Have you ever created a skincare product?

[Cocacolathanks]

Hi everyone,

Bit of a silly question. I’ve been thinking of business ideas lately and I suddenly started looking at creams and skincare. I was just wondering, how does the actual process work if you want to create your own product? I can and will Google it but I was hoping for some firsthand experience and tips!

FOR EXAMPLE... nipple balm.
How would you create your own balm? Do you approach labs? Is there a middle-man who gets contacts for you? How would you go about the design, label, tube, etc.? A factory? Do you just randomly ring factory contact numbers until someone agrees?
I’m assuming your product would also have to be proved safe for use/get certified etc.

Sorry if I sound utterly thick but I’m just genuinely interested in how this process works!

Thanks ☺️

Any success stories out there?

From memory anything like that needs certification from a chemist who approves the recipe before production. Loads of EU regs. There used to be lots of forums online with the info. Sorry to be so vague.

@GrimDamnFanjo

Thank you for replying! Ahh, I see. I’ll look around a bit more online and see what else I can find. I have found some labs but everything seems very... America-based?

You need a retail consultant, preferably someone who’s worked in Health & Beauty. They’d advise you on factory contacts, packaging, testing you need, pricing structure...etc.

I used to work for a company which basically was a contract manufacturer which means we created, filled and packaged the products.
I can tell you I would get calls from around 30 'start ups' a day, 5 days a week and then some. Honestly the competition is ridiculous.

You should google the story behind Pure Potions, which was started by a mum who developed an ointment called Skin Salvation for her daughter's eczema. I can't remember all the details but I daresay it would suggest some next steps for you to take. (It was great ointment as well, btw, I got through a lot of it on one of my DC back in the day!)

All cosmetics need to adhere to the EU Cosmetics Directive. Don't know if that will change with Brexit. As a pp said, every formula needs to be safety assessed by a cosmetic chemist. This isn't cheap. If you have any water in the formula, you'll need a preservative, and the product will need to be stress tested, to make sure you have the correct amount of preservative.

You can do R&D at home, there are a few companies that sell cosmetic ingredients. The Soap Kitchen was one of the places I used when I made soaps, bath and body products. I also bought packaging from them too.

I was just small scale though, and did everything myself. I gave up when there were more and more amendments to the regulations, that made it less financially viable for small producers like me.

There are a lot of homemade soapmakers in the US, and there were loads of suppliers there. I often bought ingredients and packaging from there, as it often worked out cheaper, even factoring in the cost of duty and postage.

I was a member of the Soapdish Forum (don't know if it's still going) which was a wealth of knowledge, and although the main demographic were from the US or Canada, there were also quite a few members from the UK and EU.

Put Formula Botanica into Google.
This is an online school to help you make your own skincare. I'm pretty sure they are UK based.
HTH!

When I was young I once mixed beetroot and Jif lemon out of the bathroom and told my Mum it was face cream. Burned the side of her cheek like a good'un.

Really interesting topic, though. Love learning about things like this.