How to Label Perfumes, Colognes, and Body Mists

Expanding your line to include fine fragrance products like perfumes, colognes, and body mists is a smart business strategy. Wearable fragrances are in high demand and let your customers experience your signature scents in even more ways!

However, going from candles and soaps to personal fragrance products brings additional regulatory compliance requirements and packaging considerations. This is because in the United States, they must follow specific legal guidelines under the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (FPLA).

To help you make the move into personal and fine fragrances more easily, we’re breaking down industry terms to know, labeling requirements, and how to choose label types that work well for these applications.

When naming your fine fragrance products, you might be wondering whether there are laws governing the use of terms like eau de parfum or cologne.

The short answer is no.

In the United States, there are no regulations defining the exact fragrance concentration percentages for these products. You can technically call anything you make a perfume or a body mist.

However, the wider perfume industry does adhere to traditional, voluntary guidelines based on the following fragrance loads. For marketing purposes and to meet general consumer expectations, it’s considered best practice to follow these naming conventions:

Regardless of what you decide to name your creation, the FPLA requires four core pieces of information be clearly visible to the consumer on the product packaging:

• Product Identification or Identity Statement: What the product is (e.g., “Eau de Parfum” or “Body Mist”).
• Business Name and Place of Business: Your legal business name and physical address—or website address where the physical address is listed.
• Net Quantity of Contents: For liquid products, the quantity must be listed by volume in both fluid ounces and milliliters.
• Ingredients Declaration: Ingredients must be listed in order of greatest to least volume or weight. 

To keep your fine fragrance products looking pristine on customer vanities or retail shelves, it’s generally best to opt for waterproof or water-resistant labels. Perfume bases and fragrances can cause staining and ink to bleed on paper labels.

When considering label substrates for your mists, colognes, and perfumes, the following three are excellent choices. They're not only waterproof and oil-resistant, but they are also readily available label types:

• Biaxially Oriented Polypropylene (BOPP). BOPP is a plastic film used in consumer packaging that’s known for its durability, flexibility, and resistance to tearing.
• Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET). PET is a thin but highly durable synthetic plastic resin from the polyester family that’s also UV-resistant.
• Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC). Also commonly called vinyl, labels made from this material are heavy-duty and flexible, and wrap well around curved surfaces. 

Through our partnership with Avery WePrint, you have access to professional-grade labels specifically designed to withstand frequent handling and exposure to liquids, oils, and damp environments.

Avery's custom-printed options include: