Custom Cosmetic Formulation Development
We develop formulations to your specification, from a custom active ingredient through to full scale manufacture with our production partners.
Start a project See brands we have builtBuilt to your specification, not off a shelf
Brands come to us with a specification: a claim they want to make, a texture or format they have in mind, a consumer they are formulating for, or an ingredient they want built into a product. We develop the formulation around that specification rather than adapting a stock base.
Because the same team runs discovery, laboratory validation and formulation, the evidence generated while testing feeds directly into formulation decisions. Nothing is handed between suppliers and reinterpreted along the way.
Discover identifies the active. Test proves it works. Create turns it into a product you can manufacture and sell.
From active ingredient to large scale production
Projects join at whichever point matches what you already have. Some brands arrive with nothing but a claim. Others arrive with a finished concept that needs scaling.
Where the product needs an ingredient that does not yet exist commercially, we develop and characterise a bespoke active, then validate its biological activity before it goes anywhere near a formulation.
The validated active is built into a stable, compatible formulation: concentration, delivery, preservation and sensory profile worked out against your specification and target market.
Bench formulations are taken through stability and compatibility work so the product performs the same at production volume as it did at laboratory scale.
We work with established manufacturing partners to take the formulation into full scale production, so a brand can move from specification to finished, sellable stock without assembling a supply chain from scratch.
What you get from a Formulation Programme
Client says: “I have an active. I need it to become a product.” Hexis Lab sells: a Formulation Programme. It is a scoped, priced programme once an active is selected, not an open ended development retainer.
Deliverables
- Prototype formulation(s) built to your specification
- Stability and performance testing
- Optimisation against sensory, delivery and preservation targets
- A manufacturing specification ready to hand to a production partner
Good to know
- Typical timeline: 8 to 16 weeks. Indie and emerging brands: a single prototype through to launch spec. Enterprise and global brands: multi-SKU programmes run longer.
- Investment is scoped to your specification, not a fixed rate card
- Not sure this is the right starting point? The R&D Diagnostic is free and tells you before you commit to a paid programme
Choose your level of Formulation
All three come with a manufacturing route. The difference is scope: one prototype or several, and how close to launch the deliverable needs to be.
- One prototype in one format
- Stability testing under standard conditions
- A formulation record you can build on
- Multiple format or dose variants developed in parallel
- Sensory and stability comparison across variants
- A selection recommendation backed by the data
- A full manufacturing specification
- A scale up trial with a production partner
- Packaging compatibility testing and a launch documentation pack
Not sure which level fits your product? Book a free R&D diagnostic and we will tell you before you commit to a paid programme.
Brands we have built with partners
Two projects we can name. Both are haircare brands built for textured hair, and both went from specification to a formulated, manufactured product on shelf.
Haircare for curly and textured hair
A moisture, strengthening and restoring range developed for curly and textured hair, formulated around the structural and genomic differences that make textured hair behave differently from straight hair. The range went on to take Silver at the Pure Beauty Awards UK 2024.
Science led haircare for Indian hair
A cellular shampoo and conditioner range built on two Hexis Lab technologies. MitoTech™ provides broad spectrum UV protection at the keratin level, and PhytoProtect™ supplies antioxidant defence against UV and pollution. Both were developed through AI driven ingredient analysis and are supported by published in vitro research.
We have developed formulations for many other brands that we are not able to name publicly. Client testimonials are available on request.
Tell us what you want to make
Bring a specification, a claim, an ingredient or just a concept. We will tell you honestly what it takes to build it and what evidence it needs.
Not sure this is the right starting point? Book a free R&D diagnostic first. Dr Olusola (Sola) Idowu is the founder of Hexis Lab. You can also meet the wider scientific team or read our case studies.