Here’s the thing nobody tells you when you start selling your homemade lip scrubs or bath bombs at a craft fair: the federal government already has opinions about what you’re doing.
The FDA regulates cosmetics — and that includes products made at home and sold in small batches. It doesn’t matter if you’re a billion-dollar brand or a teenager with an Etsy shop. According to the FDA’s own fact sheet for small businesses and homemade cosmetics, you are legally responsible for making sure your products are safe and properly labeled, in full compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. That’s not a suggestion. That’s the law.
So what counts as a cosmetic? Things like lip balm, lotion, body scrub, perfume, and similar products that affect how someone looks or smells. If a product is intended to treat or prevent something — like a “healing” salve or an “acne-fighting” face wash — it might actually be classified as a drug under federal law, which comes with even stricter requirements.
Soap is its own weird category. True soap — made mostly from oils and lye, used purely for cleansing, and not marketed to moisturize or treat anything — is actually exempt from the FDA’s cosmetic rules. But the moment you start calling your soap “moisturizing” or “antibacterial,” it shifts into cosmetic or drug territory. The FDA’s breakdown of what counts as soap vs. a cosmetic vs. a drug is genuinely worth reading before you put anything up for sale.
Candles fall under a different set of rules entirely — consumer product safety regulations overseen by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), not the FDA — but the core idea is the same: if your product causes harm, you can be held liable.
What does “legally responsible” actually mean in practice? It means your products must be safe for people to use normally. They can’t contain harmful substances, be made in unsanitary conditions, or include color additives that aren’t approved by the FDA. And they have to be properly labeled — no vague ingredient lists, no missing information.
The FDA historically did not require cosmetics businesses to register or get pre-approval before selling — but that changed. A 2022 federal law called the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act (MoCRA) introduced new requirements for most cosmetics manufacturers and processors, including facility registration, product listing with the FDA, and adverse event reporting. Some very small businesses may qualify for exemptions, but the rules are specific. This is another reason to consult a lawyer or review the FDA’s current MoCRA guidance before you launch.
If something goes wrong — if someone has a reaction, gets hurt, or complains — the fact that you were operating as a hobby doesn’t protect you. “I didn’t know” isn’t a legal defense.
None of this means you can’t sell what you make. Plenty of people do it successfully. It just means you need to go in knowing the rules exist, because the FDA isn’t going to send you a welcome packet when you open your shop.