Foreword: The "Painful Lessons" of a Batch of Clients Last Year
2025 is the strictest year for cosmetics regulation.
I still vividly remember the cases of 3 brand owners I dealt with:
- Case A: A new consumer brand launched an "anti-wrinkle" serum and chose to file it as an ordinary cosmetic (not special) during registration. It was reported by professional counterfeit hunters for "false advertising" because anti-wrinkle falls under special cosmetic efficacy and must be declared as a special certificate. The result: fines + recall + public notice, with losses exceeding 3 million RMB.
- Case B: A chain beauty salon's own brand made a "freckle-removal" cream. The packaging didn't say "freckle-removal," but the product detail page did. It was deemed to be "implying medical effects," and the entire product line was taken off the shelves.
- Case C: A foreign brand commissioned a domestic factory for OEM. The formula contained "377" (phenylethyl resorcinol) without being declared under a whitening special certificate. It was deemed "whitening ingredient not registered," and the product was removed from all online platforms.
Three cases, three different pitfalls, but essentially the same problem: a lack of deep understanding of the "Cosmetics Supervision and Administration Regulations" implemented in 2021, along with its supporting classification rules and efficacy claim standards.
This article today will explain this matter clearly. It covers the current version in 2026. There may be updates in the second half of 2026, and I will flag them.
1. Let's First Fully Explain "Cosmetics Classification"
According to the "Cosmetics Supervision and Administration Regulations" and the "Cosmetics Classification Rules and Classification Catalog" (Announcement No. 49 of 2021), cosmetics are divided into two major categories:
Category 1: Special cosmetics. Those whose efficacy claims go beyond the scope of "basic cleansing, protection, makeup removal, beautification and modification, fragrance, wrinkle reduction, and anti-wrinkle" must be registered (not filed, but "registered"). This includes:
- Hair dyeing, perming, freckle removal and whitening, sun protection, and anti-hair loss
- Claims of new efficacy (this is a catch-all clause newly added in 2021)
Category 2: Ordinary cosmetics. Anything that is not a special cosmetic is an ordinary cosmetic. Ordinary cosmetics follow a filing system, not a registration system. The filing cycle is short (1-3 months), but efficacy claims are strictly limited.
Key adjustments in 2026:
1. "Anti-wrinkle" is now clearly classified under ordinary cosmetic efficacy (this is a major change in the 2021 new classification; before 2020, anti-wrinkle belonged to special cosmetics). But note: anti-wrinkle is only an ordinary cosmetic, while freckle removal and whitening remain special cosmetics. The difference between the two: anti-wrinkle is about preventing/softening existing wrinkles, while freckle removal and whitening target pigmentation and skin tone.
2. The two efficacy categories of "soothing" and "repairing" were adjusted in the 2025 draft of the "Cosmetics Classification Rules," with the final version officially released in February 2026. Soothing and repairing belong to ordinary cosmetics, but the formulas have special requirements (certain medical-grade ingredients cannot be used).
3. The "acne treatment" efficacy has been clearly placed under the scope of "claiming new efficacy" since 2024, requiring special certificate application. This rule has changed the most; in the past, many brand owners thought acne treatment was an ordinary cosmetic.
2. Where Are the "Red Lines" for Efficacy Claims
Many brand owners think, "Whatever efficacy I filed for my product, that's all I can say in advertising." But in practice, advertising violations fall into two situations:
Situation 1: The filed efficacy and the advertised efficacy do not match. For example, the filing says "moisturizing," but the detail page says "anti-wrinkle" — this is called "out-of-scope advertising."
Situation 2: The advertising language touches on "medical implications." This is the easiest trap to fall into. The "Cosmetics Label Management Measures" (Announcement No. 77 of 2021) explicitly prohibits the use of "medical terminology," "medical celebrity names," "disease names," "treatment effects," etc.
12 high-frequency words that are easy to trip over in practice:
1. "Treatment" → Wrong (should use "repair" or "improve")
2. "Cure" → Wrong (should use "soothe" or "condition")
3. "Anti-inflammatory" → Wrong (should use "soothe" or "repair")
4. "Remove acne scars" → Wrong ("scars" refers to post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, which requires a freckle-removal and whitening special certificate)
5. "Remove scars" → Wrong (this falls under medical effects)
6. "Anti-inflammation" → Wrong (should use "soothe")
7. "Medicinal" → Wrong (cosmetics are not medicine)
8. "Medical grade" → Wrong (implies medical attributes)
9. "Prescription" → Wrong
10. "Non-irritating" → Wrong (absolute statement)
11. "100% effective" → Wrong (extreme wording + absolute statement)
12. "Doctor recommended" → Wrong (unless there is a real doctor endorsement and it is filed)
Compliant alternative words:
- "Treatment" → "Repair" or "Improve"
- "Cure" → "Soothe" or "Condition"
- "Anti-inflammatory" → "Soothe" or "Balance"
- "Medicinal" → "Skincare grade" or "Efficacy type"
- "Medical grade" → "High activity" or "High concentration"
- "100%" → "High concentration" or "High activity"
3. The 5 Scenarios Where Brand Owners Most Easily Stumble
Scenario 1: "Soft advertising" on the detail page trips you up. Writing "Recommended by Dr. Li" on the detail page — wrong. Unless this Dr. Li is truly your contracted dermatologist and there is a cooperation agreement, you cannot use this.
Scenario 2: Live-streaming scripts trip you up. The host in the live stream says, "This product can remove freckles" — wrong. Even if you have a "whitening special certificate," you can only say "helps fade pigmentation" or "brightens skin tone," not "removes freckles."
Scenario 3: KOL collaborations trip you up. A collaborating KOL says, "My acne got better after using this" — wrong. A KOL's statements count as part of the brand's advertising, and the brand bears joint liability.
Scenario 4: Packaging copy trips you up. Writing "doctor-recommended formula" on the packaging — wrong. Same as above.
Scenario 5: Cross-border e-commerce trips you up. If a cross-border e-commerce product claims "special cosmetic" efficacy but has not been registered domestically — it is treated as an unregistered special cosmetic, and penalties are even stricter.
4. Possible Changes in the Second Half of 2026 (Early Warning)
Change 1: The cosmetics classification catalog may be fine-tuned. The National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) already issued the "Cosmetics Classification Rules and Classification Catalog (Draft for Comments)" in early 2026, focusing on the boundaries of the "soothing" and "repairing" efficacy categories. It is expected to be officially released in the second half of 2026.
Change 2: Requirements for efficacy claim evidence will be tightened. Since 2021, cosmetics efficacy claims must be supported by evidence (human efficacy tests, consumer use tests, laboratory data, etc.). Starting in the second half of 2026, review of evidence for popular efficacy claims like "repairing" and "soothing" will be stricter.
Change 3: The ingredient catalog will continue to expand. The "Catalog of Used Cosmetic Ingredients" (2021 edition) contains over 8,000 ingredients, with ongoing updates in 2026, and the list of prohibited ingredients is also being adjusted. Brand owners should regularly monitor announcements on the NMPA official website.
5. 3 Practical Recommendations for Brand Owners
Recommendation 1: Move "compliance review" to the product project initiation stage. Don't wait until the formula is developed and packaging is designed to review the copy — the cost of changes is high by then. Have legal involved at the initiation stage, and review the "filed efficacy," "packaging copy," "detail page language," and "KOL collaboration language" all at once.
Recommendation 2: Find an OEM factory with compliance experience. Weipei has been doing OEM for 15 years. As of the latest data in 2026 — having served 800+ brand clients cumulatively — there has not been a single case where packaging copy was successfully targeted by professional counterfeit hunters. Behind this is the mechanism of all our OEM products' packaging copy going through two rounds of legal review as a safety net.
Recommendation 3: Retain all original evidence supporting efficacy claims for at least 5 years. This is a regulatory requirement. Human efficacy test reports, consumer use test reports, and raw material safety data sheets must all be kept on file for inspection.
FAQ | The 5 Most Frequently Asked Questions on Cosmetics Compliance
Q1: Can products with a cosmetic filing number (Zhuangzi) advertise as "medical aesthetics grade"?
No. "Medical aesthetics grade," "medical grade," and "medicinal" all constitute medical implications, and products with a cosmetic filing number cannot use these terms. Compliant alternatives are "high activity," "high concentration," or "professional grade."
Q2: How do you distinguish between anti-wrinkle and freckle removal/whitening?
Anti-wrinkle targets "existing wrinkles" (ordinary cosmetics), while freckle removal and whitening target "pigmentation and skin tone" (special cosmetics). The criterion is: are you fading "lines" or fading "color"?
Q3: Do cross-border purchased cosmetics need to be re-filed for domestic sale?
Yes. Cross-border purchased cosmetics are imported under cross-border e-commerce policies. If they are transferred to general trade channels (offline stores, e-commerce flagship stores) for sale, they must be re-filed/re-registered according to domestic regulations.
Q4: Can "developed by doctors" be written on the packaging?
Yes, but it must be a real doctor with a cooperation agreement. "Developed by doctors" ≠ "recommended by doctors." The former emphasizes the source of the formula, while the latter emphasizes the recommendation relationship. The regulatory requirements for the two are different.
Q5: If I use an OEM factory to make cosmetics, does the factory bear compliance responsibility?
The OEM factory bears production compliance responsibility (producing according to the filed formula, ingredient compliance, production environment compliance), while the brand owner bears advertising compliance responsibility (packaging copy, detail pages, live-stream scripts). However, if the OEM factory knowingly cooperates in production despite the brand's non-compliant advertising, the factory also bears joint liability. Weipei's compliance safety-net mechanism is precisely to prevent such situations from happening.
