How do you start a skincare brand and webshop in the Netherlands?

Skincare is one of the most crowded shelves there is. So before the webshop, the label or even the formula, there's one question worth answering: why would someone choose your serum over the others they scrolled past this week? On our homepage, we say we turn what makes you different into a reason to choose you. In skincare, that's the whole game.

There's a second layer, because people put this on their face. The law asks you to show it's safe, and the customer asks you to show it's right for them. This guide covers both. I'm not a safety assessor or a lawyer, so where the rules matter, I'll tell you what they say and who to check with.

Start with the brand, not the product

The formula is the exciting part, but it follows from three decisions that are much cheaper to make on paper than in a production run:

• Who it's for. Not "women 25 to 45", but someone with a skin concern and a situation, like sensitive skin that reacts to everything. The sharper this is, the easier every later choice becomes.

• What problem it solves, named the way your customer would say it. "Redness after shaving" is a reason to buy. "Holistic glow" isn't.

• Why this one. "Clean", "natural" and "effective" are where everyone starts. Yours might be one hero ingredient you can explain, a ritual, refills or a true founder story. Write it in one sentence. If you can't, the store won't be able to either.

Start with one or two products, not a full line. It's easier to explain, and cheaper to make legal, because every product needs its own safety report and notification.

Your own formula, private label or white label?

There are three ways to get a product in the jar. They differ in time, control, and how much of what makes you different is really yours:

Based on Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009, Article 4: whoever places a cosmetic product on the market under their own name or trademark is its Responsible Person. We left prices out, because they depend too much on the manufacturer and the minimum order to give a fair range.

There's nothing wrong with private label. Just ask every manufacturer the same questions: do you work to ISO 22716, which documents come with the product, is the safety report for my exact formula and packaging, and what's the minimum order?

The EU rules for cosmetics, before you sell a single jar

Every cosmetic sold in the Netherlands follows Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009, the Cosmetics Regulation. Here's what it asks, in order:

1. A Responsible Person in the EU, legally responsible for the product being safe and compliant. If you sell under your own brand, it's usually you.

2. Good manufacturing practice. The NVWA points to ISO 22716: hygiene, quality control, storage, documentation.

3. A Cosmetic Product Safety Report (CPSR). A safety assessor with a university degree in pharmacy, toxicology, medicine or a similar field assesses whether that exact product is safe, before it goes on sale.

4. A Product Information File (PIF): the product description, the safety report, how it's made and proof for your claims, kept available for the authorities for ten years after the last batch.

5. A notification in the CPNP, the European Commission's portal, before you sell. It's free, and one notification covers every EU country.

6. A correct label, and claims you can back up. Both get their own section below.

Animal testing for cosmetics is banned in the EU. None of this needs to be scary: it's a sequence, and a safety assessor can walk you through it. Just mind the order. You can't notify before the safety report, so don't print labels or build product pages until the formula and claims are final.

Handmade, natural, or a device?

The same rules apply to handmade and natural cosmetics, even if you only sell at a market or on Instagram, so talk to a safety assessor before your first batch. A device, like an LED face mask, isn't a cosmetic and follows other product rules, so check each one separately.

What must be on a cosmetics label?

Here's what Article 19 asks on every package, and what the NVWA wants in Dutch when you sell in the Netherlands:

From Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009, Article 19, and the NVWA's labeling checklist for cosmetics (checked October 2026). Other EU countries have their own language rules.

INCI is the international naming system for ingredients, so water is "Aqua" on every EU label. Ingredients under 1% can follow in any order, and nanomaterials get "(nano)". Copy the same list to your product page from the final file, and have your assessor check the artwork before you print.

Cosmetic claims: what you can say

Every word that sells the product, on the label, the product page, an ad or a Reel, is a claim. Under Regulation (EU) No 655/2013, claims must meet six common criteria: legal compliance, truthfulness, evidential support, honesty, fairness and informed decision-making. In plain words: true, provable, and not more special than it is.

• "Reduces fine lines in 4 weeks" needs evidence, like a test on people, kept in the Product Information File.

• "Free from parabens" can suggest parabens are bad, which the Commission's guidance is careful about. Check these lines with your assessor.

• "Heals eczema" isn't a cosmetic claim at all. Treating a condition is what medicines do.

The Netherlands also has an advertising code for cosmetics, the Reclamecode voor Cosmetische Producten. Write your product pages with your assessor's claims list next to you.

Packaging, photos and texture shots

Online, nobody can open the jar or rub a little on the back of their hand. Your photos have to do that, so plan for every product:

• The packshot, front on, calm background, true to color.

• The back of the pack, readable, for people who check ingredients.

• The texture: a swipe, a drop, a dollop on glass or skin. "Gel cream" means nothing until people see it.

• In use, on real skin, with different skin tones if it's for everyone, and the size in a hand.

Choose packaging with photos and shipping in mind: a pump or airless bottle travels better than a jar. More in Product photography: do it yourself or hire someone?

Pricing and margins for skincare

Work out your full cost per jar before you pick a price. Here's an example, not a real brand, built with Shopify's own fees:

That €21.44 still pays for the safety report, photos, your Shopify plan, samples and every ad. If it only works when everything goes right, rethink the price or packaging now, while it's on paper.

What a skincare webshop needs

A beautiful website is a good start. But your Shopify store also needs to communicate your value, guide customers through their choices and make buying feel effortless. In skincare, the question behind every visit is "is this right for my skin?"

• Product pages that answer the doubts in order: what it does and for which skin, how to use it, the texture, the full ingredient list, and delivery and returns near the button. More in What makes a product page that sells?

• Ingredient pages for each hero ingredient, because people search for ingredients.

• Routines, morning and evening, in steps. Choosing a routine is easier than choosing five products.

• Skin-type guidance, like "shop by concern", so dry, oily or sensitive skin finds its product fast.

• Reviews, ideally with the reviewer's skin type.

• Trial sizes or samples, a lower-risk first purchase.

• Subscriptions or refills, because skincare runs out. Shopify has its own free Subscriptions app.

Screenshot: zourani.comZourani, a red light therapy skincare brand, in a Shopify store we designed in Dutch, French and English. Its LED masks are devices, not cosmetics, but the store lesson holds: reviews under the title, what it does in a few lines, delivery and returns under the button. Trust is built before the purchase.

I've seen €15K websites that don't convert. A skincare store can look beautiful and still leave someone unsure whether the serum suits their skin. Selling in Belgium too? Plan Dutch and French from the start, like Zourani: one store, three languages, two countries. More in A multilingual Shopify store.

Shipping liquids and fragile jars

• Seal pumps and lids, or bag each product, so one leak doesn't ruin the box. Send a few test parcels to yourself first.

• Check your carrier's rules for perfume and aerosols. PostNL, for example, only takes some dangerous goods from contract customers, under strict conditions.

• Show shipping costs on the product page. In Baymard Institute's research, extra costs like shipping are the top reason people leave a checkout (40%).

We compare Dutch carriers in PostNL, DHL or Sendcloud: shipping from your webshop.

Getting found

Your first customers usually already know you, so make it easy for them first: a link in your bio, a launch email, samples for people who'll talk about it.

Then help Google. People search by concern ("serum voor droge huid"), by ingredient ("niacinamide serum") and by routine. Use those words in your product and collection names, and give each hero ingredient a page. The claims rules apply to Reels and ads too, so a before-and-after needs the same proof as your label.

For the general steps, like the KVK and your BTW number, read How to start a webshop in the Netherlands. What we build for skincare and beauty webshops is on Shopify for skincare and Shopify for beauty brands.

TOOL: SKINCARE LAUNCH CHECKLIST

The numbers to know before you launch

A safety report has a price too, so ask assessors for a quote early.

Good to know in the Netherlands, and in Belgium

Good to know in the Netherlands

The NVWA supervises cosmetics, and its labeling checklist is worth reading before you talk to a manufacturer. Show prices including 21% BTW, put iDEAL first, and show your KVK number and the 14-day right to cancel. A sealed product that's been opened can be excluded from that right for hygiene reasons, if you say so clearly.

Selling in Belgium?

The EU rules are the same, and one CPNP notification covers Belgium too. The authority is FPS Public Health (FOD Volksgezondheid / SPF Santé publique), and VAT is 21%. Belgium has its own label language rules, so check with FPS Public Health before you print. Add Bancontact, and Dutch and French on the store.

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