# First Craft Fair - Wowza!



## Little Moon (Dec 29, 2007)

Yesterday I did my first craft fair and I think I ruffled some feathers - not meaning too.

A lady came to my table and was looking at the soaps and smelling etc. and then she said "Oh so you're my competition?" and I replied "Oh do you make goat milk soaps too?" and I introduced myself and stuck my hand out to shake hands with her. Wow it went down hill from there - she explained that she and her family had been doing this for years, and that she couldn't get away with labeling her soaps like mine, and she is FDA approved and a couple other alphabet agencies approved and how come I didn't have the weights on my soaps, and that I needed to take my sugar scrubs and loofah soaps off the table. My sugar scrubs did not have labels and my loofah she said will cut people. And then she said there is some guy from one of the government agencies walking around inspecting tables and if he saw what I was doing I would get hit with a 25K fine!

This is what my label says:
A proprietary blend:
oils, fats, goat milk
lye, fragrance and
freshly ground oatmeal
joined together to
create a luxurious 
creamy bar that will 
leave you feeling clean
and smelling delightful.

This is for my OMH soap. All soaps have that basic verbiage, just customized for each soap.

What do I need to do?

Thanks,
Anne


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## Faye Farms (Sep 14, 2009)

What a hag! There is no such thing as being FDA approved. There is no label police either. Technically you are supposed to label soap as "SOAP" and include weight and contact info. You do not have to add ingredients as long as you do not make any cosmetic claims about your soap. I believe sugar scrubs would fall under the category of a cosmetic. There you must label and add ingredients. Loofah soaps are fantastic. Gobs of people sell them and customers love them. They will not "cut" people.


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

There are always label police around, the only thing is they are always other soapers  Technically yes you have to have your contact info and weight of the soap on each label. Selling unwrapped soap is technically also against the law even in gift sets it has to be wrapped. Do we all sell unwrapped bars, yes. Are all our labels correct, no not even close, it's so much more than a list of products on your toiletries. A lot against the labeling laws or a little, what I always say is next time you come to my shop, please bring me the literature you received on all your toiletries each time you make them, that they are in fact preserved correctly and have been tested, you do know to be legal you have to test each batch (have you even tested once to know if your preservative is working?)....crickets. So as the 'government agencies' walking around come and critique my table I will make sure and point out yours....

Don't let them buffalo you, she just wants to make you feel uncomfortable so you will leave....stay, make a better quality product than her, be nicer than her....that part will be easy!!!


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## Little Moon (Dec 29, 2007)

I did pull the sugar scrubs as they were not labeled. I wondered about that before I put them out. All my soaps were labeled and tested (on my family and friends)- nothing official like a survey to fill out just kinda of "take this and try it and let me know what you think about lather, moisture, scent etc" Do I need to list the various oils or just say oils?


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## Little Moon (Dec 29, 2007)

O and yes my contact information was on them.


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## todog (Dec 10, 2011)

sweetie, for your own peace of mind and so the hag doesnt have anything to b__ch about, label everything. my label list ingreds. in descending order. weight and contact info. i make sugar scrub, the label says organic sugar, olive oil and apple pie spice. also with contact info. the only time i have had any trouble with the feds. was the farm market and the label on my canned cakes. i put ingredients on there but the flour wasnt specific enough for the health dept. it was home ground wheat flour. i put flour, sugar etc. oh well, my bad. lol next week have labels on all of it even if its hand written.


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## Anita Martin (Dec 26, 2007)

It sounds to me like she was trying to buffalo you out of there as fast as she could. I've done quite a few craft fairs, festivals, farmers markets, etc. and not once have I ever been approached by any "FDA" inspector or any other inspector for that matter, except for the folks who come by and want to make sure your product is actually made by you, at home, and not just bought and resold. I don't usually put a weight on my bars either because they do vary. Everything in a jar or bottle though gets a weight. I don't make any label claims even about how it might make a person smell, or feel...that way there is no question.


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

The regs do say that you must have weight and contact info for soap. Period.

Technically (I think), if you list one ingredient you are supposed to list them all. I do list all mine in order by weight. Makes my customers happy and helps my sales.


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## tlcnubians (Jan 21, 2011)

Anne - My recommendation would be to purchase a book called Soap & Cosmetic Labeling: How to Follow the Rules and Regs Explained in Plain English by Marie Gale. Marie spoke at the ADGA Convention in Tucson several years ago, the year she was one of the judges for the body care products competition. Her book is easy to read and I've found it to be really helpful.

Caroline


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## Little Moon (Dec 29, 2007)

Thanks Caroline - going to Amazon right now


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