Just wondered how many aromatherapists sold there own products to clients and/or general public. Do you buy the bases in and add the oils and sell on or do you make them from scratch? Do you find you sell lots of products? I've been wanting to sell my own for ages but just haven't got round to getting any stock in until this week which is quite exciting - just interested how much success people have with it.
I buy base cream from then add essential oils. I make up for individual clients and have had people come back for more. I also have a mini shop in my therapy room selling lavender handcream, soap, wheaty bags etc (not made by me!). If I am doing an aromatherapy treament I usually have oil left over that the I give the client to use in their bath etc at home. For this I buy little glass bottles from pyhtobotanica,
best wishes,
Lily-of-the-Valley:)
There are far more stringent regulations when you sell homemade products to the public at large than when you sell onto a client for whom you have done a consultation, as this constitutes part of the treatment. But it is important you check the requirements and your insurance details.
If you make any product you have to have your product approved/certified by an assessor who may be a chemist, toxicologist, pharmacist or GP. Basically he/she needs to check out any allergens, toxins etc in ingredients to ensure the product is safe for topical use. You need to keep a product information file (PIF), and list the way you made the product, i.e. recipe, the date and where you made it the sell by date, batch number and list each ingredient and who supplied the ingredients. You can get a material data safety sheet (MDSS) from some suppliers of essential oils for a small fee. Some suppliers also list these on the internet. For labels you need to list all ingredients (INCI names) in descending order - greatest to smallest, weight and batch number. Any scales used must be stamped for trade. If your product weighs say 100gms E the E = average weight. INCI is International nomenclature - a name allocated to botanical ingredient usually the Latin name.
If you choose to use bases made by another supplier (which say pre-certified) if you add essential oils you still have to have your end product assessed/certified for consumer safety.
As you can see there is quite a lot to it, a lot of paperwork to fill in and keep. As said before you need to check insurance to ensure you are covered for making products containing essential oils.
If I can think of anything else I will add it on later.
Binah
x
Thank your for all your replies and especially to Binah. I had no idea that the safety tests were necessary for adding oils to base products - I knew they were for making your own products from scratch. Have just enrolled on a course about cosmetic legislation etc. which should give me a bit more of an idea of what's involved. When I trained in Aromatherapy, my lecturer always said we could make up oils etc. for our clients - I wonder how many people out there actually sell products on without getting them safety checked? I bet it's a lot - I bet a lot of people don't realise (like me) that they need it doing. FHT said the products need testing even if selling to your own client (as part of their treatment). I knew about the labelling regulations. Checked with the FHT and they offer insurance to sell products to clients and non-clients so will do this once I have my products tested. Going to do lots of research in to what products i'm going to make so i don't have to keep getting things retested if I change the ingredients.
Glad to hear you are going on a course and doing the research. I went on a course several years ago now so I hope the information is not too much out of date. It would be good to hear an update from you after you have done your course.
I think you can pass on to your clients oils or creams, without having them assessed for safety, will doublecheck that tomorrow, as part of their treatment.
Love Binah
xxx