such as keeping a vitamin C serum out of light.

None are strictly required and all three are what a serious brand looks like.

References