Custom skincare formulation services
Original formulas developed to your brief — texture, sensorial, actives, claims and price target. Not a stock base with your fragrance dropped in.
A custom formulation starts from your brief rather than from a catalogue. That means the texture, the active system, the finish, the scent profile and the target cost-per-unit are all decisions made for your product, instead of constraints inherited from a base someone else developed for someone else.
The practical difference shows up in what you can claim. If a stock formula carries 2% of an active and your positioning depends on 10%, the answer with private label is simply no — the formula is fixed and every claim you make has to be one the existing product already supports. On a custom brief, the claim drives the formulation rather than the other way around.
Work is done at the bench and evaluated the way a large R&D function evaluates it: feel, appearance, performance, and formulation integrity across the conditions the product will actually see. Prototypes go through rounds of refinement on your feedback, with stability and compatibility considered before sign-off rather than discovered after launch.
The formula that results is developed for you, with ownership settled in writing before development begins. It is also portable — you can take it to whichever contract manufacturer gives you the best terms, rather than being locked into one supplier’s catalogue and their margin.
What's included
- Brief and benchmarkingTarget texture, actives and ingredient story defined against the products you are competing with.
- Bench prototypesLab samples developed and evaluated for feel, appearance, performance and formulation integrity.
- Iteration roundsRefinement on your feedback until the sample matches the brief.
- Stability and compatibility reviewConsidered before sign-off, so problems surface at bench scale rather than at production scale.
- Final formula and documentationThe formula, the specs, and the notes your manufacturer needs to reproduce it.
What's not included
- Manufacturing or filling — SkinChemy is a formulation studio, not a factory
- Third-party lab testing fees (stability, PET, clinical) — coordinated, but billed by the lab
- Packaging design, sourcing or engineering
- Regulatory filings and product registrations
Who this is for
- Brands with an audience, a waitlist or a retailer conversation already in hand
- Founders whose positioning depends on a claim a stock base cannot support
- Teams developing a hero product the brand will be known for
Common questions
How is this different from private label?
Private label means putting your name on an existing stock formula that other brands also sell. A custom formula is developed to your brief and belongs to your brand — differentiated, defensible, and portable between manufacturers.
Do I need to develop a whole range at once?
No, and most brands should not. Developing one hero product properly — the one the brand is actually known for — and filling out the range more conventionally until volume justifies more is usually the better commercial decision.
Who owns the finished formula?
Ownership and confidentiality terms are agreed in writing at the start of the engagement. Bring your NDA, or we can work from a standard one — either way it is settled before development begins.
What do you need from me to start?
Your brand and customer, the claims you want to own, the products you consider your competitive set, and your constraints — target cost-per-unit, timeline, and manufacturer if you have one.
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