Cost depends on whether you’re using a stock base with light customisation or a fully bespoke formulation, plus your packaging choice, which can be a significant cost driver (pumps, droppers and airless jars cost more than basic jars or bottles). MOQs typically start from 3000 units for a stock-base formulation, moving higher for fully bespoke formulas developed from scratch. We provide a detailed quote covering formulation, testing and packaging.

A stock base is an existing, tested formulation that can be lightly customised (fragrance, minor actives, packaging) for a faster, lower-cost route to market. A bespoke formulation is developed from scratch around your specific active ingredients and positioning, giving you a genuinely differentiated product but requiring more development time and typically a higher MOQ. Many brands start on a stock base to validate demand before investing in bespoke formulation.

This depends on the claims you make, not just your ingredients. Products positioned as cosmetics (moisturising, cleansing, or general appearance-related claims) fall under standard consumer product law and AICIS ingredient requirements, a faster compliance pathway. Products making therapeutic claims (treating acne, eczema, or specific skin conditions) can be pushed into therapeutic goods territory and require TGA oversight instead, a significantly longer and more expensive pathway. We flag this early and help you decide on a claims strategy before formulation begins.

Yes, we work with manufacturers experienced in reformulating around specific ingredient exclusions. The trade-off to understand upfront is that some exclusions affect formulation stability, shelf life, or texture, for example, paraben-free formulations often need alternative preservative systems that can be more expensive or require tighter storage conditions. We’ll be upfront if a specific exclusion is likely to affect your product’s shelf life, texture, or cost.

If you’re bringing a formulation from a previous manufacturer or another market, we check it against AICIS requirements, since permitted ingredients and concentrations can differ from other countries, and adjust if needed. Every ingredient in a proposed formulation is checked against AICIS requirements before we finalise a recipe, discovering an ingredient issue late in development is one of the most common and costly delays we see with skincare brands importing a formulation concept from another market.

Yes, and for skincare we’d recommend testing the sample on skin over a reasonable period, since texture, absorption and any reaction take time to properly assess. We run stability testing and packaging compatibility testing before committing to a full production run, this adds some time but is meaningfully cheaper than discovering a stability issue after you’ve already shipped stock to customers.

For a stock-base formulation with light customisation, expect 3–6 months. For a fully bespoke formulation, expect 6–12 months. A formulation developed or meaningfully customised specifically for your brand is typically documented as your intellectual property, with the manufacturer restricted from selling an identical formula to a competing brand.