What information must appear on a cosmetic label?

UK law requires product name, INCI ingredients list, net weight, batch number, PAO or best before date, Responsible Person name and address, country of origin, and warnings.

What material is best for cosmetic labels?

Matte white vinyl is the most popular. It resists fingerprints and oil while giving a premium appearance. Clear vinyl is ideal when showing product colour.

Are vinyl cosmetic labels oil-proof?

Vinyl labels resist standard cosmetic oils and lotions. For products with concentrated essential oils, test a sample first.

Custom Cosmetic Labels: Materials, UK Regulations & Design

Why Cosmetic Labelling Is Unique

Cosmetic labels must withstand water, oils, lotions, and frequent handling while maintaining a premium appearance and complying with strict UK and EU regulations.

Best Materials

Matte white vinyl is the dominant choice — fingerprint-resistant, waterproof, oil-resistant, and gives the premium look consumers expect. ClClear vinyls essential for products where contents colour is a selling point. Metallic finishes add luxury positioning.

UK and EU Requirements

The EU Cosmetics Regulation (EC 1223/2009) requires: product name, INCI ingredients list, net weight/volume, batch number, PAO or best before date, Responsible Person name and address, country of origin, and warnings. Minimum text x-height is 1.2mm.

Design Best Practices

Keep hierarchy clear — brand and product name prominent, regulatory text legible but secondary. Use colour coding across product ranges. Leave space for batch codes. TeTest labels on your actual product containers before bulk ordering

Ordering

StickerNation prints custom cosmetic stickers and labels on matte, gloss, clear, and metallic vinyl — all wawaterproof and oil-resistantNo minimum order. DeDesign free online

Written by

Sticker Nation

Sticker Nation has been printing custom labels and stickers in the UK since 2007. What began as a bedroom operation — running off small batches of address labels in the evenings after a day's work — has grown into a dedicated label printing company trusted by more than 60,000 clients.

Along the way, we've printed for brands that have gone on to launch in Waitrose and for founders who have gone on to become Dragons on Dragons' Den. We've watched first-time makers grow into established names, and in the process we've learned exactly what separates a label that sells a product from one that doesn't.

In 2016 we built our own online designer tool — a direct response to the frustrations of traditional label artwork: bleed margins, colour mismatches, and endless file corrections. That platform, refined year after year, still powers every order today. Customers design in minutes, preview their work in 3D, and submit a print-ready PDF that drops straight onto our press — no back-and-forth, no artwork chasing, no surprises.

Everything we publish in our Knowledge Base comes from nearly two decades of hands-on production experience. If you read something here, we've done it ourselves — probably hundreds of times.

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Custom Cosmetic Labels: Materials, Regulations & Design Guide

At a Glance

Why Cosmetic Labelling Is Unique

Best Materials

UK and EU Requirements

Design Best Practices

Ordering

Frequently Asked Questions

Ready to get started?

At a Glance

Why Cosmetic Labelling Is Unique

Best Materials

UK and EU Requirements

Design Best Practices

Ordering

Frequently Asked Questions

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