To create a product that will take the market by storm you need a creative chemical & cosmetics technologist to build a innovative combination of ingredients that will serve your product goals. Cost of cosmetic formula development, testing & refining samples until you're 100% satisfied with the final result ranges between 1300 up to 3000 euros per formula. Learn more about cosmetic formula development process.

Once we created your top of the notch formula we need it to go through required laboratory testing and compliance process which in the European Union costs usually between 800-1500 euros per formula.

Raw material costs: You'll need to pre-pay the raw materials you need to make your cosmetics come true on a production scale. Cost depends on the formula complexity and production scale. Usually for one product it ranges between 5000-15000 EUR.  

Packaging cost: Cosmetics packaging can make or brake your brands. There's countless options form low-cost to super-premium Chanel-like glass jars and bottles. You'll need at least 1500 EUR for your first batch.

Manufacturing, filling and packing cost: depending on many factors, such as complexity of the formula, quantity of ingredients, complexity of technological process, quantity of products to be made etc. Learn more about the private label manufacturing or white label cosmetics.  

You should also consider if you can do marketing plan & strategy on your own or externally. Other services that are worth considering are brand naming, branding, legal costs.

Even before starting with cosmetics manufacturing you should calculate how much margin you'll have based on production costs to make it reasonable. We usually recommend having at least 60-70% profit margin, meaning if your product costs 3 EUR net per unit, you should sell it for 10 EUR gross.

It also depends on your distribution strategy (ecommerce vs retail).

You should also factor other costs like creating website, software, advertising budget, payroll, fixed costs etc. to have a full picture of your costs.

Your own cosmetics brand, when planned and executed well can be a really profitable venture, especially in a long term.

Take a look at our spreadsheet with a calculations of revenue and profit for a upcoming brand depending on it's scale and costs. Feel free to copy the table and fill with your data!.