can someone recommend some good books to start a business making beauty products at home?

If you are making the products at your home, you will generally be considered a craft business. As such, I would recommend the following books: The Crafts Business Answer Book: Starting, Managing, and Marketing a Homebased Arts, Crafts, or Design Business The Handmade Marketplace: How to Sell Your Crafts Locally, Globally, and On-Line Craft, Inc.: Turn Your Creative Hobby into a Business How to Make Money Using Etsy: A Guide to the Online Marketplace for Crafts and Handmade Products And as to others' concerns about the FDA and being sued; although their concerns are legitimate, they shouldn't dissuade you from starting your own homemade cosmetic business. Yes, there are regulations you will have to follow, and you will need insurance to protect yourself, however these are relatively easy to deal with. I would check out The Indie Beauty Network. They offer reasonably priced insurance, information regarding FDA regulations, and many other resources for homemade cosmetic businesses.

I don't thin there are any books on this, but if you do your research, you can find out about it. As other folks have said, the FDA requires tests on makeup, and that will be costly. You will have to have a lab test anything you concoct for safety.

Schelli is right. Don't make your own. Even if you were to get FDA approval, You are setting yourself up for lawsuits even if your products are harmless and original (some will claim you are marketing their idea) Why not set up a business that uses or markets unique products already manufactured? There's a lot of good stuff out there -- and if you become a distributer you can get some really good stuff not available to the general public.