LetterAgent
Mail physical letters by just asking your AI assistant.
Home > Guides > Shipping cosmetics
Yes, most cosmetics ship without drama, but sort them first. Powders and solids are the easy group. Liquids and creams need leak-proof bagging because a popped pump can ruin everything in the box. Then check the hazmat members: nail polish, perfume, and aerosols have their own rules, and Canada Post treats several of them as non-mailable dangerous goods. Tape compacts shut, since cracked powder pans spill through a closed lid.
Powders, pressed palettes, lipsticks, pencils, solid balms, brushes, and tools. None of these leak, so the job is breakage prevention. The trick people skip: tape pressed-powder compacts shut before wrapping them. A closed compact lid is not a seal; if the powder pan cracks in transit (and pans crack easily, they are just glued-in discs), loose powder sifts out through the lid gap and coats everything in the box. A strip of tape across the lid, then bubble wrap around the whole thing, solves it. Wrap lipsticks so the caps cannot pop off, and keep pencils capped for the same reason. Brushes go in a roll or a rigid tube so the bristles do not get bent.
Bag every liquid individually in a sealed plastic bag, then put the bagged items together in the box with cushioning between them. Pump bottles are the main failure point: a pump that gets pressed in transit will empty the bottle into the bag, which is exactly why the bag exists. Twist the pump to its locked position if it has one, or tape it down; screw-cap bottles get a wrap of tape around the cap-to-bottle seam. Serums in dropper bottles are glass, so they need the full fragile treatment: bubble wrap plus a snug fit so they cannot rattle. And think about temperature: lipsticks and cream products melt in a hot delivery truck in summer. If you are shipping in a heat wave, a small insulated mailer is cheap insurance, and avoid shipping over a long weekend when the parcel may sit in a warm depot.
| Cosmetic type | Packing method | Mailable with Canada Post? |
|---|---|---|
| Powders, palettes, pencils, brushes | Tape compacts shut, wrap, cushion | Yes: ordinary goods |
| Liquids, creams, serums, pump bottles | Seal in plastic bags, tape caps, cushion glass | Yes, if not flammable or pressurized |
| Nail polish and remover | Do not ship: acetone is a Class 3 flammable liquid | No: non-mailable dangerous goods |
| Perfume and cologne | Alcohol-based fragrance is a Class 3 flammable liquid | No: non-mailable dangerous goods |
| Aerosol sprays (hairspray, dry shampoo) | Class 2 compressed gases | No: non-mailable dangerous goods |
The ones people least expect. Nail polish and remover are the big one: Canada Post's non-mailable-matter guide names "Acetone (nail polish and remover)" directly under Class 3 flammable liquids. Perfume and cologne sit in the same class, listed as "perfume and shaving lotion," because the alcohol base is the flammable part. Aerosol products, including hairspray and spray deodorant, are Class 2 compressed gases. Canada Post's own commodities table even flags "cosmetics" as a category that may hide dangerous goods (hairsprays, flammable liquids), which tells you how often people ship these without realizing. Each of these has its own guide here: the short version is that no label, from LetterAgent or anyone else, makes a non-mailable item mailable.
Ready to ship it? Get a shipping label with LetterAgent: describe it to your AI assistant, approve the exact quoted price, and get your label.
LetterAgent is a working name. Prices include print, postage, and our service fee. US prices in USD, Canadian prices in CAD (Canadian prices exclude applicable sales tax, added at checkout). Currently in private testing.
Need help? Ask your assistant: it can check a job's status any time. If it ever can't handle something: hello@getletteragent.com