Custom Formulation

Let our experience help guide your product development.

What story will your product tell?

Many parts of a product tell a story

Does a special ingredient make your product unique? Or is it the science and effectiveness of the product? Perhaps the price, or look and feel, or what you decide to not have in it.

Let Our Experience Guide Your Product

Glycerin Soap

Hot or Cold

We can manufacture products hot-filled products, such as glycerin soap or pomade

There are many parts of a product that tell a story.

Does a special ingredient make your product unique? Is it the effectiveness of the product? The price? The look and feel? Or what you decide to not have in it?

What story will your product tell?

  • Ingredients

    • Are you including any special ingredients that will be key to product efficacy and/or marketing?
    • Are you wanting to follow rating sites, such as ewg.org/skindeep?
    • Are social aspects important, such as vegan and cruelty-free?
    • Do you have a list of ingredients you just don’t like?

  • Packaging

    • What will your packaging saying about your product?
    • There are many different packaging materials out there. When you are choosing the look and feel you want, let us help you choose the material best suited to the ingredients in your product.

How does it work?

  • 1. Meet With Our Team

    Whether you are coming with something that’s never been done before, or looking to make a better version of an existing product, we are up for the challenge.

    We will start with an in-depth discussion of your product, and give guidance where appropriate.

    Our chemists understand efficacy levels of active ingredients, possible interactions amongst ingredients, and most importantly, the pH of different areas of the body.

  • 2. Choose Your Ingredients

    Consider these things when choosing ingredients:

    • Are you including any special ingredients that will be key to product efficacy and/or marketing?
    • Are you wanting to follow rating sites, such as ewg.org/skindeep?
    • Are social aspects important, such as vegan and cruelty-free?
    • Do you have a list of ingredients you just don’t like?
    • Fragrance?

    If you don’t know what ingredients you want, but you know what you want your product to do, leave the rest to us. Our team will provide you with recommendations.

    We have an impressive selection of top-quality ingredients. If we don’t have the one you’re looking for we can assist you in purchasing your own.

    • Actives
    • Botanical
    • Extracts
    • Oils
    • Fragrances

  • 3. Samples As Easy As 1-2-3

    After we understand what you want, the ingredients to use or avoid, and some general ideas about the packaging requirements, our chemists will develop your first draft formula.

    From that formula we produce a sample to review. If you want to make changes, don’t worry. Three pre-production sample batches come with each Custom Formulation.

    Once you are ready to sign-off on it, we are ready to move to the next step.

  • 4. Testing + More Testing

    A very important part of this process is testing your product. We need to make sure it will stay fresh in your desired packaging and that the preservative systems will remain robust and effective.

    Our comprehensive testing includes:

    • packaging compatibility
    • 40-day stability challenge
    • 6-day freeze-thaw
    • 24 and 48-hour bacteria, yeast + mould

  • 5. Pricing + Batch Size

    When your formula and packaging is confirmed, we can provide you with final pricing. Of course, we can provide you with estimated pricing along with way with each sample batch as well.

    Products are ordered and manufactured by batch, not by quantity of product.

    They can be manufactured in a range of batch sizes and filled in almost any size of container.

    Depending on the type of product, batch tank sizes range from 8 L up to 500 L. Prices per unit go down as the size of the batch increases.

This process can take as little as a few months or longer. It really depends on how long it takes you to review each sample and provide feedback before we can move to the next stage.

Testing adds more time to the up-front development time, however, it is invaluable to have peace of mind when you have released your product, knowing it will stand up to everything it was designed for.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long will it take to complete my formula?

Each product is different. Some require ingredients to be sourced before development can begin while some require more complex research from our team.

After we consult with you about your needs, budget and performance goals, formulation begins.

We create up to three different samples for each product during development. With each sample, take as long as you need to review and test before providing feedback.

This sample and feedback cycle has the biggest impact on time in the development process. All-in, we usually estimate between 3-12 months to complete a formula.

Can I have more than the three samples included with the formulation fee?

Of course. It is unusual for clients to need more than 3 samples before arriving at the final formula, however, if you need more, additional samples can be produced for for an a la carte fee. (see our current fee schedule)

Packaging Considerations

What will your packaging saying about your product?

There are many different packaging materials out there. When you are choosing the look and feel you want, let us help you choose the material best suited to the ingredients in your product.

As part of the Custom Formulation process we will do a 40-day stability test with your final formula using your desired packaging to see how well it holds up. By the time it is complete, we will have simulated aging your product in the package for 2 years.

Dean Richard Johansson
As a chemist that understands skin, my team and I look forward to helping you develop amazing products.
Contact Us
+ 1 604-251-1190

Cosmetics Formulation +
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