What the first run looks like

A first skincare launch has a natural order, and most of the pain people describe comes from ordering packaging before the formula is settled.

Before anything is ordered

Decide the product and keep the range to two or three, because testing is per formula. Decide whether it is anhydrous or an emulsion, which decides how hard the rest will be.

Source ingredients with full specifications. Settle the package before the formula is final, because the package is part of the preservation system and testing must be done in it.

Then develop the formula: bench batches, pH measured on the finished cooled product, viscosity checked against what your intended dispenser can move.

Development, and then the wait

When the formula is final, make a batch in the final packaging and send it for a challenge test. Twenty-eight days.

Start stability at the same time: accelerated at 40 and 45 °C, freeze-thaw cycles, and a real-time set that will still be running long after you launch.

Use the wait rather than losing it: labels, INCI declaration, photography, the product page, and the safety assessment file.

Production day

Sanitize everything and dismantle what comes apart. Weigh to percentages, recording actuals and lot numbers as you go. Heat both phases to the same temperature, emulsify, cool with gentle mixing, adjust pH, then preservative, then actives, then fragrance, each at or below its stated temperature.

Check appearance, odor, pH and viscosity before filling. Fill to weight, wipe every rim, cap, label, and set aside retained samples from the start, middle and end of the run.

The months after

Keep opening the real-time stability samples on schedule and writing down what you find. Watch the first customers and ask specifically about texture at week six and week twelve.

And resist adding products until the first one has a complete file behind it. A second formula before the first is proven doubles the risk and halves the attention.

References