Lotions, potions, and regulations

[Guest guest]

Greetings fellow toiletry aficianados:

I have been playing around with some face cream and body lotion recipes and

came up with a couple that work pretty well. Others that have tried them

like them too.

I have considered trying to market these gems, but I am concerned about

Federal regulations. I read somewhere that the FDA requires all cosmetics to

be tested on humans before being approved for release, not to mention

imposing stringent sanitary requirements on the manufacturing process--i.e.

my kitchen probably doesn't meet code. I also read that typically, folks

hire manufacturers to concoct their recipes and that the manufacturers take

care of the testing. Sounds really expensive to me, as in WAY BEYOND MY

BUDGET+ACE- (But then again, injuring somebody or getting sued because someone

had a severe allergic reaction to a fragrance additive wouldn't be in my

budget either+ACE-).

Does anybody have any experience with this? Does anybody know of any

loopholes? I know that soaps are specifically excluded from the definition

of cosmetics as long as they are not touted as doing anything other than

cleaning. But what about face creams and body lotions, body oils, and

perfumes?

I admit that I have avoided spending several days trying to read the Code of

Federal Regulations+ACE-

Also does anybody have any advice about SAFE preservatives? Using vegetable

oils and natural ingredients, and then mass marketing them would require

something to extend the shelf life considerably.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks+ACE-

Betsy