'Forcing transparency,' FDA implements new rules governing makeup, cosmetics

U.S. — Makeup is getting a makeover of its own.

In 2022, the U.S. Congress passed the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act (MoCRA) to help keep consumers safe from products that contain harmful chemicals.

The FDA will begin enforcing the new law on January 1. The new regulation requires the FDA to more rigorously regulate cosmetics products such as makeup, fragrance, skincare, creams, shampoos, conditioners, and more. 

"Now the FDA is starting to say, 'Wait a minute, we’re going to actually have a little more oversight because there have been a lot of complaints about products that could be causing problems and we want to have more transparency,' ” said board-certified dermatologist Doris Day, MD.

In 2023, the agency received more than 5,000 health-related complaints from consumers using cosmetic products,  including severe allergic reactions, skin burns, and permanent disfigurement. Industry experts believe that number is even higher simply because people are not reporting incidents.

"MoCRA is a relatively new regulation aimed at protecting customers from unsafe cosmetics," shared David Lennarz, President of Registrar Corp., which is the world's largest FDA compliance company. "Our analysis indicates that retailers are struggling to ensure the cosmetics product on their shelves are in fact FDA compliant."  

It's the first significant update to cosmetics regulations in nearly 90 years. Many experts said it's long overdue. 

“Now it’s forcing more transparency, a little more in the way of giving consumers a place to go if they have a question they want to ask,” explained Day.

Under the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act companies must register the facility where its product is manufactured, register and list the ingredients used in each product, and cosmetic labels must include a phone number for consumers to report any adverse reactions when using the product.

"In the past six months, we have helped more than a thousand cosmetics companies become MoCRA compliant," says Raj Shah, CEO of Registrar Corp. "As FDA enforcement now ramps up, we expect that retailers will press on the cosmetics brands to get compliant, or risk being removed from their shelves."