custom or private label skincare?
Finding the best cosmetic and skincare formulation and manufacturing path for your brand. Explore options for private labelling, bespoke cosmetic formulation and contract manufacturing.
bespoke Formulation - your product blueprint
Bespoke cosmetic and beauty formulation is where you provide us with a brief for the product and we design and develop a formula for us, selecting the best materials to ensure a highly effective, sustainable and stable product you're customers will love.
Congratulations on selecting the most challenging but rewarding path. Compared to Private Label, bespoke formulation requires more time, money and patience. It also rewards you with creativity, the ability to fully realise a unique product vision and a blueprint for a product that's never been created. At Good Chemistry, our bespoke work is focused on highly active, clinically sound and precision formulation of natural products.
Unlike Private Labelling, you're not necessarily entering into a long-term relationship with the lab. R &D and manufacture are treated separately. You can choose to manufacture small-scale with us or we advise you on finding the right manufacturer here in New Zealand or overseas, to go large.
Find out more about the bespoke formulation process or complete an onboarding form to get quote and advice.
private label skincare
Private Label means the lab develops and tests (and owns) the formulations and you put your brand on them.
This is a very common practice for skincare, beauty and homecare brands (more so than you may think!). It enables you to get a product range to market without the stress and cost of researching, developing and testing the products yourself.
One of the best advantages of this approach, is it enables entrepreneurs to focus their time and effort on marketing, brand and all the other tasks that are needed to get a unique, new product line to market. Entrepreneurs package and market our formulas in very different ways to make it their own
The truly outstanding feature of private labelling is it doesn't take a lot of money, effort or time to create your own brand. All the formulation, testing and manufacture is all done!
Choosing the right lab to partner with is important as essentially it's a long-term relationship as they own the formula and licence it to you.
At Good Chemistry we focus on a premium natural Private Label range with a low MOQ (that minimum order quantity!) of 10. We offer our product in both 'retail ready' recyclable packaging (retail sized) or in bulk sized - perfect for professional spas or salons, or if you want to use your own packaging.
custom products - the in between
'Customised' products at Good Chemistry are when we further customise one of our Private Label or base formulations for you. It's sort of in between Bespoke Formulation and Private Label.
Customisations may be simple, like changing the scent, or more significant with changes to the key botanicals and actives on a formula. Customisations will usually require additional testing to ensure they are safe and stable.
Sometimes our clients choose to customise in order to change the packaging type, make specific marketing claims, or suit a theme with specific scent, colour or active ingredients.
If you are interested in customisation, talk to our team for advice, as there's a few things to consider, and an estimated cost.
contract manufacturing
Contract manufacturing is where you hire someone to manufacture, and usually package, your cosmetic or beauty product.
It means that you usually already own your completed formulation and you're ready to make it at a large scale (usually a minimum of 1,000 but each manufacturer differs). You'll have completed a Bespoke Formulation and you'll have a formula with the exact materials (by weight and brand) with exact manufacturing instructions that you handover to your manufacturer.
When you choose an independent cosmetic lab like Good Chemistry, rather than the manufacture lab, to develop your formula it means you can freely choose, and change, manufacturers over time.
It also means your formula is not limited to including the ingredients and materials a specific manufacturer holds in stock or likes - but the best and most effective formula for your brand.
If you are ready to manufacture at scale - well done! - we can assist in matching you to the right manufacturer for your brand vision.
faqs
frequently asked questions
Do you formulate clean and vegan products?
Yes, our philosophy is focused on natural, vegan and clean. all our Private Label range is clean, petroleum free, vegan and cruelty free.
If you want to meet specific clean standards, like Sephora, please include that in your product brief for your custom formulation.
How do I get started? What is the process?
To get started, we firstly need a product brief from you, or the concept developer, and a signed confidentiality agreement.
Once we've agreed to formulate this with you, we need signed Development Agreement and a 50% deposit.
For an outline of the full process, visit our 'Formulation, step by step' page
See 'What testing do I need' page for more information
Do you work with brands outside of New Zealand and Australia?
Yes we do! With high standards on innovative and natural skincare and beauty formulation, plus excellent value for money (especially with NZD exchange rates), we are an attractive partner for clients in the USA, Australia, Singapore and the UK.
How much does it cost to research and develop a new skincare or beauty product?
Successful cosmetic companies should be looking to invest up to 10% of their anticipated 3 years sales on R&D per product, which includes formulation and sample development, stability testing, pilot batches and regulatory checks including claims and label compliance. To get the sales results, you need to invest in your brand and new products!
If you are going to do R&D, starting with custom formulating, your costs will depend on the formula you choose, the raw ingredients that comprise your formula as well as the testing, packaging and labelling.
To give you an idea of the full costs to budget for research and development (R&D) in NZ or Australia:
Formulation development: $2,500 - 4,000
Lab batch (for stability, PET and evaluation): $800 - 1000
Label compliance and claims support: $500 - 1500
Stability testing: (e.g 9 months accelerated and 30 months real time): $2500 - 3000
PET: $900 -1500
Total R&D: $7,000-11,200
** This represents 6-8% of anticipated sales = good investment.**
This budget also allows for additional funds to be allocated towards a pilot batch and scale up costs and a small proportion to consultancy if you need assistance.
If you don't want to invest in good R&D for your brand, we strongly suggest going Private Label, as these products have already been through a stringent R&D process, allowing you to focus your investment on brand and marketing.
Not everyone has the budget and commitment to undertake R&D, which is why we highly recommend Private Label, or customising Private Label if you want to start small and easy with minimal investment.
Can I use your packaging or need to source my own?
Private label
We offer white, modern, recyclable packaging in our 'retail-ready' private label range that you can make your own with creative label design.
Custom formulation
Yes you'd usually need to source your own packaging for custom formulation.
The type of packaging you need will depend on the product form (i.e. cream, gel, lotion) and application needed (e.g. pump for body lotion). If you know what product form and application you need, ideally source the packaging before we begin formulating. Or you can wait to discuss what you need with our chemist.
We'll need to have the sample product set up in your packaging before we begin indicative stability testing, as part of our formulation development process. You can choose to have bespoke packaging designed and manufactured for a truly unique shape and design; customise an existing packaging design (colour, dispenser etc) or buy 'off the shelf' and ready to fill from local or overseas suppliers. We can also assist with brand and label design.
Can I work with a chemist to turn my homemade formula into a professional one ready for manufacturing?
Yes, we're happy to work with you to review and optimise your formula. We can help get you out of the kitchen and into the lab and manufacturing by creating a replicable, stable and effectve formula, ready for scaled manufacture, and help with a range of tests.
You may have developed a recipe, made it as a hobby, and then want to scale up. Or found a formula or recipe online and make it for the business. Often there's some great improvements we can recommend. Our chemists will note just because it's online doesn't mean it's ever been professionally developed or tested!
We can work with you to optimise the formula, putting forward improvements (or significant changes if they are needed) and ensure that it is:
- safe (the right type and level of preservative, chelators etc)
- is stable under a range of environments and conditions (won't oxidise, go off or separate)
- has a shelf life of 2-3 years
- active ingredients are bioavailable and effective (formula gives these the right support/conditions to work)
- optimal performance and sensory aspects - it feels wonderful to use, performs well and does what it says it will and smells good.
I've got my custom formulation do I really need to do stability testing?
Yes! Have a read of our FAQ above why you need to invest properly in R&D for your brand.
While we're responsible for ensuring we prepare a formula that will be theoretically stable over 2-3 years, the only sure way to know if it is actually stable is to conduct stability testing to at least 30 months real time. Stability testing is a way of ensuring your product will have the anticipated shelf life using practical methods. Is something likely to go wrong? In theory, no. Can something go wrong? In practice, unexpected results can occur. We can't know this without it being tested.
Ensuring stability in practice is your responsibility, so you should get this done on all formulations. It should be part of your planned R&D investment and helps prevent product recalls, which would be your responsibility. If you are planning to export product or have a secondary sunscreen product (i.e. moisturiser with SPF) you will also need to conduct stability testing as the shelf justification for these products is required.
See 'What testing do I need' page for more information
Do I need label, claims support and marketing compliance check?
Custom formulations:
Unless you have someone who can do this for you, you should get us to assist you with this. We ensure you label, including ingredient list, is compliant, as well as ensuring you have the evidence, and appropriate wording for any marketing claims.
Private Label:
We provide the information to put on labels on if marketing in NZ, Australia or Europe. We also provide examples of marketing claims. If you wish to market your products in other jurisdictions, please book a consultation to ensure everything is compliant.
