An orientation formula is a demonstration formula aimed at promoting one or more cosmetic ingredients. These formulas are intended for manufacturers wishing to diversify their raw material catalog for the development of their cosmetic products or to try the latest innovations on the market.

It is very difficult when you have an ingredient or a technical data sheet in your hands to project the performance or even the sensoriality of this ingredient in a finished product. That’s why some suppliers or distributors develop what are called orientation formulas to help the customer visualize the contribution of an ingredient in a cosmetic product. The main goal is to convince the tester that the raw material proposed to him has a real interest in formulation and will allow him to develop more innovative and sensory products.

These formulas are presented as an indication to highlight a potential application of an ingredient. They are not to be considered as finished products and are subject to the appreciation and responsibility of customers as to the need to modify, adapt, control and test them.

The guidance formula exercise is more suitable for excipients. Indeed, concerning actives, it will be very difficult to put forward a raw material whose effectiveness can neither be seen nor felt immediately. On the other hand, for suppliers of emulsifiers or emollients, the guidance formula exercise is a major asset to convince a customer. In the case of emulsions, the formulator can immediately realize the full potential of an emulsifier by testing a product containing it and analyzing its fluid or thick appearance, its glossy or matte appearance, its application or even its light or rich feel.

At PolymerExpert, we have mainly developed excipients that have very visual and sensory performances. This explains why we have been working for a few years on numerous orientation formulas that aim to enhance our ingredients.

Each application laboratory, or could we say each formulator, has a unique way of designing cosmetic formulas. At PolymerExpert, we have chosen a minimalist approach with innovative concepts in the air of time through inspiring formulas that clearly highlight the properties of our polymers. We develop formulas that provide guidance to our customers.

Minimalist formulations:

We want to offer our customers simple, readable formulations. The message must not be drowned in a flood of information and raw materials. The objective as defined above is clear: the customer must be able to immediately identify the benefit provided by our ingredient.

Beyond immediate readability, the second advantage of minimalist guidance formulas is that the customer will have no problem projecting himself with his fragrance, his actives or even the raw materials he is used to using. The client will have no problem modifying our orientation formulas by refining the bases we offer or by bringing their own signature. In our minimalist formula frames, we try to use ingredients that are widely known by formulators and that most companies have in their catalog or have already used. Thus, the customer will be able to reproduce the formula in his laboratory without difficulty. With easily reproducible formulas, our clients can easily propose new concepts to their marketing teams if they have their own brand or even propose new “catalog” formulas to their clients if they have a subcontracting activity.

Innovative formulas that meet consumer expectations:

When we develop orientation formulas, we also want to offer our customers formulas that respect current formulation codes, i.e. with a sustainable approach. We have chosen to offer formulas with a high percentage of naturalness according to ISO16128. To give another example, anhydrous products have been on the rise in recent years, so they have naturally found an important place in our formulation guides.

Beyond the trends, we want to be as far ahead as possible in formulation techniques. We are a force of proposal on new and innovative concepts that can help to promote emulation between formulators and marketing departments to create the cosmetic products of tomorrow.

Visual concepts:

One of the assets of our raw materials is that they allow us to develop visually oriented formulas. Through the prototypes we develop, we can highlight the interest of our polymers to create products with various textures that emphasize their rheological and suspensory properties. In order to facilitate the visual and sensory perception of our ingredients, we develop orientation formulas with and without polymer to allow you to observe the contribution of our raw materials in your formulas.

Formulas that inspire:

Cosmetic formulation, beyond science, also has this dreamlike dimension thanks to the different textures we can achieve, but also thanks to touches or scents. Indeed, finding the perfect balance and obtaining a product that is both sensorially and visually satisfying but also effective is a real challenge for formulators. So through our formulation guides and mainly the satellite collections that we occasionally propose, we hope to inspire you. These collections are designed around a theme or concepts for an immersive experience made possible by our raw materials.

Realistic formulas:

As an ingredient supplier, we don’t have the price constraint of our customers when it comes to formula cost. However, we know that this information is very important in the development of cosmetic products. Thus, we formulate accessible prototypes that have formula costs consistent with the market. However, if we propose more expensive concepts for the luxury markets, we are able to inform each client and discuss them to optimize the formula cost.

Furthermore, the products we design are designed to be industrialized by our clients. Although we do not have an industrial transposition unit, the operating procedures are designed to be applicable to most cosmetic production sites.