Skin and face

Formulating skincare, and selling it legally

Updated October 2026

On this page10

Preservation, which is the whole job The formula Getting started Making a batch What goes wrong Packaging Selling it Growing Tools and directories Beyond the face

From why preservation is the whole job, through a batch that comes out the same every time, to a label that keeps a cosmetic from becoming a drug. The container is part of the chemistry here, which is why it appears on almost every page.

91 of 91 written. Every page names its source or says it has none.

Preservation, which is the whole job

The part that decides whether you have a product.

Why preservation is the whole job The challenge test, and what it costs Reading a challenge test result What changes force a retest The package is part of the preservation system Period after opening Stability testing alongside it Safety substantiation, which has no exemption

The formula

What you are actually making, and what it is made of.

The two phases What holds it together Water activity, and the 0.75 line Preservative systems pH, and what it decides Actives, and what they cost you Chelators and antioxidants Viscosity, and how it reaches the customer Anhydrous products, which change the rules

Getting started

Before anything is ordered.

Is this for you at all What the money actually costs What the time actually costs What to buy before you start Where the ingredients come from Where the work happens Registration, and what it requires What the first run looks like Turning a formula into a product Naming, and the claims that come with it

Making a batch

The process, in order, with temperatures.

Weighing, and why percentages Heating the two phases Emulsifying The cool-down, and what goes in when Adjusting pH Adding the preservative What to check before you fill Filling How big a batch to make Cleaning down between batches

What goes wrong

Named failures, and which are safety questions.

The emulsion split It grew something The preservative did not hold The pH moved after filling The oils went off The active stopped working It changed color or smell The pack and the formula reacted Somebody reacted to it This batch is not like the last one

Packaging

Where the container is part of the chemistry.

Pumps, droppers and what the pack has to do Airless, and unit dose Glass or plastic What size to sell How full to fill it Filling without a machine Getting a label to stay on Tamper evidence Sealing and shrink How it looks on a shelf Shipping it When stock goes off-condition

Selling it

Claims, labels and the line you must not cross.

Cosmetic or drug What federal law requires on the label INCI, and reading a label How to price Selling online Selling wholesale Selling in person State rules, and why there is no cottage exemption The state-by-state answer Insurance, and what your policy excludes Who you buy from Where the practitioners are

Growing

What breaks first, and in what order.

Making more of it Making batch 400 match batch 1 Equipment at the next size What you have to write down Having somebody else make it The contract The first person you pay

Tools and directories

Things to use rather than read.

The two tests that decide a product How much you will actually get Working out what to charge When it pays for itself Everything that has to be on the label The batch log Who regulates you, and when The words, in the order you meet them

Beyond the face

The obvious next products.

Cleansers, oils and the simple end Masks and treatments Body care, the obvious extension Kits, routines and sets Making it for somebody else