To create a product that will take the market by storm you'll need a creative chemical & cosmetics technologist to build an innovative combination of ingredients that will serve your product goals. The cost of cosmetic formula development, testing & refining samples, until you're 100% satisfied with the final result, ranges between 1300 and 3600 euros per formula, depending on it's complexity.
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Learn more about the cosmetic formula development process here.

Once we create your top-of-the-notch formula, we need it to go through the required laboratory testing and compliance process, which in the European Union usually costs between 1200-1500 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. This cost depends on the formula complexity and production scale. Usually, for one product of 2000-3000 units, this ranges between 6000-12000 euros.  

Packaging cost: Cosmetics packaging can make or break your brands. There are countless options, from low-cost to super-premium Chanel-like glass jars and bottles. You'll need at least 1500-3000 euros for your first batch.

Manufacturing, filling, and packing costs depend on many factors, such as the complexity of the formula, the quantity of ingredients, the complexity of the technological process, and the quantity of products to be made. As a rule of thumb, this can cost anywhere from 1500-3000 euros for the batch of 2000-3000 units.

You should also consider cost of other services such as: sales & marketing strategy, branding design, legal etc.

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 total product costs are 3-4 EUR net per unit, you should sell it for 10-13 EUR gross.

Bear in mind that price strategy also depends on your distribution strategy (e-commerce vs retail).

You should also factor in other costs like creating a website, advertising budget, payroll, fixed costs, fulfillment, 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!.