How To Evaluate Lotion Wholesalers [6 Key Factors]
Do you have your heart set on starting a lotion business, but find yourself struggling to choose between all of the lotion wholesalers on the market?
Genie Supply is here to help! Our simple-to-follow guide outlines the 6 essential factors to consider in order to find the best lotion manufacturer for your needs.
Whether you want guidance on ingredients, lotion consistency, or the difference between the various manufacturing options on the market, we provide the clarity you need below.
Getting Clear On Your Vision: What Kind Of Lotion Do You Want?
First, it’s important to narrow down the exact type of lotion you want before selecting a beauty lab.
Answer the following to get clear on your vision:
Are you focused on facial skincare or bodycare, or both?
What type of consistency do you want, and what's the closest benchmark product to that consistency?
Are you interested in adding active ingredients to your formula to deliver specific skincare results? For example, cleansing lotions with salicylic acid can reduce the appearance of blackheads.
Once you have a clear product plan, it’s time to evaluate each wholesaler’s ingredients for both quality and cleanliness.
Select Lotion Wholesalers Who Use Quality Clean Ingredients That Really Work
Clean beauty is increasingly becoming the industry standard with consumers more health conscious and ethically aware than ever.
Before selecting a wholesaler, ask yourself:
Is clean beauty a priority for this manufacturer?
Do they formulate with sensitive skin and cruelty-free ethics in mind?
Prioritizing ingredients is often the difference between a brand that receives one time purchases or repeat loyal customers. Once your target market finds a cleansing lotion that really works to cleanse off their makeup, or a moisturizer that truly tackles dry patches, they’ll be less tempted to look elsewhere for their skincare.
Don’t go into your ingredient selection process blind. Think about what your exact target customer is looking for in a lotion. For example, if you are a brand targeted toward dry skin types, look for beauty labs who pack their moisturizing lotions full of nourishing ingredients like glycerin or hyaluronic acid to deliver real hydrating results.
Don’t forget about the scent! This is a divisive issue. Many beauty consumers have a strong preference or distaste for scented lotion products. Often these scent preferences differ when it comes to bodycare and face skincare. It’s important to understand your target market and select lotion wholesalers who can accommodate your fragrance preferences.
At Genie Supply, clean beauty is at the heart of our business. We’ve created a private label range using high quality active ingredients to deliver real skincare benefits. We formulate without over 2,000 common harmful ingredients that simply don’t belong in skincare.
Vegan, cruelty-free standards are important to us and we also formulate with sustainability in mind. We have a number of scents to choose from but we also offer completely unscented lotions if you are targeting sensitive skin types.
Decide On Your Preferred Lotion Consistency
Once you have clear skincare benefits in mind, and have evaluated labs based on their ingredients, it’s time to think about the desired consistency of your lotion.
This is a vital part of planning your lotion, as the consistency determines what type of emulsion will be used to make the formula, and therefore what manufacturing options are open to you.
Not all labs will offer private label lotions with your desired consistency. This decision also has implications if clean beauty is a priority for your brand.
First, you need to get clear on your options. There are three main types of emulsion:
Oil in water (o/w)
Water in oil (w/o)
Silicone in water (si/w)
Face lotions are traditionally watery products but thicker creams will provide a more luxurious experience for your customers.
Oil based formulas are heavier on the skin, while water-based lotions feel more lightweight. Silicone lotions feel silky on the skin, however silicone is a controversial skincare ingredient.
For example, most silicones do not meet Credo Beauty’s clean beauty requirements. It’s not just difficult to formulate silicone lotions to clean beauty standards, this can also apply to some water or oil emulsions, too.
Many strong water/oil emulsifiers or oil/water emulsifiers need additional testing to meet Sephora standards, and don't meet Credo standards because the strong emulsifiers are ethoxylated.
Plus, keep in mind that some textures are significantly more expensive to achieve than others. For example, a product like Tatcha’s Water Cream silicone/water formula would cost much more to produce compared to something similar to Jergen’s oil/water Body Lotion.
This consistency decision also has product testing implications. Anhydrous (without water) formulas do not require preservative efficacy testing (PET) while water based formulas legally must undergo PET.
Make sure the wholesalers on your shortlist are capable of creating a lotion that matches the exact skincare goals of your brand – either through their existing private label line or via a more customized formulation service. This includes the lotion type, consistency, and a focus on clean and ethical ingredients where possible.
At Genie Supply, we offer a number of cleansing and moisturizing lotion products on a bulk or private label basis to suit a range of different skincare goals. Plus, we have two different customization processes to bring your exact lotion vision to life!
Four Lotion Manufacturing Methods
Bulk
Buying in bulk is a cost effective way to source lotion from wholesalers. This involves benefiting from economies of scale by purchasing large quantities of lotion in drums of unbranded packaging.
Bulk is ideal if you are buying lotion for in-clinic facial treatments or if you plan to source your own packaging and fill the containers at your own facility.
At Genie Supply, bulk starts from 15 kg across our skincare ranges. It’s super easy to make a bulk purchase. Simply add the item to cart and check out directly on our website. View our full bulk purchase offerings here.
Private Label
However, if you are starting a lotion line on a turnkey (all-in-one) manufacturing basis, private label is a good budget friendly option. This involves partnering with a beauty manufacturer to use their existing lotion products as your own.
At Genie Supply, we offer 7 different moisturizing lotions and creams and a further 7 cleansers and exfoliants to choose from. Planning to expand your business beyond lotions down the line? Our private label range includes serums and oils, treatments and masks, and essences and mists.
For example, our coconut milky cleanser lotion is ideal for any skincare brand targeting customers with dry skin. Thanks to its nourishing apricot oil, along with added natural preservatives like radish ferment filtrate and coconut extract, it gently cleanses the skin without exacerbating any dryness issues.
For your customers with oily skin, our oil-free facial moisturizer is the perfect choice. This fast absorbing, unscented formula maintains the skin’s natural pH thanks to its moderately low PH of 6. This slows down bacteria and prevents inflammation.
View our full private label range here.
While private label is a cost and time effective way to start your own lotion business, if you have specific ingredient or lotion formula ideas in mind, look for wholesalers with custom product creation and custom formulating options available.
Custom Product Creation
Custom product creation involves using a lab’s base formula and adding your additional customizations on top. Genie Supply has 100s of base formulas across our entire skincare line. While it’s not quite as speedy or inexpensive as private label, it’s quicker and less expensive compared to the totally customized custom formulation manufacturing method.
This is the best option if you have one or two customization ideas for your lotion, but don’t require a fully customized formula to bring it to life. For example, if you have your heart set on a lotion formulated with vitamin C, you can easily add it to a base formula through the custom product creation process.
At Genie Supply, we offer two different custom product creation packages to suit a range of budgets. Learn more about our custom product creation options here.
Custom Formulating
If adding just a couple of customizations to a lotion base is not enough to fulfill your brand vision, then custom formulating is the best choice for you. Be sure to choose lotion wholesalers that offer full product customization.
This involves formulating radically new lotion concepts to take the industry by storm. Play with different ingredient combinations and conduct novel chemical research that’s never been seen before. While the possibilities are exciting, this is the most expensive and time consuming lotion manufacturing process. But the results are worth it!
Genie Supply’s custom formulation process typically spans from 5 months to a year. We innovate both complex bodycare and skincare, and we can also turn “dirty” lotions clean. Learn more about our custom formulating process here.
Evaluate Each Lotion Wholesaler’s Packaging Options
Finally, you need to know where each manufacturer stands on packaging. These are important questions to ask yourself before you choose a lotion wholesaler:
Do they offer turnkey manufacturing with fully customized packaging as part of the contract? Or do they purely offer lotions on a bulk or BYOP (Bring Your Own Packaging) basis?
Do you plan on selling pump bottle lotions, or would you prefer a thicker consistency in a tub container?
At Genie Supply, although we offer both bulk and BYOP options, we also allow for full turnkey manufacturing with customized packaging (including screen printing, product packaging, and box packaging). Learn more about our full packaging process here.
In sum, there are 5 key factors to consider when working with lotion wholesalers:
Getting clear on the exact type of lotion that you want (for face or body, the consistency, with special active ingredients or a minimalist formula)
Evaluate each lotion wholesalers’ ingredients and product quality
Decide on your desired lotion consistency
Choose the right manufacturing method for your brand’s needs (bulk, private label, custom product creation, or custom formulating)
Get clear on your packaging requirements and find lotion wholesalers who offer fully customized packaging if required
Interested in sourcing your lotion from Genie Supply? Whether you’re looking for bulk, private label, or further customizations, we have a lotion manufacturing method to suit you. Don’t hesitate to contact us via email customerservice@geniesupply.com or call us at (812) 329-1105.