Skincare Manufacturer Australia

Australian skincare manufacturer specialising in custom formulation, private label and white label production for indie founders launching their first range, established beauty brands scaling into national retail, and everyone in between. Manufacturing skincare in Melbourne since 2011, 700+ products formulated to date, 100+ brand partners across every Australian state and territory.

What Epilab makes

The full skincare category catalogue, manufactured from a single GMP-aligned facility in Cheltenham, Victoria.

Facial skincare

Cleansers (oil, cream, gel, foaming, exfoliating), facial serums, moisturisers (day, night, hydrating, anti-ageing), facial cleansers, treatment masks (clay, charcoal, hydrogel, sheet), face oils, mists, toners, essences, eye creams and serums, lip balms and lip treatments, exfoliants, spot treatments, sunscreen up to SPF 15 cosmetic class. Active-led formulations including vitamin C, niacinamide, retinol, peptides, AHAs, BHAs, hyaluronic acid, ceramides, and Australian native botanicals.

Body care

Body lotions, body butters, body washes, body scrubs, body oils, hand creams and hand washes, deodorants (cream, stick, roll-on, balm, pump-spray, non-aerosol), foot creams, after-sun and after-tattoo care, bath salts and bath soaks, cuticle oils. Both rinse-off and leave-on formats across sensitive, dry, oily, and combination skin formulations.

Hair care

Shampoos (clarifying, moisturising, volumising, colour-safe, scalp-treatment), conditioners and leave-in conditioners, hair masks and treatments, hair oils and serums, hair styling products, scalp treatments. Plus beard care: beard oils, beard balms, beard washes, shaving creams, after-shaves.

Baby and child skincare

Hypoallergenic, tear-free baby shampoos, baby body washes, baby lotions, nappy creams and balms, bath products, baby massage oils. All formulated with sensitive-skin-safe preservative systems and ingredient choices appropriate for infant and child use.

Specialty categories

Pet skincare and grooming (shampoos, conditioners, balms), intimate care, men’s grooming ranges, cosmeceutical and clinical-grade active formulations, salon and clinic exclusive ranges.

Out of scope: aerosol formats (we do not have aerosol filling capability) and primary sunscreens above SPF 15 (those are TGA-regulated therapeutic goods requiring a TGA-licensed manufacturer, which we facilitate through partner relationships when needed).

Three paths to launch

The right path depends on your budget, timeline and how distinctive your product needs to be.

Custom formulation

Develop a unique formula from a brief. Development cost typically $5,000 to $9,000 per SKU depending on actives. Development timeline 8 to 16 weeks. Production timeline another 4 to 8 weeks after formula sign-off. The right path for founders building defensible IP, a distinctive product story, or a hero product that needs to be unmistakably yours. You own the finished formulation under standard project terms.

Private label

Take an existing Epilab base formulation and customise it with your fragrance, colour adjustments, and packaging. Setup cost typically $1,000 to $3,000 per SKU. Launch-ready in 4 to 8 weeks. The right path for founders who want to validate a market category fast, who have limited launch capital, or who want their first product on shelves while a second custom hero product is being developed in parallel.

White label (low-quantity range, coming soon)

For founders who want to test the market before committing to a 500-unit pilot batch, we are rolling out a low-quantity white label range starting at approximately 50 units per SKU. This lets founders prove demand and customer fit before scaling to full pilot volumes.

MOQ and the growth ladder

Most Australian skincare manufacturers either serve small-batch only or 5,000-unit retail floors only. Epilab serves the full growth ladder from the same Cheltenham facility, with the same team running every batch.

• Pilot batches (500 units). Most categories. The volume an indie founder can move in their first 6 to 12 months of selling.
• First commercial (1,000 units). For founders who have done market validation. Per-unit cost drops noticeably.
• Growth scale (3,000 to 10,000 units). Where most brands sit within 12 to 18 months of launch. Per-unit cost is most competitive in this range.
• Retail scale (10,000 to 100,000+ units per batch). Once retail sell-through is proven, batches scale up to 100,000+ units per SKU without changing facility.
• Tube exception. Products in tube format (creams, gels, lotions packaged in tubes) start at 3,000 units due to tube-filling line setup costs. Bottles, jars, pumps, droppers all hold to 500-unit minimum.

The growth ladder matters because most indie brands that succeed end up needing to change manufacturers when they outgrow boutique-scale, which costs them their formulation, their packaging supplier relationships, and their lead-time predictability. Epilab is structured so brands grow with us, not away from us.

Real Australian-made

Every product Epilab manufactures is made in Melbourne. Not packed in Australia from imported bulk. Not labelled Australian-made on technicalities. Genuinely formulated, manufactured, filled and packed at our Cheltenham facility under GMP-aligned standards.

For Australian brands, this matters in four practical ways. Australian Made certification eligibility for finished products. AICIS compliance handled in-house for ingredient introduction. Ingredient supply chain documentation that survives retail buyer scrutiny. And the kind of factory-walk-through transparency that founders can use in brand storytelling. The “Australian Made” claim is one of the strongest country-of-origin trust marks in the Australian beauty market, and pharmacy, department store and independent retail buyers increasingly require it for natural and skincare lines.

Compliance and documentation

Every batch comes with the documentation founders need for retail conversations, AICIS notifications, and dispute resolution. Batch records with manufacture date, lot number, and quantities. Certificates of analysis for each batch with quality control data. INCI ingredient declarations formatted to ACCC labelling requirements. Stability data where stability testing has been commissioned. Preservative efficacy testing reports where applicable. Ingredient supply traceability to original raw material suppliers.

Most indie founders do not think about documentation until a major retailer asks for it during a listing review. By that point it is usually too late to retroactively assemble. Epilab builds it in from the first batch.

Serving founders across every Australian state

Most of our brand partners are based outside Victoria. The operational workflow is built for remote founders: video brief calls, courier-shipped samples, electronic sign-off, standard commercial freight on finished goods. For state-specific operational detail, see our pages on Sydney, Brisbane and Queensland, Perth and Western Australia, and our broader Australia-wide manufacturing page. For Melbourne-specific founders, see the Melbourne pillar.

Cost transparency

Most Australian skincare manufacturers refuse to publish anything about cost. We do. A realistic single-SKU launch typically lands between $25,000 and $50,000 total covering formulation, testing, packaging, and a 500-unit pilot batch, plus another $15,000 to $30,000 in operating capital for the first 12 to 18 months. The full cost breakdown including packaging, stability testing, AICIS registration, TGA listing where applicable, and per-unit production cost at different volumes is in our cost transparency guide, which is currently the highest-ranking Australian resource for skincare brand launch cost research.

The launch process

Week 1, brief. One 60-minute video call. You describe what you want to make, who it is for, your target price-point and timeline, and any specific compliance, certification, or claim requirements. We tell you within that call whether we are the right manufacturer for your project, what realistic numbers look like, and whether you would be better served by a different specialist.

Week 2 to 3, written quote. Indicative cost ranges for formulation development, packaging options, testing requirements, and per-unit production cost at your target volume. Ranges, not fixed numbers.

Week 4 to 16, formulation development. For custom formulation, 3 to 6 sample rounds over 8 to 16 weeks. We mix, ship samples to your address anywhere in Australia, you evaluate, we iterate. Most founders never visit the lab during this phase.

Week 8 to 20, stability and safety testing. Runs concurrently with sample refinement. Standard accelerated stability ($800 to $1,500 per SKU), preservative efficacy testing where applicable ($1,000 to $1,500), packaging compatibility once packaging is locked in.

Week 16 to 20, production. Pilot batches (500 units) typically run within 2 to 4 weeks of formulation sign-off. Larger production runs schedule with 6 to 10 week lead times depending on packaging procurement.

Week 20+, dispatch. Finished goods ship to your warehouse or 3PL the next business day after production completion. Most clients arrange their own freight via a preferred carrier.

How Epilab compares to other Australian skincare manufacturers

There are good Australian skincare manufacturers. We are honest about where we sit in the landscape.

Boutique-only operations. Some Australian manufacturers serve only the small-batch end (sub-3,000 units). Fine for first-launch, but founders typically have to change manufacturer when they scale to retail. Epilab runs both ends from the same facility.

Large retail-scale facilities. Some Australian manufacturers operate at retail scale (10,000+ unit minimums) and do not realistically take indie projects. Fine for established brands, but inaccessible for first-launch founders. Epilab takes 500-unit pilots seriously.

Subcontracted formulation. Some Australian “manufacturers” outsource the formulation work to a separate contract chemist, then handle filling and packing in-house. Both models can work, but you should know which one you are hiring. Epilab handles both formulation and manufacturing under the same roof, with the same team running the project from brief to finished stock.

Off-the-shelf white label only. Some Australian manufacturers offer only existing base formulations that you brand as your own. Suits founders who want speed and lower risk, but limits differentiation. Epilab offers custom formulation, private label, and white label so the path can match the brand strategy.

For a deeper comparison of when boutique versus retail-scale manufacturing makes sense, see our boutique vs large-scale guide. For founders weighing custom against private label, see our private label vs custom formulation comparison.

Frequently asked questions

What is the minimum order quantity for skincare manufacturing?
500 units per SKU for most categories. 3,000 units for tube-format products. A white label range starting at approximately 50 units is in development.

How long does it take to develop a custom skincare product?
For custom formulation: 8 to 16 weeks from approved brief to a production-ready formula. Add 4 to 12 weeks of stability testing (run concurrently) and 2 to 8 weeks of production. Realistic total from first brief to finished stock: 16 to 32 weeks depending on category complexity.

How much does it cost to launch a skincare brand?
$25,000 to $50,000 covers formulation, testing, packaging, and a 500-unit pilot batch. Plan another $15,000 to $30,000 in operating capital for the first 12 to 18 months. The cost transparency guide has the full breakdown.

Are Epilab products eligible for Australian Made certification?
Yes. Manufacturing at our Cheltenham facility meets Australian Made and Owned criteria. Brands using Epilab as their manufacturer can apply for Australian Made certification on finished products.

Do I own my formulation?
For custom formulation work the default is that you own the finished formulation. Standard exception: the underlying base technology, manufacturing protocols, and preservative systems remain Epilab IP. The brand-specific finished formula is yours.

Do you handle AICIS compliance?
Yes. AICIS-compliant ingredient handling and notification support for all standard cosmetic ingredients. For ingredients not currently on the AIIC inventory, we can advise on the notification path.

Can you make sunscreen?
Cosmetic-class SPF up to 15: yes, in-house. Primary sunscreens above SPF 15: no. Those are TGA-regulated therapeutic goods and require a TGA-licensed manufacturer. We can introduce you to suitable TGA-licensed partner facilities.

Do you make aerosol products?
No. Aerosol manufacturing requires specialised filling equipment we do not operate. Pump-spray and non-aerosol pressurised formats are fine.

What about natural and organic formulations?
Yes. We formulate natural, organic, plant-based and clean-positioning skincare across all categories. Native Australian botanical ingredient sourcing including Kakadu plum, Davidson plum, finger lime, Quandong, Boab, mountain pepper, lemon myrtle, and others.

Do you work with brands outside Victoria?
Yes. The majority of our brand partners are based outside Victoria. The operational workflow is built for remote founders.

Start a skincare project

Email info@epilab.com.au with your category, target volume, timeline, and any specific compliance or ingredient requirements. We respond to every inbound enquiry within one business day. If we are the right manufacturer, we set up a 60-minute discovery conversation. If we are not, we say so and recommend who might be better.

Epilab. Australian skincare manufacturer. Custom formulation, private label and white label production in Melbourne since 2011. 500-unit pilots through to retail-scale batches. 100+ brand partners. 700+ products. GMP-aligned manufacturing across every skincare, body care, hair care and baby care category.

Hair-specific manufacturer details: see our dedicated Hair Care Manufacturer Australia page for the full hair category breakdown including shampoo, conditioner, masks, oils, treatments, scalp care and non-aerosol styling.

Baby and kids manufacturer details: see our dedicated Baby Products Manufacturer Australia page for the full baby and children’s category breakdown including wash, shampoo, lotion, oil, balms, nappy creams and kids skincare.