Shampoo base: what to ask the factory before development
Everyone discusses the actives in a shampoo; almost nobody discusses the base. Yet the base determines the feel, the cost and half the reviews. Here is what to clarify with an OEM manufacturer.
A conversation about an own-label shampoo usually starts with actives: what shall we add, how shall we stand out. The base stays outside the brackets, as something self-evident. In practice it is the other way round: the customer almost never feels the active, but always feels the base — how it foams, how it cleans, how the hair feels afterwards. Here is what to ask the factory.
The surfactant system decides more than the active
Surfactants determine the foam, the feel during washing and how strongly the product strips oil. A sulphate base gives dense foam and a confident clean; a mild base gives less foam and less tightness. Neither is better in itself: they serve different tasks and different customer expectations.
The costliest mistake is ordering a mild base for a market where foam is read as a sign of quality. The reviews will say «it doesn't lather», and no active will fix that.
An existing formula versus development from scratch
Large OEM plants keep libraries of formulations. At the Korean company HANSCOS there are, according to the company, more than five thousand. For a project on a limited budget that means an existing base is more often selected and adjusted rather than a formula written anew.
The difference is practical: selecting from a library takes weeks and has a low entry cost; developing from scratch takes months, paid laboratory work and a separate testing cycle. Ask directly: do you have a ready base for this task, and what exactly would have to change in it for my market.
What else the base determines
Viscosity and how the product pours from the bottle. Clear or pearlised. Compatibility with actives: some substances lose stability in a sulphate base. The preservative system and whether it is permitted in your market. And the cost: across a run of ten thousand bottles the difference between bases shows up in the final price.
Packaging is a topic of its own. When the factory makes it in-house, as HANSCOS does, the back-and-forth between the laboratory and a bottle contractor disappears and lead times shorten. It is worth clarifying, because projects get stuck on packaging more often than on formulation.
What to ask outright
The surfactant system and whether a sulphate-free version exists. Whether a suitable ready base is available and how long adjusting it would take. The minimum order quantity for the base and for the packaging separately. The production certificates and who issued them. Irritation and stability testing. Compatibility of your chosen actives with the base. And the timeline from signature to first shipment, broken down by stage.
The last point matters more than it seems. A beautiful formulation ready in eight months instead of three is a missed season, and no discount brings it back.