Body Care Manufacturing
We develop custom lotions, body washes, butters, scrubs, and balms for your brand, and make them at our partner facility in Ohio. You own every formula, and the minimum is 1,000 units per fragrance, so a three-scent line starts at 3,000 units.
Get a quoteBath and body brands building around scent
This page is for bath and body brands, from a first lotion and wash to a full collection built around a signature scent. Fragrance usually drives the line, and fragrance is also what drives the minimum.
The minimum is 1,000 units per fragrance, per product. A lotion and a body wash in three scents is six products and 6,000 units. Settle the scent count before anything else.
Minimum order 1,000 units per fragrance. Samples in 30 days. Production in 90 days. Full terms
Lotion and cream
Lotion and cream are both emulsions, oil and water held together, and the difference is the ratio. Lotion is lighter and absorbs fast. Cream is thicker, stays on the skin longer, and suits dry hands and elbows. Choose by how your customer uses it: a daily body lotion and an overnight cream are different briefs.
Lotion fills into pump bottles and tottles. Cream suits tubes and jars. The constraint founders miss is water. Any emulsion contains water, so it needs a preservative system that holds up in use, which is why preservative efficacy and stability testing matter most in this category.
Body wash and shower gel
Body wash is a surfactant product, like shampoo, and the brief sets its foam, clarity, and mildness. A rich, creamy wash and a clear gel with a fast lather are different formulas, and customers notice the difference in the first shower.
Mildness is a claim, so it needs support. Words like gentle or sensitive skin should be backed by testing such as a repeat insult patch test, which we coordinate. Body wash usually ships in pump or flip cap bottles, and large sizes ship heavy, so bottle size moves your shipping cost as much as your unit cost.
Body butter
Body butter sits at the rich end of the range. It can be built as a very rich emulsion or as a water-free blend of butters and oils. The water-free version is hot filled: poured warm into the jar, where it sets.
The constraint is heat. Butters soften in a hot delivery truck or a summer mailbox, and some turn grainy as they melt and set again. Stability testing shows how your formula holds up before you commit to a full scent line.
Body scrub
A scrub is an exfoliant, such as sugar or salt, suspended in a base. The base is either an emulsion, which rinses clean and feels like lotion, or a cleanser, which lathers and doubles as a wash. That choice decides how the scrub feels in the shower and after.
The constraint is the exfoliant. Sugar dissolves in water-based formulas over time, and salt changes the thickness of cleansing bases, so the exfoliant and the base are chosen together. Scrubs fill into wide-mouth jars, and a jar that sits in a wet shower needs a lid that seals.
Hand wash
Hand wash is a surfactant product built for frequent use, so mildness and rinse feel matter more than a big lather. Many brands pair it with a lotion in the same scent as a sink set. It also sits on a counter in full view, so clarity and color are part of the product.
Keep it cosmetic. Antibacterial and germ-killing claims are drug claims in the US, and they turn a hand wash into an OTC product. Hand wash is usually sold in pump bottles, and a refill size is a common second item for repeat customers.
Lip balm and body balm
Balms are water-free blends of waxes, butters, and oils, and they are hot filled: poured warm into tubes, tins, or jars, where they set. The wax ratio sets the texture, from a firm stick to a soft balm in a tin.
The constraint is SPF. A lip balm with SPF is an OTC drug in the US, and we keep balms cosmetic. The package also shapes the formula: a stick has to set cleanly in a narrow tube, so a formula made for a tin does not always work in a tube.
How we formulate body care
If you have been looking for a private label body care manufacturer, the difference here is ownership. Private label puts your name on a stock formula that other brands can buy. We develop each lotion, wash, and butter to your brief, and the formula belongs to you.
For body care, the brief covers texture, absorption, foam, scent, and the claims you want to make. A collection built around one scent means putting the same fragrance into an emulsion, a cleanser, and a balm, and fragrance behaves differently in each. Matching it across the line is part of the formulation work.
Our team has developed thousands of personal care formulas. The full project, from brief to delivery, is on the Beauty & Personal Care page.
Body care packaging
We can source every component, or fill the components you supply. Our piston fillers handle hot and cold products into bottles, tubes, and canisters, and two tube sealers close squeeze tubes on the line.
Match the package to the product: pumps for lotion and wash, tottles and squeeze tubes for creams and hand care, wide jars for butters and scrubs, and tins or tubes for balms.
Pumps and custom-decorated components usually cost the most and take the longest to source. If timing is tight, start with stock components and carry the brand on the label.
Body care compliance
Body care stays cosmetic. SPF, heals, treats eczema, and antibacterial claims are OTC drug claims in the US, and they are outside what we make. Moisturize, soften, cleanse, and smooth are cosmetic.
Fragrance is where California comes in. Some fragrance components are on the Proposition 65 list, so fragrance choice affects whether a product needs a warning in California.
Emulsions contain water, which makes preservative efficacy and stability testing especially important before launch. We coordinate both.
Facility compliance across the US, Canada, and the EU is covered on the Beauty & Personal Care page.
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Fulfillment
We also store and ship what we make, same-day before 12PM EST.
Frequently asked questions
Can you make a lotion and a matching body wash in the same scent?
Yes. They are two products with two formulas, one an emulsion and one a cleanser, matched to the same fragrance. Each carries the 1,000 unit minimum, so a matching pair in one scent is 2,000 units.
What is the difference between lotion, cream, and body butter?
Thickness and water content. Lotion is the lightest and absorbs fastest. Cream is thicker and stays on the skin longer. Body butter is the richest, and a water-free butter is hot filled and sets in the jar. The right one depends on how and when your customer uses it.
Do you make lip balm?
Yes. Lip balm is a hot fill product, poured warm into tubes, tins, or jars. We make it without SPF, since an SPF lip balm is an OTC drug in the US.
What testing does a body care product need before launch?
Most need preservative efficacy (PET) and stability testing, and products with gentle or sensitive skin claims usually add a repeat insult patch test (RIPT). We coordinate any testing your product requires through third party labs at reduced rates.
How many units is a three-scent line?
3,000 units per product. The minimum is 1,000 units per fragrance, so a lotion in three scents is 3,000 units, and adding a matching body wash makes it 6,000.
Plan your body care line
Send us the products and the scents you want to launch with. We'll tell you what the minimum looks like across the line and what it takes to get to samples.