Geographic Information (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended			3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended			3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended			12 Months Ended
Geographic Information (Details) (USD $)	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012 United States	Sep. 30, 2011 United States	Sep. 30, 2012 United States	Sep. 30, 2011 United States	Sep. 30, 2012 Canada	Sep. 30, 2011 Canada	Sep. 30, 2012 Canada	Sep. 30, 2011 Canada	Dec. 31, 2011 Canada	Sep. 30, 2012 Other foreign countries [Member]	Sep. 30, 2011 Other foreign countries [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Other foreign countries [Member]	Sep. 30, 2011 Other foreign countries [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Assets, Total [Member] Geographic Concentration Risk [Member] Canada	Dec. 31, 2011 Assets, Total [Member] Geographic Concentration Risk [Member] Canada
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total Assets										$ 2,100,000		$ 2,100,000		$ 1,700,000
Percentage of Total Assets																			2.20%	1.70%
Retail Permanent Fixtures, Net of Accumulated Amortization	3,678,000		3,678,000		4,063,000					1,100,000		1,100,000		882,000
Net Sales	$ 19,112,000	$ 15,870,000	$ 71,448,000	$ 57,876,000		$ 16,839,000	$ 13,862,000	$ 62,889,000	$ 50,609,000	$ 1,909,000	$ 1,821,000	$ 7,404,000	$ 6,797,000		$ 364,000	$ 187,000	$ 1,155,000	$ 470,000

PHYSICIANS FORMULA HOLDINGS, INC. 10-Q