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Distributed vs. Made by
  • Curses
    Ok, I know (or I'm pretty sure I know) that when a cosmetic label says "distributed by," it means the company didn't actually produce the product, they just sell it. "Made/Created/Produced by" means they did. How do private labellers deal with this issue? If I own a cosmetics company and farm out production to someone else, but they use my specific, unique formula, would I then be distributing or making? What if I use a standard formula offered by the private labeller? I guess, in a nutshell, my question is at what point does the terminology change? Is it legally regulated, or is it more of a marketing or semantics thing?

    Thanks again, Brains, for being my guide to the lipstick jungle!
  • Left BrainLeft Brain
    @Curses - you are correct that 'Distributed by' means that the company didn't actually make the product.  They either hired someone else to make their formula or just bought someone else's standard formula (probably customized for the specific project). 
    'Manufactured by' means that the company owns the production plant that actually made the product.
    Of course, there are no specific rules except that you have to label your product as either having been 'Manufactured by' or 'Distributed by'.  If someone wanted to put 'manufactured by' but they didn't actually make it, they could still probably do it.
    And for more fun about cosmetic labeling in the US, you can see a summary of the federal regulations here.
    http://www.fda.gov/Cosmetics/CosmeticLabelingLabelClaims/default.htm
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