Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating General Which are good suppliers for raw materials?

  • Which are good suppliers for raw materials?

    Posted by Chippy on June 26, 2020 at 2:04 pm

    Hello everyone.
    I am a complete beginner in formulation of cosmetics. I want to start making my own cosmetics, but need some advice about good suppliers. In my case would be cosmetics in small scale, no need of big bulks of raw materials. What are good suppliers to work with? I found a supplier called Making Cosmetics… has anyone bought from them? Do you have any other suppliers you could suggest?
    Thank you very much

    belassi replied 3 years, 9 months ago 7 Members · 12 Replies
  • 12 Replies
  • belassi

    Member
    June 26, 2020 at 2:53 pm

    At the moment, “anywhere you can actually find things in stock” seems good to me.

  • letsalcido

    Member
    June 26, 2020 at 7:33 pm

    @Chippy yes making cosmetics is good, also:

    essentialwholesale.com

    makingyourown.buzz
    saveoncitric.com
    wholesalesupplies.com
    formulatorsampleshop.com
    nobleroots.com
    lotioncrafter.com

    They’re good small quantity sources for DIY or small  businesses.

    I’ve bought from all of them. Last resource is Ebay, Amazon or Alibaba (probably larger quantities).

  • graillotion

    Member
    June 26, 2020 at 7:53 pm

    Do you live in the US?

    Top US small scale suppliers (in my opinion):

    Formulators sample shop…for me has the best shipping rate….for the next few weeks…any weight for $8.99.  Huge as you ramp up.  Prices are better when you start ordering less than the minimum.

    LotionCrafters…. Good selection, and quickest turnaround time…usually ships in 1-2 days…at worst 3 days.

    Make your Own.buzz … good prices and have some materials I could not find at others….definitely the slowest ship times.  Best butter quality…as it all comes out of a Major International supplier from Denmark.

    Nobleroots:  Top tier ingredients…but limited in what they have as small pak.  Super premium ingredients….ie:  Not all macadamia nut oil is of the same quality…they use Floratech as their supplier of this…and that is over the top premium.  Amazing customer service.

    I’ll toss one more in….cuz they have good descriptions…and I get two ingredients here that I could not find elsewhere.  ‘Ingredients to die for’.  Definitely the worst ship times…so you have to anticipate your needs if using them.

    Making Cosmetics…I did get something from them recently…good quality…but prices are typically not competitive.

    Ebay and Amazon…..last place on earth you get ingredients.  Went down that bunny trail…early on.

  • ngarayeva001

    Member
    June 28, 2020 at 12:09 am

    You can buy from Amazon if you know the supplier. You also should be safe to buy BP/USP grade materials like glycerin.

  • czkld

    Member
    June 28, 2020 at 2:16 pm

    @letsalcido do you have any trusted sellers on Alibaba? I’ve looked around there but never actually ordered anything as I was scared that it would be fake or something

  • letsalcido

    Member
    June 28, 2020 at 4:56 pm

    @czkld I don’t, that’s a place you need to order from at your own risk. 

  • belassi

    Member
    June 28, 2020 at 5:08 pm

    Not on Alibaba. I do have one trusted supplier in China.

  • ngarayeva001

    Member
    June 28, 2020 at 8:59 pm

    @Belassi, commercial quantities or they would sell small amounts as well?

  • belassi

    Member
    June 28, 2020 at 11:13 pm

    Well, I bought 2Kg of 98% purity glycyrrhizic acid and 4Kg of 12% (by acid content) root extract by post, and it’s been everything I expected. Physical and chemical performance precisely as specified. I did a solubility test and within my measurement accuracy of +/- 10% it complied. I converted it to the potassium salt using KOH by titration, and the average neutralisation point was as per stoichiometric calculation. (Using titration, the indicator doesn’t usually give a sudden change. You have to note the beginning and end of the change and take an average. It is the same with a pH meter, you need to know the pH value of the salt in solution. Traditional chemistry knowledge has been a boon to me in cosmetic chemistry.)
    They first sent it DHL and I had insuperable problems with customs here. So I paid to send it back. They repackaged it for me in 1Kg packets and posted it, 2Kg each package. No problem, the postman brought them to the door.

  • Chippy

    Member
    June 30, 2020 at 9:28 pm

    Thank you very much everyone for your comments!!!

  • alan123

    Member
    July 1, 2020 at 12:25 am

    @Belassi Can you share a website or email address of your supplier in china? thank you

  • belassi

    Member
    July 1, 2020 at 2:05 pm

    I would like to help but it is moving house day. From memory the company is MC Biotech. 

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