Editor’s Note:
In her latest column, Deanna examined the e-commerce market, which has now become a vibrant alternative distribution channel for ingredients and raw materials for cosmetic and personal care products.
“There are further differences between resellers and classical distributors; and these differences will become evident as you read thorough this article, thanks to the thoughtful interview replies of Valerie George, CEO of Simply Ingredients, and Myriam Bougdim, Marketing & Operations Coordinator at Formulator Sample Shop Europe, who helped me better understand the important role that this type of business plays in our industry”
“Everybody can make his/her own professional personal care products at home.” This is the visionary belief of Karin Bombeli, who founded the Washington State (US) – based cosmetic ingredient repacking business Somerset Cosmetic Company in 1997. Known as Making Cosmetics since 2001, her company remains a favorite of small brands, DIY formulators, and the makers’ community worldwide.
With the rise of ecommerce, as well as a new wave of indie beauty, DIY product kits, the homesteader movement, and similar cultural shifts that promise to empower consumers and democratize knowledge, ingredient repacking and reselling has become a vibrant alternative distribution channel for cosmetic and personal care ingredients and raw materials.
I use the words ‘alternative distribution channel’ because cosmetic ingredient resellers and repackers are certainly part of our industry’s ingredient distribution system but are, at the same time, apart from it, operating businesses that are very different from those companies that we commonly call ingredient distributors—companies like Barentz, Essential Ingredients Inc., and Surfachem. There are also some companies in this space that might be more rightly described as hybrids, operating somewhere between resellers and distributors—like The Ingredients Store, a UK-based business which earlier this year announced an exclusive small-pack distribution partnership with sustainable ingredients maker Inolex. (More on that news later.)
Ingredient distributors supply large manufacturers, facilities owned by multinational brands or sizeable contract manufacturing companies. Ingredient resellers or repackers commonly cater to the needs of smaller customers: small brands, independent beauty brands, small labs, DIY formulators, independent formulators and formulation consultants, and makers (consumers who take advantage of available resources and information to make goods for their own use).
And while ingredient resellers are less likely to be regionally exclusive, they are a go-to source of low MOQs (minimum order quantities) or ingredients in low volumes. Resellers also tend to distinguish their businesses by carefully curating their offerings according to a specific market need or specialty. There are further differences between resellers and classical distributors; and these differences will become evident as you read thorough this article, thanks to the thoughtful interview replies of Valerie George, CEO of Simply Ingredients, and Myriam Bougdim, Marketing & Operations Coordinator at Formulator Sample Shop Europe, who helped me better understand the important role that this type of business plays in our industry.
Curating Cosmetic Ingredients for Small-Pack Sales
“Simply Ingredients was born because I needed a creative outlet to showcase ingredients that were special to me—and, more importantly, to teach others how to use them,” says George, who launched the Dallas, Texas (US) – based cosmetic ingredient repacking business in 2021 after nearly a decade of experience in R&D. George’s approach to building an ingredient portfolio for customers centers on her own inquisitiveness and passion for the science of a given ingredient.
At Formulator Sample Shop Europe, an affiliate company of Active Concepts (a US-based raw materials supplier serving both the beauty industry and the pet care industry), the ingredient “selection process is guided by quality, performance, and alignment with our commitment to innovation and sustainability. We prioritize suppliers who meet high manufacturing standards and align with the needs of modern formulators,” explains Bougdim.
She’s careful to tell me that “Formulator Sample Shop Europe works closely with Active Concepts.” And that the larger company does “develop the raw materials we offer” at Formulator Sample Shop Europe. “These ingredients,” she says, “currently form the foundation of what we offer.”
But Bougdim is quick to note that “we’re continuously listening to the needs of our community. As interest grows in complementary ingredient categories—such as essential oils, emollients, or emulsifiers—we are actively exploring opportunities to expand in ways that align with our quality standards and formulation philosophy. Any additions in the future will be thoughtfully curated to maintain the same level of trust and performance our customers expect.”
Of course repackers and resellers position their ingredients to capture buyer attention in any number of ways. The Ingredients Store, for instance, specializes in natural oils for cosmetics, home fragrance, household products, food and beverage, as well as nutrition and supplements. But their ingredient offerings expand beyond that specialty to include waxes, butters, salts, soap bases, absolutes, extracts, powders, exfoliants, complex blends (such as a Red Fruit Seed Oil blend, comprised of strawberry, cranberry, lingonberry, and raspberry seed oils), and functional ingredients (like Vitamin E, Glycerine, and ingredients supplied by Inolex).
Making Cosmetics, as another example, boasts a portfolio of more than 1,000 ingredients, which have all been “processed in our ISO/GMP certified and FDA registered repackaging facility.” This company also offers OTC ingredients for use in sun care, acne care, and antiperspirant formulations. And a distinguishing factor of their offer is that it seems to be boundless: according to the Making Cosmetics site, “If you don’t find what you are looking for, please contact us and we are happy to source any cosmetic ingredient for you.”
Ingredient Repackers Thrive Online
In 1997, the ecommerce company Amazon began selling books online. That same year Making Cosmetics (then the Somerset Cosmetic Company) began repacking and selling beauty ingredients online.
And if we look at the ingredient repacking business broadly, it’s clear that ecommerce as a sales channel has been critical to the development, reach, and growth of this sector.
“E-commerce wasn’t an add-on; it was the foundation of our business model, built to serve the evolving needs of both professionals and independent formulators,” emphasizes Bougdim as she tells me about Formulator Sample Shop Europe.
“Digital ordering,” she says, “has completely transformed the way small-batch ingredients are accessed. It removes traditional barriers like long lead times, complex quoting, and large minimum orders, allowing customers to explore, purchase, and experiment on their own schedule.”
The world of digital commerce also opens up a new channel for consumer engagement and data. “It gives us direct insight into what formulators are looking for,” explains Bougdim, “helping us stay responsive to emerging trends, ingredient demands, and shifting market interests.” In this way, it could be said that the customer is guiding the industry: “Ultimately, it’s about giving formulators the freedom to create, adapt, and grow—all at their own pace.”
Ecommerce reaches all around the word—a way of doing business that enables Simply Ingredients to thrive. “Our customer base is global,” explains George. “It would be impossible to have the success we have without an online presence. The reselling marketplace is big, but not huge. Anyone in the game wouldn’t have a game without [ecommerce],” she says.
The Secret Life of Ingredient Suppliers
For beauty industry supply chain insiders, a designation of “authorized distributor,” or a publicly observable and legally binding partnership between the ingredient producer and the seller, is what most clearly delineates conventional distributors from repackers.
Bougdim acknowledges that at Formulator Sample Shop Europe, when it comes to “transparency, we balance customer information needs with supplier confidentiality. While we often share ingredient specifications and usage guidance, we may not always disclose specific supplier names or trade names. This approach helps us maintain supplier agreements while ensuring that customers receive trusted, high-performance materials they can confidently incorporate into their formulations.”
George puts it this way, when she tells me about privacy practices in the reselling business: “While we have permission from each manufacturer to resell their raw materials, we don’t typically advertise their names or use their marketing materials, with one notable exception: SeaBalance 2000 by Carbonwave, for which we are the exclusive reseller of their unique seaweed emulsifier.”
She tells me that as she was building the Simply Ingredients business, she was “surprised to learn how few manufacturers are comfortable with resellers, due to concerns about trust and how their ingredients will be handled.” And that “some of our agreements prohibit us from disclosing [supplier] identities. Therefore, we don’t disclose any.”
My understanding is that ingredient producers take their responsibility for product integrity, regulatory compliance, and legal liability quiet seriously—and rightly so. Beyond that the pricing and positioning of their product is critical to their success in the larger beauty ingredient marketplace. Additionally, matters such as warehousing, inventory, demand planning, product handling, transportation, track and trace, customs and cross-border trade – the logistics of cosmetic ingredients – is similarly critical when it comes to safety and efficacy. And in the end, while suppliers may trust the ingredient repackers that they sell to, the standards and protocols simply are not visible enough or not regimented enough to warrant a formal distribution agreement. (Existing, often regional, and more lucrative distribution agreements may be in place the prohibit agreements with resellers as well.) It is perhaps in many ways analogous to the reason multinational brands had, for so long, such a remarkable reluctance to selling in online marketplaces like Amazon.
But this is changing in the cosmetic ingredients space as well. Simply Ingredients’ agreement with Carbonwave is one example. And as I’ve suggested, ingredient producer Inolex and The Ingredients Store announced a formal distribution partnership in early March of this year (2025).
As Mark Evans, Business Director of EMEA at Inolex pointed out in his remarks to the press, it is a strategic move to meet emerging beauty makers where they are in our modern moment: “Providing our ingredients via an online marketplace that caters to smaller, rising indie brands and early-stage beauty companies is really important for supporting the success of our industry.”
And he notes that, “this partnership provides a platform to build relationships and explore opportunities with up-and-coming brands who are developing the next generation of high performing, conscious beauty care.”
When visitors to The Ingredients Store site click on ‘functional ingredients’, several of those listed are Inolex trade names, such as the non-palm emollient LexFeel®Natural (250ml for $24 – 5kg for $486), a hair conditioning system with cationic amino lipid technology called AminoSensyl™ Ultra MB, and the LexSolv™ Essential solubiliser which does not contain ethoxylates.
And this trade name transparency is a big deal for the reselling sector and for suppliers who recognize that the people and businesses buying from these small-pack specialists are so often now the same people and businesses who are innovating formulations, product formats, branding, and even consumer community development in ways that forever change the future of beauty—think IT Cosmetics, Drunk Elephant, Aesop, etc. The reselling channel presents a tremendous opportunity for ingredient makers to begin building relationships with brand leaders.
Inolex recognizes that this novel distribution deal only “adds to [the company’s] growing technical and logistics network throughout the world.” And that it’s a “strategic partnership [that] aims to accelerate the adoption of…sustainable ingredients and advance Inolex’s mission of promoting environmental stewardship in the beauty industry among customers who require smaller ingredient quantities,” according to the release.
Advancing the Cosmetic Ingredient Supply Chain
From her vantage point, leading Simply Ingredients, George says that “there’s no shortage of competition in the market, and I believe the supply often outweighs the demand for small ingredient volumes.”
It’s true that competition seems to be the name of the game at this stage. Bougdim projects that Formulator Sample Shop Europe will “be the go-to e-shop for everything a formulator needs—whether you’re a DIY hobbyist, a niche indie brand, or a large company that prefers to source ingredients online quickly and efficiently.”
Being the uncontested winner in the cosmetic ingredient reselling marketplace might not be the real goal.
Bougdim also appreciates that repackers like Formulator Sample Shop Europe, “play a vital and evolving role in the cosmetic ingredient supply chain—serving as a key access point for both emerging brands and the growing community of DIY formulators.”
As a platform, she tells me, Formulator Sample Shop Europe “is designed to bridge the gap between professional-grade ingredients and accessible, small-volume sourcing, making it possible for anyone—from indie startups to passionate hobbyists—to create high-quality personal care products. We’re a strategic access point in the supply chain for anyone from small-scale creators to large-scale operations.”
She also notes that “we can also accommodate larger, bulk orders when needed.” It’s a visionary business model that invites us to imagine a future when cosmetic ingredient resellers are plentiful, diverse, and thriving—serving suppliers and customers in every industry niche, the ones we know and love today and the ones we have yet to realize.
Deanna Utroske
As a regular contributor to this publication, Deanna writes the Global Perspectives column, covering cosmetic and personal care product formulation trends, emerging ingredient science, and ingredient marketing trends impacting the future of beauty around the world.
