Custom Skin Care Manufacturing Explained: A Beginner’s Guide
Custom skin care manufacturing makes sense for some brands from their first product. For others, it's a strategic next step once their preformulated range gains traction.
But how do you know if it's the right time to invest in custom skin care products?
Innacos is here to help!
Our in-depth guide below breaks down everything a new brand needs to know about custom skin care manufacturing. We discuss the current state of the custom market, the pros and cons of custom skincare compared to other methods, and when you should make the transition.
Why Competition Is Intensifying In The Skin Care Market
Skin care is one of the fastest growing segments within the beauty industry. According to Fortune Business Insights, the global skin care market is projected to reach $194.05 billion by 2032 - a CAGR of 6.84%.
While this presents a major opportunity for beauty brands, it’s also a sign of an increasingly saturated and competitive market.
New products launch daily, and with an entire ecosystem of educational skinfluencers across TikTok and YouTube, consumers are now incredibly well-informed about ingredients, formula quality, and how to find products that provide the best value for their money.
As Omnia Retail explores, consumers increasingly shop across different price categories rather than shopping exclusively for budget-friendly or luxe lines.
Almost 50% of global beauty consumers now buy across mass, masstige, and prestige segments, placing the most importance on ingredient quality and performance rather than price or brand name alone.
At the same time, the mass and masstige segments have increased their combined market share by five percentage points over the past five years. This is in large part due to significantly improved formulations within these more affordable categories.
Consumer behavior within skincare is reflecting this shift. McKinsey’s research report found that shoppers are more willing to splurge on products where efficacy is most important (like serums and eye creams) and are saving money on functional categories like cleansers and lip balms.
Strong branding alone is no longer enough - formulation innovation is increasingly important.
It’s no coincidence that many of the products featured on Cosmopolitan’s list of the top beauty products in 2025 are genuinely innovative.
Examples include The Crown Affair’s ‘The Towel’, Shark Beauty’s FacialPro Glow, Victoria Beckham’s foundation drops (featuring skincare tech from Augustinus Bader), and the Medicube Booster Pro.
Compare this list to the endless stream of standardized, everyday cleansers or basic moisturizers that promise dramatic results without offering any new or innovative ingredients.
It’s custom skin care manufacturing that enables brands to create standout, unique products that top the best product of the year lists.
But how does custom skin care manufacturing work - and is it genuinely worth it compared to preformulated methods?
What Is Custom Skin Care Manufacturing?
Custom skin care refers to non-standardized skin care formulas where the brand owner has at least some input in the ingredients used and the formula for each product. There are two main custom skin care manufacturing methods:
Custom Product Creation
This process involves adding a limited number of ingredients to a lab’s base formula. This strategy works well when a brand wants to add a clear ‘hero’ ingredient to stand out, but does not require a completely new formulation from scratch.
Because the base formula already exists, custom product creation is faster and less expensive compared to fully customized skincare, while still allowing your brand to differentiate when compared to standardized preformulated products.
At Innacos, our CPC fee is just $2,500 per product, and we offer up to 150% of that back in the form of manufacturing credits against the first two production runs. Learn more about CPC at Innacos on our website here.
Custom Formulating
This method involves working with a team of highly trained chemists to create brand new custom skincare from scratch. Although it’s an expensive and time-intensive process, it can result in genuinely unique skincare that addresses unmet customer needs.
At Innacos, we’re experts at formulating new-to-market concepts and product formats, novel chemical research, hybrid products, and turning skin care clean. We offer up to 200% of your formulating fees back in the form of manufacturing credits. Learn more about our custom formulating process on our website here.
How Preformulated Skin Care Works
In contrast, preformulated manufacturing involves relying on formulas that are developed in advance by the lab, with no customization beyond the scent and formula color.
There are two main preformulated skincare manufacturing methods:
Private Label
Private labeling involves adding your own customized branding to a lab’s preformulated product. This process includes filling and production, creating finished products that are ready to be shipped straight to your inventory storage hub.
This method is popular because it’s cost-effective and quick to market compared to alternatives.
At Innacos, we offer over 60 clean, cruelty-free, and sustainable skin care products on a preformulated basis. Learn more in our private label catalog here.
Bulk
Buying in bulk involves purchasing large quantities of preformulated product (usually from the same catalog used for private label) in large unbranded drums. In this case, the product is not filled or packaged by the lab. Instead, you must hire a 3PL or fill it in-house.
This method is particularly popular with spas for professional treatments, and with brands that already have a filling infrastructure in place.
At Innacos, we also offer all of our private label formulas in bulk. Order samples and view all size quantities on our sample page here.
When Brands Move From Preformulated To Custom Skin Care
Brands don’t necessarily need to choose between preformulated manufacturing or custom production. Both methods can work for the same brand at different stages of the business, or to serve different product lines.
As outlined in Vogue, the skin care brand Byoma provides a great example of being strategic when using standardized formulas vs custom manufacturing.
The brand entered the market by addressing a new (yet common) consumer issue - ‘overexfoliation’ due to excessive skincare usage - and differentiated itself through ingredient education, inclusivity, age-appropriate products, and affordable pricing.
While other brands competed primarily on price, Byoma stood out through transparency, clearly explaining the functions of its ingredients directly on the product packaging. This approach helped its budget-friendly moisturizing ‘Gel Cream’ become the best-selling moisturizer at British retailer Boots.
As the brand scaled up, it turned its focus to becoming a real authority in the market. In 2024, Byoma invested in an innovation and testing lab and began partnering with an AI company to develop personalized skin care solutions.
Once a brand reaches a certain size, custom skin care becomes an important strategy for staying relevant and building more authority.
Byoma didn’t need to be the most innovative brand at launch thanks to its strong market positioning, but once the brand gained traction, it innovated to cement its place at the top of the mass market segment.
The Trade Offs Between Preformulated & Custom Skin Care Manufacturing
Customizing vs preformulated manufacturing isn’t an either-or decision. Many brands use both strategically for different product lines or at different stages of growth.
The biggest advantage of choosing preformulated skincare is that it’s much more affordable, quicker, and simpler. As all the formulas are created in advance, there’s no additional R&D process, and your products can hit the market much earlier.
Custom skin care manufacturing, on the other hand, allows formulation-focused brands to really shine. Instead of relying on clever branding or market positioning alone, well-executed custom products can introduce something genuinely new in a sea of products that are all virtually the exact same.
However, customizing is more expensive, time-consuming, and requires more input from your end, which can make it inaccessible to new or growing brands without validated market demand.
Another important distinction is ownership. Under preformulated models, the lab owns the formula, and you can only produce that formula with that specific manufacturer.
When you customize, you own the intellectual property (IP) - meaning you can formulate the same product with different labs over time.
Both methods can work when used correctly. Taking the time to plan both a short-term and long-term brand strategy is key to choosing the right manufacturing approach at any given stage of your business.
If you’re unsure where to start, consider investing in a consultation with a professional lab to identify the best steps for your business right now.
At Innacos, we offer comprehensive consulting services across product development, business strategy, regulatory compliance, and marketing and branding. Learn more about our consulting services on our website here.
In sum, custom skin care manufacturing is a great method for some brands to grow - but it’s not the right strategy for every business. It involves:
Understanding the current state of the skin care market and how custom products can help brands compete
Learning about both custom skin care methods: custom product creation and custom formulating
The pros and cons of custom manufacturing compared to preformulated methods
Considering when the move from preformulated to custom manufacturing makes sense and when it does not
Looking for custom skin care manufacturing for your brand? Innacos would love to help! Learn more about our custom formulating and custom product creation capabilities by calling: (812) 329-1105 or emailing: customerservice@innacos.com
