The fashion and cosmetic industry continues to grow each year as more people appreciate the use of cosmetics to enhance their natural beauty. Unlike some few years back, consumers are now more careful about which cosmetics they purchase and they are keen to check the content information of a product before using it. If you have a cosmetic company seeking to acquire a new market share or you are a startup company with a great cosmetic line you need to launch in the market, there are certain legal requirements that you need to meet before releasing your products to the public. One of these requirements calls for a cosmetic company to have cosmetic label symbols on their products to convey certain information to the consumers. We will look at some of the common cosmetic symbols used internationally and what they mean.
Period After Opening (PAO)
This symbol is usually printed inside or next to a cosmetic jar symbol to tell how long a product should be used after opening before it expires. The time period is usually indicated with a number that represents the number of months the product is safe to use followed by letter “M” to indicate months. For example, when you see a cosmetic label with “24M”, this means the product can be used for up to 24 months after opening before it expires.
Open Flame
Some cosmetic products like deodorant, hairspray, nail polish and polish removers, have ingredients like propellant gas and alcohol which makes them highly flammable. The flammable symbol is put on these labels to warn consumers from placing or using these products near high heat.
Recycling Arrows Triangle
This symbol is popularly known as a “Mobius loop” which indicates that the cosmetic container can be recycled. When you see this triangle inside a solid circle, it means that the container is made from recycled material. If there is a percentage inside the triangle symbol, that indicates the container is manufactured from a percentage of recycled materials. When a particular resin is used to help in recycling a plastic container, the triangle symbol will have a number inside and a letter below to show the resin used.
Refer to Insert
This symbol is usually represented by a hand pointing at a book which indicates that there is an extra booklet inside the package that gives more instructions or information about the product. This is done when there is a long list of instructions or information that needs to be conveyed that cannot fit on the primary label. Small cosmetics products find this symbol useful since there is no enough space on the packaging to list all this information.
USDA Organic Seal
This symbol can only be used when United States Department of Agriculture certifies that a cosmetic product is made from at least 95% organic materials. It is illegal to have this symbol on your cosmetic label without the approval of the USDA. If you manufacture your cosmetic products from organic material, this is a great way to create awareness about your product being natural.
