Does a long ingredient name (one that most people cannot pronounce, or need a magnifying to read) equate to a “bad chemical” in a product? No!
Skin creams and lotions (amongst other common personal care items such as deodorant, shampoo, toothpaste…) are considered cosmetics.
Per the FDA, cosmetic ingredients must be labeled with INCI names. What are INCI names? The International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients is a “system of names” that include scientific, Latin and English words.
Let’s take a look at a simple ingredient: shea butter. Good quality unrefined shea butter is about as basic as it can be. Shea butter is collected in South Africa from the kernel of the shea tree (as described here). The raw butter is melted, stirred and filtered. The INCI name for shea butter is Butyrospermum Parkii. Yes, a scary looking long name. No, the long name on the cosmetic label does not make it a “bad” chemical.
If you find yourself concerned about an ingredient on a label, I urge you to ask the manufacturer for additional information. A cosmetic maker should always be happy to explain their products.
Annie’s Goat Hill Handcrafted Soaps – Smell and Feel the Goodness!
We’ve used Shea butter in our soaps.
Amy
Great post! I love to explain my products to my customers. Rebekah
Wonderful post! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to explain the “FDA requiremements” for labels, answer what’s this questions or how often I see some manufacturers who do not follow the regs and thus I have to explain why I do. We all love to talk shop with customers. It’s what sets us apart from the big boys.
I do think we can help other manufacturers in a sense, which helps our industry as a whole, because I do not think all of them have caught on to the labeling regulations for cosmetics. I, for one, wasn’t aware of the regs for the first year. I was making a fantastic lotion, and was disclosing all of the ingredients to “T” but didn’t know I needed to list them with INCI names, etc… .
I so agree with you, Ginger, it does set us apart from the big boys!
Short and simple. Good article.
Thank you.
Since writing this post, I learned that the FDA does allow common names on cosmetic labeling. INCI names are not required on cosmetic labeling in the United States.