Royal Mail Restricted Beauty Goods Explained

Recently I was sending a parcel containing beauty items and realised I wasn't up on the fairly new restrictions that have been set by the Royal Mail. 

After researching I thought I'd share it here in more layman's terms as to what you can't send and what can happen if you don't comply... because that is quite tempting I know! 

Firstly Royal Mail have always had a prohibited goods list, because... well you can just be sending anything and everything. But a while back they revised that list and put a limit on the quantity and volumes you can send with both nail polish and perfumes/aftershave. This is important if you are sending eBay items, doing a makeup swap or just sending a gift to someone.

But exactly why is it important? Well Royal Mail do random checks where they X-ray parcels and if you are over the quantity/volume restrictions your parcel will be disposed of in whole or in part i.e. Julie in the RM office will be enjoying painting her nails. 

So here is a simple guide to what you can and can't send... 

Sending Nail Polish 

When it comes to nail polish you can now only send 4 nail polishes per parcel that cannot exceed 30ml (though most are no more than 15ml anyway). You must also package them well in strong outer packaging and secure inner packaging so they cannot break or leak.

Still want to send larger amounts of nail polish? Hermes is definitely the way to go if you want to send a larger amount of nail polishes, say if you can sold a large lot via eBay or Depop. You can send as many as you like however the compensation is void due to type of item it is. I've used Hermes for larger items in the past as a parcel costs only £2.99 for upto 1kg in weight and I would recommend them.

Sending Perfumes/Aftershave

For perfumes again there is now a limit of no more than four perfumes per parcel and this includes all strengths of perfumes including alcohol-free perfumes. Volume per item may not exceed 150ml and has to be in it's original retail bottle. Royal Mail  also require you package perfumes/aftershaves in strong outer packaging with inner packaging being secure so that no items break or leak. 

Unfortunately perfumes are also one of Hermes restricted items and cannot be sent through them at all.

 

With all nail polishes, perfumes and toiletries a label called a ID8000 will be applied to the back of the parcel you are sending which is roughly 10cm x 14cm in size so it's worth making sure your package is larger than this as a lot of post offices will be fussy and require you to re-package your items so that the label will fit onto the parcel (a standard jiffy bag is generally the best option). Also a return address must be clearly visible on the parcel. 

Hope this makes things clearer if you are thinking about sending either product in the future! 

Fee xo.