How do you develop a new cosmetic product?

If you’re envisioning launching your own skincare or beauty brand, first, you’ll need to understand what’s involved in developing a new product. 

While most beauty brand owners choose to outsource the production of their products to a contract manufacturer, there are still a few things it’s helpful to know about before you start the product development process.

In this article, we’ll fill you in on the key steps involved in developing a new cosmetic product so you can navigate the process with confidence and ease.

How to develop a new cosmetic product

1. Find a contract manufacturer

Your first step will be to find a suitable cosmetics manufacturer with experience developing the type of product you want to produce. 

Ideally, it’s best to choose a manufacturer with an extensive portfolio or catalogue of product formulations similar to what you want to produce, as this can dramatically shorten the new product development process.

While some cosmetics manufacturers will work with you to develop a product from scratch, it’s generally a much faster and easier process to select a product from the manufacturers portfolio, as much of the product development and testing process has already been done for you.

2. Provide a product brief

When you approach a cosmetics manufacturer, one of the first things they will ask you to do is provide a brief for your product. The product brief is an important document that provides the manufacturer with an understanding of the product you want to produce. 

Your brief should include information such as:

• an overview of your brand and objectives
• any ingredients you want to include or exclude from the product
• the desired texture of the product
• the preferred colour/s
• any other details you think might be important to the manufacturer.

If you’re developing a product for the first time, you may find it hard to know what to include in the brief. However, it is worthwhile doing some research to refine your ideas as the more specific the information you can provide, the better the manufacturer will be able to suggest a product formulation to suit your needs.

3. Review the base sample

The manufacturer will then provide some base product samples from the formulations in their portfolio that most closely match the brief. 

Once you’ve chosen the base sample that most closely resembles what you want, you can then work with the manufacturer to refine or personalise the base by adding things like fragrance, tint, shimmer or skin hero ingredients.

There may be some limitations or restrictions associated with adding additional ingredients to the chosen base, however, the manufacturer should be able to provide their expert advice and guidance on this.

Once you are happy with the finished product formulation, provided no additional stability testing is required, your manufacturer can progress the product towards production in line with the production schedule.

Cosmetics Manufacturing Made Simple

At Wild Child, we aim to make the cosmetic product development and manufacturing process as simple as possible. 

With an extensive catalogue of ready-to-use product formulas, state-of-the-art equipment and facilities and first-rate customer service, we’ll work closely with you to bring your product ideas to life. 

Find out more about our cosmetic manufacturing services or contact us to get started.