Who Sells What — Quick Reference
| Retailer | Bath Bombs | M&P Soap | Body Butter | Scrubs & Salts | Shower Steamers | Fragrance Oils | Assessments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Craftovator | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| The Soap Kitchen | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| Soak Rochford | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Fizzy Whiz | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Stansfields | ✓ | ✓ | – | – | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| Supplies for Candles | ✓ | – | – | – | – | ✓ | – |
| Blossom Oils | – | – | – | – | – | ✓ | – |
Bath Bombs
Bath bombs are one of the most popular handmade products in the UK craft market. You'll need citric acid, bicarbonate of soda, oils, butters, colourants and fragrances — all stocked by these specialist retailers.
A dedicated bath and body supplier with an exceptional range of bath bomb making supplies — citric acid, SLSA, colourants, moulds, fragrances and full assessment documents. Their ready-made kits are ideal for beginners and their assessment service is essential for sellers.
Soak Rochford stock an extensive bath bomb range — SLSA, dry ingredients, water-soluble dyes, fragrances, moulds and safety assessments. Their shop-by-use navigation makes it easy to find exactly what you need for each product type.
Craftovator offer one of the most comprehensive bath and body ranges in the UK — covering bath bomb ingredients, melt & pour soap bases, body butter bases, skincare actives and a wealth of tutorials. Perfect if you want a one-stop shop with expert guidance built in.
The UK's longest-established soap and toiletry supplier stocks everything for bath bombs — citric acid, sodium bicarbonate, colourants, moulds, fragrance oils and ready-to-go starter kits. Trusted since 2000 with ethically sourced ingredients.
Established since 2012, Stansfields supply fragrance oils and colourants suitable for bath bombs and soap — including neon pigments, water-soluble dyes and bath & body-safe fragrance oils. Great for sourcing colour and scent in one place alongside your wax supplies.
Soap Making
From beginner-friendly melt & pour bases to cold process supplies and whipped soap — these UK retailers have everything you need to start making and selling handmade soap.
The UK's leading dedicated soap supplier since 2000. Stocks melt & pour bases (clear, white, shea, goats milk), cold process ingredients including lye, oils and butters, plus bottles, jars, dyes, fragrance oils and complete starter kits. The trusted choice for professional soap makers.
Craftovator's cosmetics range covers melt & pour soap bases, whipped soap bases, shampoo & conditioner bar bases, liquid soap bases and perfume making ingredients. Their detailed how-to guides for each product type make them the go-to for makers expanding into new categories.
Soak Rochford stock melt & pour soap bases, premade bases for whipped and jelly soap, plus safety assessments for any soap product you plan to sell. Their colourants range — including water-soluble dyes and micas — is particularly well-suited to soap making.
Fizzy Whiz offer a solid soap making range alongside their popular bath bomb supplies. Their soap assessment service makes them a good choice for makers who need compliance documentation — covering melt & pour, whipped soap and soap dough products.
Stansfields stock Stephenson's professional-grade melt & pour soap bases alongside their well-regarded fragrance oil range and bath & body-safe colourants. Their whipped soap starter kit is a popular entry point for makers new to the category.
Body Butter & Lotion
Body butter, body lotion, body oil and moisturising balms are a natural extension for wax melt makers — many of the same bases, oils and fragrances cross over. These retailers stock everything you need.
The Soap Kitchen stock a superb range of Stephenson body butter bases, lotion bases and natural carrier oils. Their selection of shea butter, cocoa butter, mango butter and specialist oils makes them the strongest choice for body care product development in the UK.
Craftovator's bath & body range includes ready-to-use body butter bases, body lotion bases, body oil and body spray bases — all with full how-to guides. Their active ingredients section covers emulsifiers, preservatives and skincare actives for more advanced formulations.
Fizzy Whiz offer body butter and body lotion making supplies alongside their bath bomb range. Their kits include ingredients and instructions — great for testing new product categories before committing to bulk ingredients. Assessments available for compliance.
Soak Rochford's oils and butters section covers carrier oils, shea butter, cocoa butter and specialist liquid ingredients useful for body care formulations. Their assessment service covers body butter and body lotion products, making compliance straightforward for sellers.
Scrubs & Bath Salts
Sugar scrubs, salt soaks, bath salts and exfoliating products are simple to make and sell brilliantly at markets. You need a good exfoliant base, carrier oils, fragrance and appropriate packaging.
Craftovator stock a strong range of exfoliants including sugar, salt, walnut shell powder and SLSA for foaming scrubs. Their Bath & Body section includes how-to tutorials for body scrubs and foaming bath salts, making it easy to develop new product lines confidently.
Soak Rochford's dry ingredients section covers Epsom salts, Dead Sea salts, Himalayan pink salt, bicarbonate of soda and other bath salt making essentials. Their foaming bath salts kit is a great way to explore the category with a safety assessment included.
The Soap Kitchen stock a solid range of bath salt and scrub ingredients — from Dead Sea and Epsom salts to a broad selection of carrier oils ideal for binding scrubs. Their ethically sourced ingredients range is well-suited to natural and organic product development.
Fizzy Whiz offer foaming bath salts kits and body scrub kits that include all ingredients plus instructions. Their soaking salts and body scrub safety assessments cover compliance for sellers — particularly useful if you are selling at craft fairs or online.
Bases & Ingredients
The building blocks of any bath and body product — carrier oils, butters, emulsifiers, preservatives, SLSA, citric acid and more. These retailers stock professional-grade cosmetic ingredients.
The Soap Kitchen holds one of the broadest ingredient catalogues in the UK — covering natural oils, butters, waxes, emulsifiers, preservatives and functional chemicals. The ideal supplier for makers who are developing custom cosmetic formulations from scratch.
Craftovator's base range is designed for speed and simplicity — professionally formulated bases that you customise with fragrance, colour and actives. Their ingredient section also covers emulsifiers, humectants and preservatives for makers building formulas from scratch.
Soak Rochford organise their ingredient catalogue by form — dry ingredients, liquid ingredients, oils and butters, and premade bases — making it easy to shop by product type. Particularly useful for bath bomb and soap makers wanting reliable ingredient sourcing with compliance support.
Bath & Body Amazon Picks
View All Amazon Picks →Regulations & Compliance
Soap is a Cosmetic — No Exemption
One of the most common misconceptions in UK craft making: handmade soap is classified as a cosmetic product under UK law, regardless of method (cold process, melt & pour, hot process) or scale. There is no "artisan," "traditional" or "small batch" exemption.
Before selling any soap you need:
- A Cosmetic Product Safety Report (CPSR) from a qualified assessor
- A Submit Cosmetic Product Notification (SCPN) submitted to OPSS before placing the product on the GB market
- A full INCI ingredient list on the label in descending order by weight
- A UK-established Responsible Person named on the product (no PO boxes)
- Batch number and minimum durability indication if shelf life is under 30 months
⚠️ SCPN — Re-submit when anything changes: Your SCPN notification must be updated without delay whenever your formula changes — including swapping fragrance oil, changing a preservative, or adjusting a colourant. Each distinct formulation requires its own notification. Many makers miss this re-submission requirement when tweaking recipes mid-run.
2025 UK CMR Ingredient Bans
SI 2024/1334 — the Cosmetic Products (Restriction of Chemical Substances) (No. 2) Regulations 2024, in force January 2025 — banned 64 Carcinogenic, Mutagenic or Reprotoxic (CMR) substances from UK cosmetics in two phases:
- Phase 1 (substances 1680–1730): sell-through deadline was 20 October 2025
- Phase 2 (substances 1731–1743): sell-through deadline is 2 March 2026
If you use pre-made bases, confirm in writing with your supplier that their bases are compliant with the updated Annex II list. Your CPSR assessor will check this, but the legal responsibility rests with you as Responsible Person.
Preservatives: MIT & CMIT Restrictions
Methylisothiazolinone (MIT) and the MIT/CMIT mixture are now subject to strict limits:
- Leave-on products (body butter, lotion, cream, balm): MIT and CMIT/MIT are completely banned
- Rinse-off products (soap, shower gel, shampoo): MIT maximum 0.0015% (15ppm); CMIT/MIT mixture also capped at 0.0015%
Always check the SDS for any pre-made base to confirm the preservative system. Common compliant alternatives include phenoxyethanol, sodium benzoate/potassium sorbate (pH-dependent), and commercial systems such as Geogard or Euxyl.
Glitter in Bath & Body — EU Phaseout Approaching
EU REACH Regulation 2023/2055 restricts conventional plastic (synthetic polymer) glitter in cosmetics placed on the EU market:
- Rinse-off cosmetics (bath bombs, soap): banned from October 2027
- Leave-on cosmetics (body butter, cream): banned from October 2029
- Biodegradable, soluble, natural mineral and cellulose-based glitters are exempt from the ban
The UK has not yet adopted this restriction, so UK-only sellers have no current legal obligation. However, switching to biodegradable alternatives now is advisable — especially for makers who also ship to EU customers, or who want to futureproof their products ahead of any UK alignment.
Titanium Dioxide & Nano Labelling
Standard pigmentary titanium dioxide (TiO2) remains permitted in non-spray bath and body products such as bath bombs and body butter. However, if you use nano-grade TiO2, you must label the ingredient with "(nano)" in the INCI list — e.g. Titanium Dioxide (nano).
Nano TiO2 is not permitted in spray-format products where lung inhalation is likely (aerosol body mists, spray tans). Check the specification sheet from your supplier to confirm the particle size grade if you are unsure.
Bath Bombs with Embedded Items
Bath bombs containing embedded decorative items — small figures, toys, charms, rings or any small object — require a separate Toys Safety assessment under the Toys (Safety) Regulations 2011, in addition to the CPSR for the cosmetic. The embedded item is legally treated as a toy and must carry UKCA marking.
Products have been recalled via the UK Product Safety Database for lacking toy safety compliance on embedded items. If any embedded item is small enough to be swallowed, a choking hazard warning is also required on the packaging.
Body Lotion with Vitamin A (EU sellers)
EU Regulation 2024/996 (in force 1 February 2025) restricts vitamin A derivatives in cosmetics sold in the EU. If your body lotions or creams contain retinol, retinyl acetate or retinyl palmitate:
- Face products: maximum 0.3%
- Body lotion and other body application products: maximum 0.05%
- Products for children under 3, or used on large body surface areas: lower limits apply
The UK has not yet adopted this restriction, but if you sell cross-border, check concentrations with your CPSR assessor against both UK and EU limits.
Selling Bath & Body Products into Europe
The EU General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) came into force on 13 December 2024. If you ship bath or body products to EU customers — via Etsy, your own website or at cross-border markets — you need GPSR-compliant risk documentation covering chemical, inhalation and physical hazards. Online platforms including Etsy are now co-responsible for the safety of products sold to EU buyers, and may require compliance evidence before listings can remain active.
⚠️ Disclaimer: This section is a general signposting guide, not legal advice. Regulations change — always verify current requirements with a qualified CPSR assessor, the OPSS (gov.uk/opss), or your local Trading Standards office before placing any product on sale.
Any bath or body product sold in the UK must have a Cosmetic Product Safety Report (CPSR) from a qualified assessor before it goes on sale. Soak Rochford and Fizzy Whiz both offer assessment services directly.
Any formulation containing water (lotion, shower gel, liquid soap) requires a broad-spectrum preservative to prevent microbial growth. Anhydrous products like body butters are lower risk but still need testing.
Fragrance oils safe for wax melts are not automatically safe for skin-contact products. Always check IFRA leave-on vs rinse-off categories and use bath & body rated oils at the correct usage rates.
If you're new to bath and body making, start with a ready-made kit from Fizzy Whiz, Soak Rochford or Craftovator. Kits include pre-measured ingredients and instructions — ideal before buying in bulk.