Essential Tips to Buy Cosmetic Ingredients

If you are in the market for cosmetic raw materials for the production of new personal and beauty care products, then you have come to the right place. When it comes to developing effective, safe and aesthetically-pleasing cosmetics, the cosmetics manufacturer or formulator must select a cosmetic ingredients supplier carefully. When you buy cosmetic ingredients, follow these essential tips to ensure you source the best raw materials for your needs:

Research Cosmetic Ingredient Suppliers

As you buy cosmetic ingredients, it is important to note that not all the cosmetic ingredient suppliers are the same in terms of quality, reliability, and the services that they offer. Before choosing a supplier, make sure you do some research about the different suppliers online. Check out their online chemical store in India for details on:

• Product line – Do they offer all the types of ingredients you require?
• Quality certifications – Do they follow cGMP guidelines? Whether their facilities are ISO certified?
• Testing capabilities – can they supply a detailed test report for each batch?
• Minimum order quantities – how many pieces do they require a customer to buy for an order?
• Shipping/storage conditions – Will ingredients be shipped and stored properly?
• Past customers’ feedback can also be helpful in assessing other attributes such as how quickly they complete orders and the type of support that they offer to their clients afterwards. 
• Ask for the quality of the ingredients before you purchase any from the stores.
• Do not be easily convinced when the supplier tells you that the ingredients are of premium quality. Request for specifications, material safety data sheets, regulatory details and test results of every cosmetic ingredient you intend to purchase. Carefully evaluate these documents on parameters like:

• Purity levels
• Contaminant levels
• Microbial testing results
• pH levels
• Stability tests
• Storage/handling requirements

This due diligence is crucial as it helps one establish the real quality of the ingredients before buying them.

Discuss Shelf Life Requirements

Ingredients are divided into active cosmetic ingredients such as vitamins, botanical extracts and proteins which have their shelf life during which they are most effective. Talk to your supplier about the expected usage of the ingredients so that you can order quantities that will have an appropriate amount of shelf life left.

There is also a need to retest some of the ingredients which may be stored for long before being used in final products.

Compare Prices With Other Vendors

It is important to note that prices may differ greatly between cosmetic ingredient suppliers selling the same product. Obtain written price quotations from different suppliers before selecting where to get a specific ingredient.

It is also important to take into account the measure of true landed cost after factoring transport costs, tariffs, minimum order quantities, and costs of quality control. Inexpensive ingredients are not the best choice.

Initial Samples

When dealing with a new supplier, first place a small trial order to evaluate factors like:

• Order processing time
• Quality of the ingredients received at the time of delivery
• Packaging used
• Post-purchase communication

Furthermore, depending on the performance of the supplier, order volumes can gradually be increased. It provides insurance against possible problems further in the future.

First Element – GDPR and GMP Certified Suppliers

The cosmetic ingredient suppliers are legitimate and follow the GDP and GMP standards. Selecting GDP/GMP certified suppliers reduces the risks of quality and regulation for your own cosmetics business.

Ensure that you have an effective approval process on the suppliers of cosmetic ingredients or personal care products online before you allow them into your list of approved vendors. Predefine approval factors such as quality, regulation, services, response time, etc.

Other assurance about the abilities of a supplier is additional advantages of conducting site audits of the supplier’s facility. It helps to establish a long term purchasing relation, which is the need of any long term business relation.

Be Aware Of Current Changes

The rules governing the safety of the ingredients used and the standards that apply to the cosmetics industry are always changing. Make sure to be on good terms with your source of ingredients before you buy cosmetic ingredients so that the raw material specifications are always in tune with the current government and regional regulations.

Periodically review the following to detect possible changes that may affect the safety data of the ingredients, purity standards, contaminants, and hazard classification of a substance. Forecasting and going to new formulation benchmarks before they turn into regulatory requirements helps lower risks in the future.

Conclusion

Selecting the right cosmetics ingredients supplier involves a critical consideration of many factors touching on quality, testing, certification, and services. Thus, by following the above-discussed buying tips, cosmetics businesses can find the right vendors and ensure they are sourcing quality ingredients that meet the safety and quality standards. Ensure your supplier becomes a strategic partner in creating unique and regulatory compliant beauty products. To buy cosmetic ingredients, visit Pioneer Chemicals!