01Bespoke formulation
Original formulas developed to your brief — texture, sensorial, actives, claims and price target. Not a stock base with your fragrance dropped in.
- Serums
- Creams
- Lotions
- Cleansers
- Mists
- Masks
Now bookingCustom formulation studioSkincare that's
Skincare that's
actually yours.
SkinChemy develops original formulas for beauty brands — serums, creams, cleansers, mists and more. No stock bases. No template with your logo on it. Built at the bench by a chemist with over a decade of R&D at a major global beauty company.
Every inquiry read and answered personally — typically within 2 business days
140K+
following the science on Instagram
Johns Hopkins
University graduate — the science foundation behind every formula
10+
Years of R&D at a major global beauty company
140K+
Community following the science as @skinchemy
As featured & quoted in
BeautyMatterCoveteurThe Eco WellDaily VanityUncover SkincareChemists CornerBeautyMatterCoveteurThe Eco WellDaily VanityUncover SkincareChemists Corner
Why custom
Private label sells you a product.
Custom builds you an asset.
The cheapest route to a launch is a stock formula with your name on it — the same one your competitor down the shelf is also selling. Here's the honest difference.
Private label
Stock formula, your label
- ✕The formula stays the supplier’s — you never own what you sell
- ✕Any competitor can buy the identical product from the same catalog
- ✕Texture, performance and ingredient story are fixed by the stock base
Recommended
SkinChemy custom
Original formula, developed to your brief
- ✓Your formula becomes intellectual property that belongs to your brand.
- ✓Develop products your competitors can't purchase from the same catalog.
- ✓Create textures, performance, and ingredient stories unique to your brand.
If you're validating an idea, private label can be a smart choice.
If you're building the next Rhode, Summer Fridays, or Rare Beauty, your formula should be as distinctive as your brand.
Start a project →Services
Concept to finished formula,
under one chemist.
You bring the brand vision, the claims you want to own, and the shelf you want to win. I handle the chemistry — using current ingredient technologies and industry best practices so your product isn't just on-trend, it's genuinely differentiated.
01
02Product development strategy
Benchmarking against the competitive set, defining the hero ingredient story, and shaping a lineup that makes commercial sense — not just chemical sense.
- Benchmarking
- Claims strategy
- Range architecture
03Reformulation & rescue
Formula failing stability, feeling wrong on skin, costing too much, or needing an ingredient swapped out? Existing products get diagnosed and fixed.
- Cost-down
- Stability fixes
- Ingredient swaps
04Manufacturer handoff
A formula is only worth what a plant can reproduce. Documentation, scale-up notes and specs handed over so your contract manufacturer can run it cleanly.
- Batch docs
- Scale-up
- Specs & SOP
05Advisory retainer
For funded brands and teams that need a chemist on call — ingredient vetting, supplier questions, competitor teardowns and roadmap input, month to month.
- On-call expertise
- Roadmap input
- Supplier vetting
What you control
Five dials, all of them yours.
On a custom brief nothing is fixed in advance. These are the levers we set together before a single sample is made.
Texture & slip
Gel, milk, balm, whipped, fluid — how it feels is a formulation decision, not an accident.
Active system
Which actives, at what use levels, in a base that keeps them stable and effective.
Skin concern
Barrier, texture, tone, hydration, oil control — the formula follows the claim.
Scent & finish
Fragranced or fragrance-free, matte or dewy, clear or opaque — your brand's signature.
Cost per unit
Formulated to hit your margin, so the product still works at the price you need.
Categories formulated
Treatment serumsMoisturizers & creamsBody lotionsCleansers & balmsFacial mists & essencesMasksBarrier repairExfoliantsEye careHair & scalp
How it works
A clear path from idea
to bench-proven.
No black box. You'll know at every stage what's being tested, what's been decided, and what comes next.
Step 01
Discovery
Your brand, your customer, your claims and your constraints — budget, cost-per-unit, timeline, manufacturer.
Step 02
Concept & benchmarking
Target texture, actives and ingredient story defined against the products you're competing with.
Step 03
Bench formulation
Lab prototypes developed and evaluated for feel, appearance, performance and formulation integrity.
Step 04
Iteration
Rounds of refinement on your feedback, then stability and compatibility considerations before sign-off.
Step 05
Handoff
Final formula, documentation and scale-up guidance delivered to you and your manufacturer.
Recognition
What the industry says
about @skinchemy
Independent press, podcasts and industry publications that have featured, quoted or credited the work.
BeautyMatterOct 2024
“Iyer … helped 'supercharge' the samples Penn and Longfield had cooked up in the lab.”
On the development of HPPY Skin, whose first product — the Refresh mask — launched in September 2023 built on proprietary "fridge to face" technology.
Read the feature →The Eco Well PodcastOct 2022
“A US Regulatory 101 with Lalita Iyer, AKA @skinchemy”
A full episode devoted to US cosmetic regulation — breaking down myths and misconceptions, and giving brands practical guidance for navigating the space.
Listen to the episode →CoveteurJan 2021
“It's just a label with no real meaning unless a brand is transparent about its practices.”
Quoted as a cosmetic chemist on what "clean," "green" and "sustainable" actually mean in beauty marketing — and what they don't.
Read the article →Uncover SkincareExpert feature
“Niacinamide is highly versatile, so it's worth having this ingredient in your skincare routine.”
Featured as "Cosmetic Scientist and founder of Skinchemy" in an expert guide to formulating and using niacinamide.
Read the guide →Daily VanityTrend forecast
“A lot of brands have been focusing on creating really soothing barrier repair moisturisers.”
One of the expert cosmetic scientists tapped to forecast the skincare trends set to define the year ahead.
Read the forecast →Cosmetic Chemists DishMay 2021
“A roundtable of cosmetic chemists on CBD in beauty.”
Invited panelist alongside Perry Romanowski (Chemists Corner), Esther Olu, Cassandra Celestin and other formulators for an industry roundtable.
See the panel →Instagram
The science, in public.
@skinchemy is where 140,000+ people come for straight answers on ingredients, claims and formulation. That audience is also your audience — brands I work with get a chemist who already knows what the market is asking for.
S
@skinchemy
Lalita Iyer · Cosmetic Chemist · Founder, SkinChemy LLC
140K+
Followers
10+
Years in R&D
Ingredients
What actually makes an active work on skin
Formulation
Why your serum separated — and how to fix it
For brands
What to ask before you sign with a lab
Myth busting
"Chemical-free" isn't a thing. Here's why
Behind the bench
Inside a real formulation round
Ingredient deep dive
Reading an INCI list like a chemist
The chemist
Lalita Iyer
Johns Hopkins graduateCosmetic chemistFounder, SkinChemy LLC
I've spent over a decade in R&D at a major global beauty company, and the years since developing products for independent and emerging brands. That combination is the whole point of SkinChemy: big-company formulation discipline, applied at the speed and scale a growing brand actually needs.
I formulate serums, lotions, creams, cleansers, mists and more — built around your brand's vision, not a template. Every formula uses current ingredient technologies and industry best practices, so your product isn't just on-trend, it's genuinely differentiated. And because I spend my days explaining formulation to 140,000+ people as @skinchemy, I know exactly which claims hold up under scrutiny — and which ones will get your brand torn apart in the comments.
Whether you're launching your first product line or expanding an existing one, I partner with you from concept to finished formula — turning your brand's ambition into a product that performs, feels premium, and stands out on the shelf.
Let's build something unique.Lalita Iyer · Founder, SkinChemy LLC
Credentials at a glance
- 01Graduate of The Johns Hopkins University
- 0210+ years of R&D experience at a major global beauty company
- 03Hands-on formulation for independent and emerging brands
- 04Credited by BeautyMatter with "supercharging" HPPY Skin's launch formulas
- 05Invited expert on US cosmetic regulation (The Eco Well podcast)
- 06Quoted as a cosmetic scientist in Coveteur, Daily Vanity and Uncover Skincare
- 07140K+ science community as @skinchemy
Common questions
Before you get in touch.
No — and that's the difference. Private label means putting your name on an existing stock formula that dozens of other brands also sell. SkinChemy develops an original formula to your brief, which means the product is yours, differentiated, and defensible.
SkinChemy is a formulation studio, not a factory. I develop and prove the formula at bench scale, then hand off complete documentation and scale-up guidance to your contract manufacturer. If you don't have one yet, I can help you evaluate options and ask the right questions.
It depends on the category and how many rounds of refinement you want. A single straightforward product moves faster than a coordinated multi-SKU range. We'll set a realistic timeline in the discovery call — before any money changes hands.
Pricing is scoped per project, based on category complexity, the number of SKUs, and how much development strategy you need. Share your budget range in the form and you'll get an honest answer on fit before we spend time on a call.
Ownership and confidentiality terms are agreed in writing at the start of the engagement. Bring your NDA, or we can work from a standard one — either way, it gets settled before development begins.
Yes — reach out anyway. Early-stage brands are often better served by a focused consultation or a single hero product than a full range, and it's cheaper to get the strategy right before you've committed to a manufacturer.
Start a project
Tell me what you're building.
The more you share about your brand, category and timeline, the more useful the first reply will be. Every inquiry is read and answered personally.
LinkedInlinkedin.com/in/lalita-iInstagram@skinchemy
StudioSkinChemy LLC · Working with brands worldwide
ResponseTypically within 2 business days