Megan Cox woke up one morning to discover she had made $10,000 in sales overnight. At the time, she was an MIT student with a newly launched skin care line, Amalie Beauty—her first foray into entrepreneurship.
Over the next few years, Megan grew her brand into a six-figure business. But even as her lash serums and face oils kept selling out, she was losing interest in running a direct-to-consumer (DTC) skin care brand. She was at a crossroads: expand or sell.
Megan decided to sell, diverting her attention to another skin care venture she had been growing on the side. That business is Genie Supply, a clean beauty lab that manufactures products for hundreds of other founders who started the same way Megan did—with an idea and a passion for skin care.
Now with experience in both DTC and manufacturing, Megan has no shortage of advice for those curious about how to start a skin care line. Here, she shares the hard lessons she learned along the way and tips on everything from labeling to finding a skin care manufacturer.
Founding a skin care brand means researching things like basic chemistry, production standards, and sourcing ingredients. You may also require a significant upfront investment.
But getting started on a meager budget is possible, as Megan found, if you’re passionate and resourceful. Here’s how to start a skin care line from scratch, with lessons Megan learned throughout her career in beauty.
The global skin care industry is expected to be valued at $204.61 billion by 2030. Much of the growth in the past few years can be attributed to independent brands. “The traditional brands—Estée Lauder, L’Oréal—are not growing,” says Megan. “Indie beauty and clean beauty are carrying the entire beauty industry’s growth.” And the legacy brands are reacting, snatching up smaller companies to keep their footing.
Tarte, a natural beauty line started in founder Maureen Kelly’s one-bedroom apartment in 1999, joined Sephora’s lineup in 2003, grossed $12 million in 2008, and sold the majority of its shares in 2014 to global beauty behemoth Kosé. Maureen started the business with $18,000.
As you’re looking into how to start a skin care line, remember to factor in lead time. It takes no less than 12 weeks to develop a skin care product. However, most skin care lines require much more time for research and development, testing, and go-to-market. Skin care products also require comprehensive testing, which takes time.
With skin care trends evolving rapidly, it’s better to jump on a great idea now than wait until everything’s perfect.
Market research is especially important in beauty—the industry is saturated and trends move fast. But the constantly evolving landscape means there are still opportunities for newcomers to start skin care lines. Pay attention to trends by following beauty publications and influencers, and using a tool like Google Trends to validate your ideas.
“There’s this really big shift in how people are spending their money as Gen Z comes of age,” says Megan. “There’s a lot of room for innovation.”
When Megan developed her skin care brand, she ordered every top-rated lash enhancer on Amazon. She also pored over the MIT research paper database and found that essential fatty acids showed promise in studies, but no other company was using them in lash products at the time.
Her formal science education did help her with product formulation, but she found the most useful information on the web. “I had some chemistry background, but really, all the research is out there,” she says. “There are a lot of smart people on the internet sharing information for free.”
Your research should include competitive analysis, market research, and keyword research to determine the viability of your idea. This is also the stage where you’ll want to crunch the numbers: How much will it cost to start a business and how will you fund it?
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Where newbie skin care founders can win is in identifying audiences underserved by the current brands on the market. There’s no more clear example of this than in the cosmetics industry, where indie brands led the charge on inclusive cosmetics for a wide range of skin tones.
Spotting trends as they emerge is important, but beware of fleeting trends and ensure you have a sustainable plan. “Recently, I’ve seen people get too hooked on whatever ingredient is hot at that moment,” says Megan.
While the product development life cycle has sped up in recent years, it can’t always keep up with flash-in-the-pan trends. “You're already four months behind,” Megan says she tells these clients. “By the time you actually hit the market, that trend might be over.”
Innovation, versus a bandwagon approach, is how indie skin care brands can avoid these pitfalls. Whereas legacy brands are casting a wide net, independent brands have the ability to get close to a niche market or tackle a specific problem—and problems change less frequently than trends.
If you do want to go wide or stick to basics in terms of formulation or product type, you can lean on a strong philosophy and brand story to connect with your audience. “If you’re going to formulate a certain way or exclude or include certain ingredients, you should really be thoughtful about that,” says Megan.
Appealing to a specific diet or lifestyle choice is a popular way to find a niche in the food business. But the same is true in skin care. Cruelty free and vegan beauty and skin care products are slowly becoming the norm versus the exception. Ensuring your products meet this standard at the outset means you don’t have to adjust later when the market demands it.
The clean beauty trend is showing no signs of stopping. The wellness movement has spilled over into skin care, with many consumers paying attention to what goes on their body—and not just what goes in it. If you’re looking to start a skin care line within this niche, pay careful attention to your inventory and supply chain—products without synthetic preservatives will spoil more quickly.
Find a niche for your skin care business by researching current and emerging trends as well as underserved markets. Some ideas include:
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Before you even consider product development, decide what you stand for. You can develop your skin care brand and grow an audience well before you manufacture products or launch an online store. This period will let you get to know your audience, gather feedback, and build trust. Use this time to hone your brand story and generate hype around your upcoming launch.
Megan assumed that her customer persona would look much like her: younger people with natural lashes damaged through lash extensions or trichotillomania (a disorder characterized by pulling out one’s own hair).
Surprisingly, her product attracted another audience.
“We found that it really resonated with older women and people who had just gone through cancer treatment,” says Megan. “I didn’t really expect that at all.” She embraced this unexpected market and actively supported cancer survivors by donating one product to a cancer survivor for every bottle sold during the campaign.
This brand and marketing pivot was possible due to Amalie’s size, but it’s critical to establish a few key elements early on. Maintaining a consistent brand voice and presence can increase recognition in the market and build trust.
Visual brand identity is also extremely important in the skin care industry. Compelling packaging that speaks to your target audience’s aesthetic gives your brand a professional edge. Be sure to develop a clear set of brand guidelines to ensure that wherever your brand shows up, it’s adhering to a set of rules.
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“I didn’t have any money or experience,” says Megan of her decision to start a business. Her initial investment was exactly $1,812 (a 10th of Tarte’s original startup costs)—it was every penny she had.
Megan incorporated the business for $700, bought 500 bottles and a few thousand boxes, and paid for her first month’s subscription on Shopify. She had $6 left to her name.
With no money left for marketing, Megan needed to get creative. She went on an online forum for cancer survivors, which resulted in a few sales. It was a simple call to her hometown’s local paper, though, that was the catalyst for her big breakout. The paper interviewed her, bringing in yet a couple more sales, but the turning point was when the story was picked up by the state paper and the Associated Press. “I went to sleep, and when I woke up, we had $10,000 in sales and we had sold out,” she says.
When starting your own skin care line, find creative ways to stretch your dollar, whether that’s starting your business from home, trying organic marketing ideas, or bootstrapping your growth.
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There are a few methods for formulating products: making them by hand at home, renting a dedicated manufacturing space, working with a lab to create custom products, or taking a private label or white label approach with a beauty manufacturer.
Simple formulations like facial oils can be made from home. However, to manufacture cosmetics in the US, you’ll need to follow FDA guidelines for ventilation, air control, and surfaces. While your manufacturing processes should adhere to FDA standards, there is flexibility for businesses that manufacture in spurts. Mobile clean rooms—essentially pop-up tents—are designed for this purpose and ideal for small businesses.
“If you’re starting small, there is value in working with the ingredients hands-on and trying to figure that out,” says Megan. “But at some point you’re still going to need to work with a manufacturer.” Many successful beauty founders, like The Lip Bar’s Melissa Butler, started their lines from their own kitchens but moved to a manufacturing facility as they scaled.
Experimenting with formulations yourself will help you understand the properties you’re looking for in a formulation—consistency, appearance, scent—positioning you for informed conversations with your manufacturer.
While she owned her first business, Megan worked with manufacturers in both the US and China. There are pros and cons to both, depending on your production runs and how close you want to stay to the process. Megan spent much of her time in China, overseeing production. “I wanted to know where my ingredients were coming from. I wanted to have everything documented. I wanted to be there,” she says.
Megan has since softened her stance. “I do think that it’s important to negotiate all of your quality control points and to be really upfront about what you expect,” she says. But at some point, you need to trust the manufacturer to do their job. “You can’t argue about every little point or nickel-and-dime them.”
While there are benefits to working with manufacturers in China, such as price and available options, Megan and her partner moved Genie Supply to the US to help bring manufacturing closer to its customers and improve the overall experience.
“Beauty manufacturing, in general, is kind of a black box,” says Megan, who had to learn the ropes on her own. That’s why her new company invests resources in educating its clients and providing transparent information right on the website. If you’re new to skin care, find a manufacturer like Genie Supply that can help walk you through the process.
White labeling involves applying your own branding and limited customizations to an existing product. This is a beneficial method for those looking to monetize a personal brand (but have less interest in product development). Popular creators and influencers often use this method to monetize their large audiences.
Private label skin care lines work in a similar way but are more customized to brand and product specifications. They are generally developed in partnership with a private label lab like Genie Supply. With these models, you can still start your own skin care line with zero experience.
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Megan learned the hard way that testing at every stage of the process is important. While the formulation for Amalie’s products and its packaging were tested, when the two interacted, it was disastrous. The product turned out to be incompatible with the glue—and the brushes fell apart. “Packaging was a really big issue for me,” says Megan. “I lost a lot of my customers because it was unreliable.”
Experienced labs are an asset to industry newbies. Manufacturing in North America can be more expensive, but the upside is the access to the factories and the ability to be hands-on with the testing process.
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Like starting a food business, launching in the skin care industry carries risk—you are making products that could potentially harm people. It’s important to educate yourself on preservatives, shelf life, allergens, and proper storage and handling of skin care products. And to research labs carefully so you know you’re working with a partner knowledgeable in these areas.
Customers often expect products labeled “natural” or “organic” will be free of chemical preservatives. However, omitting preservatives can greatly impact stability. When Megan launched Amalie, her products had a 12-month shelf life.
When her distributors couldn’t move product fast enough, Megan was on the hook to replace expired units because it would impact her beauty brand if she didn’t. “I bit a huge cost there, but I'm not going to let someone have a bad product with my name on it,” she says.
Legal requirements can be daunting for those starting a skin care line from scratch—and each country or region will have their own rules. Megan, who had the experience of navigating these laws on her own, developed a visual guide on Genie Supply’s website to help her clients. “I would’ve killed for a guide like this five years ago,” she says. “That’s why I made it.”
A reputable lab can help ensure your packaging meets standards and that products are properly labeled, but ultimately the responsibility is yours. “No one’s checking for you,” says Megan. “You should do your due diligence and make sure that you’re following the FDA labeling laws.” Or, talk to a lawyer.
Genie Supply’s website is packed with information to help its clients navigate labeling laws. Genie SupplyWhile it’s possible to dabble in skin care from your own home, there are limitations. “If your products contain water,” says Megan, “you are potentially putting your customers in a lot of danger.”
Genie Supply and other reputable labs will put ingredients and formulations through rigorous tests to ensure they’re free from yeast, mold, bacteria, and fungus during a product’s shelf life and use. “We also run microbial and viral pathogen testing,” says Megan. “If you are doing anything with water, don’t be silly—work with a lab.”
You don’t need a federally recognized license to sell homemade cosmetics and skin care in the US. However, the FDA carefully regulates this industry and requires you to have approval for certain ingredients. The laws differ depending on the country where you are manufacturing and selling your products. Be sure to do your homework or seek the advice of a lawyer.
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The beauty customer, faced with conflicting information and overwhelming choices, tends to be discerning and naturally skeptical. Building trust with your audience is key to forming long-term relationships and securing repeat business.
Under the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act in the US, the FDA requires manufacturers to list every ingredient in its products. That’s a fact, Megan says, many skin care brands try to manipulate.
“Why are you putting honey and metals and all of this garbage inside your product? It doesn’t even work,” says Megan. “They’re just trying to confuse consumers on purpose.” She built trust for her first brand on the transparency of the ingredients and uses the same approach with her B2B clients.
Content marketing is not only a strategy that can help potential customers find you (more on that later), it also builds authority for your brand. Megan has used this tactic to grow her business and personal brand, tapping into the popularity of beauty reviews and unboxings at the time.
The strategy established Megan as a trusted expert, and she dedicated much of her blog to reviewing products other than her own. At her peak, she was blogging four times a week, sending her organic traffic soaring. She also used content to grow her newsletter, offering downloadable content in the form of beauty guides.
Other brands are succeeding at this approach as well, creating blog posts that offer value to the audience and product pages rich with information that increase purchase confidence.
Positive reviews are another signal to potential customers that your product delivers what it promises. The number of options on the market, unpronounceable ingredients, and smoke-and-mirrors marketing copy drive skin care consumers to online reviews before buying.
Zitsticka’s customer reviews show up on collection pages as well as individual product pages. Zitsticka📖 Read more:
Marketing is one of the biggest challenges for many new founders. And because it’s competitive and constantly evolving, skin care is an industry that requires consistent attention to this aspect of the business.
It’s not enough to have a great product—to succeed in the skin care industry, beauty entrepreneurs need to invest much of their attention in defining their audience and understanding its unique needs.
As the traditional model of selling cosmetics wanes—“slapping a celebrity on the brand and hoping it sells,” according to Megan—the time is now for niche brands to shine. Consumers are looking to connect and to identify with a brand. It’s not enough to have a great product—to succeed with marketing, beauty entrepreneurs need to invest much of their attention in defining their audience and understanding its unique needs.
Charlotte Cho’s personal story is woven throughout her skin care brand’s story. Then I Met YouWhether or not you decide to tie your personal brand to your business, you should still use brand storytelling to make your brand human. Engage in comments and conversations, feature real people like your customers or relevant influencers in your content, and stay open to feedback.
Charlotte Cho, founder of Then I Met You, infuses her family history and elements from her Korean heritage into her product formulations and brand. She has even published a book to share the philosophy behind the brand. Charlotte’s customers not only buy her products for their skin benefits but also because of her story.
Uniqueness can be achieved through product differentiation, brand story, branding design, or marketing.
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Megan started her first business to solve a personal pain point: after she destroyed her natural eyelashes with extensions, she couldn’t find a restorative product that worked. The science-turned-business student went into research mode and found a gap in the market, developing her own line of lash serums.
Megan would eventually expand to manufacturing her skin care products in China, living there for six months out of the year to be closer to the process. She grew her business over the next few years from her family farm in Indiana, a small apartment in Shenzen, and on countless flights in between.
The problem solving and science of skin care excited her the most, and it drew her away from the DTC marketing that was essential to Amalie’s growth. She sold the brand and jumped into her growing manufacturing business full time.
With Megan focusing solely on Genie Supply, she and her co-founder husband decided to transition the company from a consulting agency in China to a lab in the US. The growth of the indie beauty market saw a surge in 2020, translating to massive growth for the couple’s business.
Genie Supply now manufactures for more than 200 brands. “The orders from our clients are getting bigger and bigger,” says Megan. “We’ve really been able to prove that there is a need for niche indie beauty manufacturing here in the States.”
Beauty is a fast-moving industry with lots to learn. While you won’t have the experience or the budget of global businesses, you aren’t carrying their baggage either. Find solutions for customers who can’t get what they need from major skin care brands. And engage with those communities directly by being helpful and personal. Launching your own skin care line is as simple as finding a fresh idea and running with it.
Feature illustration by Islenia Mil
If you’re getting started, you can experiment with basic skin care formulations on your own to get a feel for the color, consistency, and scent. Some skin care can be made from home, but more complicated formulations containing water or emulsions require a manufacturing partner to address safety concerns.
The cost to start a skin care line varies depending on your production method. Even if you plan to start a skin care business from home, you will need a small investment for materials, packaging, and other business expenses. Expect to budget more if you want to work with a manufacturer, as many require minimum order quantities, and product development can be costly.
Private labeling and white labeling are great ways to enter the skin care industry if you’re new to it. With white labeling, manufacturers sell identical products to multiple brands that customize them with their own logo and branding. Private labeling involves a little more customization, allowing you to work with a manufacturer to create a signature product within the limitations of their offerings. With these newbie-friendly methods, you don’t need to know much about how to start a skin care line before you get started.
Several skin care manufacturer directories exist that you can access through a simple Google search. In the skin care world, it’s important to vet manufacturers carefully, however. Look for reviews and testimonials, request references, and ask for skin care samples.
Add up your costs: how much does it cost to produce the product plus any associated overhead costs plus your profit margin. Look at what your competitors are charging and be sure you are pricing your products within a reasonable market range. You can test pricing on your website to find out which range is best for profitability and sales volume.
If you have been wondering how to make your own skincare products, then this article is the place to start. We run you through the key steps that every formulator takes. Whether indie beauty founder, lab chemist or beginner home formulator, cosmetic product manufacture follows a similar method.
Learning to formulate cosmetics that meet people’s skincare needs is part creative process and part science. It requires time spent in product and ingredient desk research before you even start making cosmetics in your home lab. As a beginner formulator expect also a lot of trial-and-error learning on the job.
However, once you have made your first simple face oil, body butter or eye serum, you realise just how much fun and how empowering making your own homemade skincare is. A whole new world of natural formulation opens up, bringing with it exciting new paths that many of our students and graduates have found life changing.
What’s required
Let’s reassure you at the start that making beauty products is within the reach of everyone. You do not need to be a cosmetic chemist in order to formulate safe, efficacious cosmetic products. Among the hundreds of Formula Botanica graduates we showcase in our online gallery, there are successful indie beauty formulators from all career backgrounds. Nearly all were totally new to cosmetic formulation, but in making their first tentative products they developed a passion for learning more about natural, organic ingredients.
Also, you do not need any expensive, fancy equipment to make skincare products at home. We have identified a list of just 12 key tools beginner formulators need and they are all easy and cheap to buy.
You can easily find a small space in your home to set up as a makeshift lab. Our students have proved inventive in doing this. The video articles below show a variety of lab spaces and also how our students have upscaled their resources over time having started in converted bedrooms and on kitchen surfaces:
Benefits of making your own skincare
A main advantage for many indie beauty formulators and brand founders is the freedom they have to explore the cosmetic niches and organic ingredients that appeal to them. A cosmetic chemist employed by a large brand may have less creative freedom as they may need to fulfill a product development brief dictated by the brand’s marketing department.
We know that many of our students and graduates start learning how to formulate skincare as they were unable to find what they needed on the shelves. If you can’t find something to resolve your skincare needs, the chances are others will need the same product too. By creating it, you may have the beginnings of an organic skincare business. We’ve come across at least another seven reasons to inspire you to make your own cosmetics. See our post:
For what to expect making your own skincare, take a look our post a day in the life of a natural formulator in which four Formula Botanica tutors share how they work all the way from researching a new cosmetic product to testing it out.
Now we have set the scene to show that cosmetic formulation is accessible to everyone, almost anywhere, let’s take you through the steps you take to learn how to make skincare products.
Your market may be that of your family and friends to start with. Get used to researching what people need help with in their skin care routines and what products they would like to see. We have seen Formula Botanica students and graduates start social media channels as a way to engage with potential customers, to find out about key skincare issues and to act as platform for them to learn and showcase their growing knowledge about natural, organic cosmetics.
If you are thinking about taking cosmetic formulation further, identify at least 10 online beauty and personal care resources that provide industry updates, and of course consumer-facing beauty websites and social channels too. The more you embed yourself in the natural cosmetics’ market, the more you will learn and be able to apply to formulating your own products. Above all, be critical and don’t always take things at face value. As you learn, you will find your voice and be able to identify reputable industry and opinion sources online.
Formula Botanica’s podcast, Green Beauty Conversations, is a mine of balanced information covering the world of green and indie beauty through interviews with influential people in the sector and debate about the latest, often controversial topics around sustainable beauty. Keep up with what’s going on in green beauty before deciding what to formulate. Your best ideas may be sparked by something you watch, listen to or read.
Now that you have a sense from your market research for the types of product and ingredients that are trending or that your target market is looking for, you can think about the type of cosmetic product to make. You could focus, for example, on solid formulations, cosmetics containing natural retinol alternatives, or multi-tasking, minimal-waste products in tune with sustainability principles.
Choices like these are fundamental to deciding which ingredients and packaging you choose, how a consumer will use your product and where it will end up. If you are aiming for a sustainable product, you need to have an idea also about your formulation’s afterlife down the sink and the disposal of its packaging.
By making, for example, a powdered cleanser formulation rather than an emulsion or oleogel one, you need to focus on the types of ingredients that can be included – or not – and on the packaging required. With beauty consumers now making purchasing choices based the sustainability and ethical credentials of cosmetics brands, there is far more to think about in defining your cosmetic product type than ever before.
Your product type might be guided by your mission to eliminate packaging, by a star ingredient you want to use, or by your desire to use a particular innovative, biodegradable option such as mushroom packaging. As you can see, defining your product is also about defining your mission, especially if you are planning to start an indie beauty business.
Don’t rush into making your first simple cosmetic formulation, however tempting that is and easy the product seems, without getting into the habit of understanding your ingredients. What our students and graduates love about natural formulation is exploring the rich, wonderful world of botanicals and the skincare benefits hidden in their unique properties. Our Formula Botanica tutors explain just how important and well spent their time is on researching ingredients in this article:
Let’s take a simple face oil as an example of ingredient research. You may be using only 5 or so botanical oils, but each oil will have different properties of interest.
Some may be occlusive and better used to protect the skin’s barrier or to reduce trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL). You may choose oils on the basis of their unique lipid profile such as their phytosterols and other compounds of interest such as lipid-soluble antioxidants. Even identifying five botanical oils can lead to hours of research to ensure you choose those offering benefits to your proposed formulation and its target user.
Taking a simple formula and learning how to adjust it is good way to learn cosmetic formulation. We offer ideas and advice on how to research and source natural cosmetic ingredients in these articles:
See also the 30 articles in our formulator’s guides’ series. We cover in depth numerous functional and trending active ingredients from natural gums, emulsifiers and humectants to CBD extracts, antioxidants, peptides and AHAs/BHAs.
Over time, you will build up knowledge of natural ingredients, how they perform in certain formulations and their synergy with other ingredients. Above all, ask yourself what role an ingredient plays in a formulation. Less is always more in natural formulation.
Our students can access our directory of recommended natural ingredient suppliers. These are companies that can support small-scale formulators who want to buy minimum order quantities or small amounts to use in trial formulations. Our advice is to build relations with trusted, natural cosmetic ingredient suppliers. If you intend to scale up and make cosmetics to sell, ensure your suppliers can provide the required documentation: certificates of analysis; and safety datasheets.
You can set up a home lab or working space pretty much anywhere when starting out. We’ve seen a Formula Botanica student follow her course using a lab in a suitcase as she traveled a lot for her work. One of our graduates runs her indie beauty business, Boreal Folk, from her mobile camper van.
Ideally, find somewhere quiet and away from the hub of household life. Our tutors talk about first starting in a corner of their kitchen formulating just for a snatched hour or so at a time. Our students create home lab spaces wherever they can as their videos show.
Wherever you set up your home lab space, follow the principles of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP). GMP might sound like something only large-scale, professional cosmetics labs need worry about. But, in fact, GMP is a series of standards that are common sense guidelines even a home formulator can adhere to. For an overview, see the FDA GMP guidelines for cosmetics.
If you start early on in your cosmetic formulation career learning about GMP, you will be able to create cosmetics in a safe, professional manner. The effort taken now in learning the fundamentals of GMP will save you time later, and give you peace of mind, even if formulating your first cosmetics to gift friends and family.
We have plenty of articles covering how to set up your home lab and follow GMP:
One of the 12 key formulation tools we mentioned earlier is a notebook in which to write down every formulation, and trials and variations you make, along with your observations on the method used, formulating issues, and of course the product results. What could you do better, how did the formulation work in manufacture, and does it perform on the skin as intended? There is so much you need to document, whether in a physical or virtual notebook, about cosmetic product manufacture.
Imagine you wished to scale up a formulation several months after making the first trials of a product only to find you didn’t put a date or trial/batch number on the winning formulation to cross reference with your notes? Even formulations that went wrong are essential to learning on the job. Trial and error is everything, but without documentation to refer to you will be working blind if you recreate a formulation.
To write down a formulation you need to work in percentages. Never work in drops or a combination of weight and fluid measurements. Cosmetic formulations should be written in percentages but you may not always wish to make large batches of say a nice neat figure of 100g or 100 ounces. In this case, you need to scale down and do the maths.
We cover percentage calculations and weight-to-percentage maths in our foundation Diploma in Organic Skincare Formulation. It is vital to work out the percentages of all your ingredients from a weight-based formula so you can replicate it and scale it up if you need to.
Many DIY skincare recipes on the internet talk about drops of essential oils, for example, or of various spoon sizes for other ingredients. These formulations are best avoided as there is no accurate way for you to replicate them safely. Essential oil drops vary in weight as they have different specific gravities, and rarely would even one drop be the exact weight of another drop even if from the same bottle. We’ve done the experiments to prove this. These articles are useful background on why you need percentage-based formulations:
Take a look at any of the formulations we offer on this site to see how we write them. You will notice that ingredients are listed in phases – A,B,C and so on. This not only shows which ingredients to combine, but also helps explain the method of manufacture.
Gums, for example, are usually blended with the humectant glycerine, or similar, to ensure they are dissolved properly before being blended into an emulsion. Heat-sensitive ingredients like essential oils and natural preservatives are added last in most formulations, in particular in the so-called cool-down phases of emulsion making.
Work out how your ingredients combine, and why and when they are included in the manufacture process. The method of manufacture is as important as the percentage formula as a lot can go wrong if you are not clear about when to combine certain ingredients and phases.
Armed with your working formula, it’s time to make a first trial batch of your new cosmetic product. Prep your work space or home lab, and ensure you have the tools to hand that you need for the formulation. This article shows you the basic kit you need to make your first formulations:
Make a small batch only, such as 25-100g depending on the type of formulation and the weight of the smallest amount of ingredient added. It may be impractical to make very small trial batches if you are unable to weigh out the minute amounts needed. Most beginner formulators start with cheap pocket or jewellery scales which work to two decimal points and up to around 500g.
Ensure you follow your proposed method, and make notes about any deviations and on your observations. This information is invaluable as it will guide you when you trial the formulation again as you will no doubt make some adjustments to your percentage formula or to your method in order to improve the product outcome.
Most products, especially oleogels, gels, balms and emulsions need time to settle to allow air bubbles to disappear or to cool, so do not expect to assess your final cosmetic product until 24 hours later as a bare minimum. Even cold-blend formulations will thicken over time. This brings us to the next stage in how to make skincare: testing your cosmetic product.
You need to test out your homemade skincare yourself to see if it performs as you expected. Assess how it feels on the skin, how it absorbs, its scent, its viscosity and how well it dispenses from your chosen container. These are some of the basic, first tests to perform and to repeat over a few days or weeks.
There are of course more formal, routine tests to carry out on your products which cosmetics labs must undertake on batches intended for the market. Stability and microbial tests are designed to assess the safety of a cosmetic. An emulsion may split, even weeks or months later, and prove unsafe as a result. The preservation system of a cosmetic must be challenge tested to ensure it keeps the cosmetic safe to use as intended. Even anhydrous products may need preservatives if they come into contact with fingers or damp conditions.
While these tests may seem daunting if you are new to natural formulation, there are plenty of ways to test your cosmetic easily within your home-lab. Our Certificates in Natural Cosmetic Preservation and in Cosmetic Stability Testing cover numerous tests you can carry out easily and cost-effectively in an artisan lab, and also the tests you would need external certified labs to run on products you intend to sell.
See these articles on why and how to test your cosmetics:
Finally, based on all the observations you made in the previous steps to creating a cosmetic product, you will inevitably need to edit your formulation. Rarely does anyone hit on the winning formulation first time. It is common to need to change the amounts of the functional ingredients included to adjust the viscosity or the skin-feel of the product. for instance.
Our tutors trial numerous new ingredients in creating formulations for our blog and our exclusive membership site The Lab at Formula Botanica. For example, they may trial the same formulation with different emulsifiers to see which achieves an optimal product. Functional ingredients like emulsifiers can be some of the trickiest to work with and ‘get right’ in a cosmetic formulation. Learn to take meticulous notes and be patient.
As a cosmetic formulator you must be prepared to try again, learn from mistakes and from your observations. This is just part of life as a natural formulator. Remember, working with natural botanical ingredients can be less predictable than when using synthetic-derived ingredients. But, you will find rewards in making your own skincare and be part of the millennia-long history of cosmetic formulation grounded in nature.
Have you ever formulated skincare or haircare before?
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By providing your details, you agree to receive additional educational & marketing emails from Formula Botanica, which further introduce our curriculum. Your data is never shared or sold. Read our Privacy Policy
By providing your details, you agree to receive additional educational & marketing emails from Formula Botanica, which further introduce our curriculum. Your data is never shared or sold. Read our Privacy Policy
Liz is Formula Botanica’s Content Coordinator and joined our team in August 2020. Liz worked as a professional blogger, journalist and site developer for many years and was also part of the Formula Botanica student community. Read more about the Formula Botanica Team.