Why opened skincare cannot be sent back
Almost everything you buy online can be returned within fourteen days for no reason at all. Sealed cosmetics are one of the few exceptions, and shops are not always straight about why.
The fourteen days are real
Buying at distance in the UK gives you a cancellation period of fourteen days — and for goods, that runs from the day they physically reach you, not the day you ordered. You do not need a fault, and you do not need a reason. That right comes from the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, at regulation 30.
The exception, in the regulation’s own words
Regulation 28 lists the contracts the cancellation right does not cover. One of them, at regulation 28(3)(a), is a contract
“for the supply of sealed goods which are not suitable for return due to health protection or hygiene reasons, if they become unsealed after delivery”.
A jar of cream that has been opened is exactly that. Once the seal is broken the product cannot be sold to anybody else and cannot be verified as untouched, so the law lets the retailer decline it.
What that means in practice
- Sealed and unopened, within fourteen days — you can send it back and we refund it. You do not have to tell us why.
- Opened — the cancellation right no longer applies, because of the regulation above.
- Faulty, damaged, or not what was described — this exception has nothing to do with any of that. Your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 are separate and are not affected by opening the product. If something is wrong with it, tell us.
- It simply did not suit you — that is not a fault, and an opened pot cannot come back. It is the honest reason to patch test, and the reason we would rather talk you out of something than sell it to you.
The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, regulations 28 and 30 — published in full at legislation.gov.uk. This is a plain summary of what the regulations say and not legal advice; if a dispute matters to you, read the regulation or take advice.
We are a shop, not a clinic. Nothing here is medical advice — if your skin needs looking at, please see a GP, pharmacist or dermatologist.