You already know that beauty labs formulate new skincare and makeup products, but have you ever wanted to learn more about the full process from start to finish? 

Our easy-to-follow guide below provides a quick peek behind the production curtain and explains the six main functions of beauty labs in detail. 

Whether you’re a small skincare brand looking to partner with a beauty lab, or an entrepreneur starting your own manufacturing business, we explain the work of quality beauty labs in simple terms. 

1. Beauty Labs Formulate Cosmetic Products 

The main function of beauty labs is to develop skincare and makeup for beauty brands.

Professional manufacturers are capable of creating cosmetic products on a much grander scale and with greater degrees of accuracy relative to at-home formulators, largely thanks to an investment in advanced equipment to create and test every formula.

This equipment includes pH meters to measure the acidity or alkalinity of cosmetic products, chromatographs to extract the active parts of skincare ingredients, and spectrophotometers for color-matching foundation shades, just to name a few. 

Private Label 

A private label range is a good starting point for any new beauty lab, as all of the private label formulas are researched, formulated, tested, and approved before partnering with any beauty brands.

This allows plenty of time for a beginner manufacturer to perfect all elements of the formula before launching it on the market.

Beauty labs also retain full legal rights to their own formula when they sell to makeup and skincare brands on a private label basis.

Custom Formulating 

A more advanced process known as custom formulating, on the other hand, involves partnering with beauty brands to create new and exciting product offerings to the brand’s exact specifications. 

Manufacturers have less creative control over custom-formulated products, and this method requires beauty labs to manage their time as effectively as possible.

This process involves producing high-quality, customized skincare and makeup to the exact specifications of their brand partners, all in a reasonable time-frame for market launch.

Custom Product Creation

Some beauty labs go above and beyond and provide a flexible range of formulating options for customers. For example, Genie Supply offers a custom product creation service where your brand can add customizations to one of our existing 100+ base formulas.

This is ideal if you want to differentiate your products from the rest, but don’t have the budget for a full custom-formulated line. 

2. Complex Research and Development 

Beauty labs don’t just replicate and tweak standard formulas that already exist on the market – any great cosmetics manufacturer aims to disrupt the industry with new ideas, exciting ingredient combinations, and unique treatments that enhance our appearance in ways we've not seen before.

Makeup and skincare labs dedicate a large chunk of their time to research and development to create their own private label collections, and also to partner with cosmetic brands to develop products that match each brand’s unique requirements.  

One of the most important tasks for any cosmetics manufacturer is balancing a quality-first research and development process with time management.

Developing high-quality products in a relatively short time frame is a necessary skill to ensure brands are able to go to market with their makeup or skincare range as quickly as possible. 

At Genie Supply, we’re passionate about new product development, and conduct all of our manufacturing and R&D in-house in the United States. We specialize in biochemical and biomedical research, making skincare and makeup formulas clean, and also formulate new-to-market concepts. 

3. Beauty Labs Provide Contract Manufacturing

The function of beauty labs extends beyond just formulating – cosmetics manufacturers also convert those formulas into physical beauty products. 

Contract manufacturing is the next step after custom product creation or custom formulation.

While it’s common to formulate and manufacture all in the same place, many beauty manufacturers will also accept formulas premade in other labs (as long as the brand owns the legal rights to that exact formula). 

Genie Supply is a home-to-lab beauty brand specialist, and we aim to contract manufacture your products to your exact formula specifications. Learn more about Genie Supply’s contract manufacturing process here.

4. Testing For Safety and Efficacy 

A major role of cosmetics manufacturers is to help brands comply with legal regulations and to deliver safe products to market.

It’s also your responsibility as the brand owner to ensure that all products are legally compliant. At the same time, professional beauty manufacturers will do their part to formulate and test to regulation standards. 

Legally, all cosmetics must be tested for both safety and efficacy. Beauty labs conduct these tests (or partner with a 3rd party testing lab) to ensure each product is safe and ready for market.

All beauty products require stability testing, while any formula that contains water also needs preservative efficacy testing. Depending on the product, other necessary tests may include ocular or skin patch testing, heavy metal testing, and pH testing, just to name a few.


We’re passionate about cosmetics testing and comply with regulatory bodies’ standards at Genie Supply.

We also batch and test every order fresh for quality control and to maximize the shelf life for your customers. Learn more about the full range of cosmetics tests available at Genie Supply here.

5. Some Manufacturers Offer Packaging and Design 

A less obvious function of beauty labs involves one of the final stages in the product development process – helping customers develop their branded packaging designs. 

The best cosmetics manufacturers offer total turnkey manufacturing all in one place -  including formula development, fully customized packaging, and filling and assembly once the development process is complete. 

At Genie Supply, we help add value to your brand with screen printing services along with fully customized product and box packaging.

Simply partner with your designer to create your brand’s unique packaging (using our dieline templates as a guide), and we’ll bring your packaging ideas to life.  Learn more about our customized packaging and screen printing services here. 

6. Beauty Labs Provide Support And Advice 

In addition to formulating and manufacturing products, beauty labs also provide advice and guidance to inexperienced brands that are preparing to launch onto the market for the first time. 

Most small brand owners’ expertise lies in marketing or sales, and lack the advanced chemistry experience that it takes to formulate great skincare and makeup. 

Cosmetics manufacturers employ experts with advanced knowledge across a range of technical subjects including the formulating process and the best beauty ingredients, who also provide unique insight into product concept trends in the industry. 

At Genie Supply, we pride ourselves on our authentic, transparent communication and the personalized attention that we provide to our clients.

If you want to learn more about how the makeup and skincare product creation process works, we have a wealth of knowledge over on our blog. 

In sum, quality beauty labs provide six main services, all of which contribute to the development of high-quality makeup and skincare products: 

• 1. Formulating

• 2. Research & Development

• 3. Contract Manufacturing 

• 4. Testing

• 5. Packaging Design

• 6. Support and Advice

Have any questions about Genie Supply’s formulating, manufacturing, or testing processes? We’re always on hand to provide clarity - just email us at customerservice@geniesupply.com or call +18123291105.