FAQ’s

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1. What does R3 stand for?

R3 stands for Refine, Refresh and Rejuvenate. You see, age isn’t a number it is an attitude and when you have the right attitude you are ageless. To be ageless is to not be definable by your appearance. When you are ageless your physical appearance is refreshed, your mind is released and you feel renewed and that sets you free to become, do and explore because you are no longer laser focused on what made you dissatisfied with yourself.

2. Why should I use a cosmetic chemist instead of DIY?

Cosmetic chemists are in the cosmetic formulation industry thus have access to the newest innovations whether it be peptide, protein, extract, polymer or conditioning agent, far beyond the scope of what is available to the DIYer from online public suppliers. If you want more than what you could formulate for yourself you have to have access to what you don’t and that is by having a professional cosmetic chemist working for you.

3. Why should I have R3 formulations create my formula instead of using the services of a contract manufacturer?

• When you get a formulation done by us you will own it and be able to take it to any contract manufacturer you desire whereas if you have the contract manufacturer formulate for you they own that formula. Might seem cost effective in the beginning but if your relationship changes with them and you want to take your business elsewhere you can’t, you don’t own the formula they do so to protect yourself and the rights to your formula from the very beginning have it formulated by an independent cosmetic chemist at R3 Formulations.

4. What does it cost to have a formula developed?

• It depends on what you want created but you can expect to spend at minimum $1395 for standard hair and skin care products-standard/market level cleansing and conditioning products, serums, toners, lotions, cleansers etc, to $1695 for cosmeceutical/hairceutical and SPF products with clinically proven claims/actives-whitening, anti-aging, salon/high end quality skin and hair care products in various forms. SPF testing is required for all SPF claims and are conducted by outside testing facilities. Email us for the full information brochure to know exactly where your manufacturing needs fall within this range.

5. What other expenses are there to consider?

     Once your formulation has been developed per brief specifications you need to consider:

• Lab batch preparation for evaluation/stability/PET testing purposes-$595. This is only the creation of the lab batch, not the testing referenced. You need the lab batch for the testing to be done on.
  • Stability tests-real time and accelerated. While we are responsible for ensuring we prepare a formulation that will be theoretically stable over 2-3 years, the only way to know if it is actually stable is to conduct stability testing to at least 30 months of real time. Stability testing is a way of ensuring your product will have the anticipated shelf life using practical methods. Is something likely to go wrong? Not in theory. Can something go wrong? In practice, unexpected results can occur. We cannot know this without it being tested. Ensuring stability in practice is your responsibility so you should get this done on all formulations. It should be part of your planned R&D investment and helps to prevent product recalls which would be your responsibility. If you are planning to export product or have a secondary sunscreen product (ie foundation or moisturizer with SPF) you will need to conduct stability testing as the shelf life justification for these products is required.
  • PET. While we are responsible for ensuring we select a preservative that in theory will provide suitable long term preservation of your product, the only way to know if it is actually effective is to conduct PET. PET is a way of ensuring your product is suitably preserved using practical methods. Is something likely to go wrong? Not in theory. Can something go wrong? In practice, unexpected results can occur. We can’t know this without it being tested. Ensuring preservative efficacy is your responsibility so you should get this done on all water based products. 
  • SPF-if you are having any product with a primary or secondary function of being a sunscreen they have to be independently evaluated to support the SPF you are stating. This is done at your expense by an outside facility.
• Labels, claims support and marketing compliance checks-$250
  • your ingredients need to be listed in descending order of use and have safe use directions.  Any claims you make about active ingredients in the formulation must be backed up by data showing it does what you say it does and if you are wanting to export to different countries you must comply with the use limits/restrictions for those countries as there is no “one size fits all” when it comes to the materials used in cosmetic formulations. If you have someone to do this for you great! If not we can prepare these for you.

6. What will I get for what I pay?

• If you are having a formula developed you will receive the finalized formulation, method and supplier/material details that you take to a contract manufacturer for large scale production and packaging. If you have paid for the label, claim support and marketing compliance you will receive the ingredient list as it needs to be on your product along with safe use directions, a written release from the supplier to use their in vivo/in vitro results for their actives contained in your formula for your marketing campaign and a statement of correct use percentages of ingredients per country regulations you are exporting to.

7. The contract manufacturer wants to change part of the formula, should I let them?

• No. For three reasons:
  • If they change any aspect of the formula they won’t provide you with the changes they make and this will leave you without a formula to recreate what they made; the product we created for you is no longer the same product they are manufacturing for you.
  • If they change it and something goes wrong and you have authorized the change you could be left with a failed batch that you have technically authorized without knowing what or why changes have occurred. 
  • If the manufacturer wants to use a different material than what we used to create your product it won’t be the same product, won’t feel the same, perform the same, be the same. The materials are chosen to match what you told us you wanted it to feel like, spread like, smell like etc. Just because the INCI name of a material is the same as 10 others doesn’t mean it is the same material. For example flour is flour, but is it? Does whole wheat flour give the same end result in a recipe that calls for semolina? No, it won’t, it can’t because though they are both “flour” they are different in every aspect except that they are both classified as “flour”. Therefore do not allow the manufacturer to make any substitutions.

8. How long does all of this take?

• If all goes well it will take 2-3 months to finalize your development from the first discussion to final sample approval, 1-3 moths for lab batch creation. This is the part we do. The reason for the long times of development isn’t us being slow, we have to order in samples of the materials we are going to use and that time frame is out of our control as is ordering larger quantities of the materials needed for the lab batch if you have asked us to make it.
• PET takes around 5 weeks (outside testing facility) and stability testings (outside facility) is at minimum 3 months for accelerated stability testing.
• Manufacturing is usually 2-4 months as they need to schedule you and order in the materials specific to your formulation as well as the packaging you have requested.

9. Can this timeline be shortened? Can you skip the testing to speed things up?

• Short cutting the process is not only unprofessional, but can lead to product quality issues and at worst, product recalls which will definitely impact your company image and future sales.

10. How do I get the process started?

• Email us and we will send you a product development brief to tell us what it is you want developed as well as how to make your payment so we can get started creating your dream in a bottle!