Most brands open a conversation with a Japanese factory by asking for a price. The factory cannot give a meaningful one until it knows whether you want to start from one of its existing base formulas or have a formula developed for you, because the two routes involve different work, different samples and a different answer to the question of who owns the result. If you decide this before the first email, the first quote describes the product you actually want, and the first sample arrives closer to it.
💬 Sunsho Trade manages own-brand cosmetics made in Japan for brands outside Japan, in English, with a GMP-certified partner factory in Japan. Send us your product idea and target market and we will tell you which starting point fits it.
The two starting points, side by side
A stock base formula is a formula the factory already makes, which you adapt within limits the factory sets; a custom formula is developed against your brief, which means more development work but more control over what goes in.
A base formula is not an off-the-shelf product with your logo on it. It is a working formula, already made at the factory, that serves as the skeleton for your version. Typical adjustments are the fragrance, the colour, one or two ingredients you want to feature, and the texture within the range the base allows. The factory has made the base before, so it knows how it behaves on the line, and it may hold stability data for the base itself. Ask what of that data applies to your variant: a change in fragrance or a featured ingredient can be enough to need fresh testing, as explained in stability and compatibility testing for Japan-made cosmetics.
A custom formula starts from your brief rather than from the factory’s catalogue. The factory’s chemists design a formula to your texture, feel, ingredient and claim requirements, check it against Japan’s rules, and refine it through sample rounds. A third case sits between the two: you already have a formula made for another market and want it produced in Japan. In practice this is treated as custom development with a head start, because the formula still has to pass Japan’s ingredient rules and the factory still has to make it work on its own equipment.
| Question | Stock base formula | Custom formula |
|---|---|---|
| What the project starts from | A formula the factory already makes | Your written brief, or a formula you bring from another market |
| What you can change | Fragrance, colour, featured ingredients and texture, within the limits the factory sets for that base | Anything the Japanese rules and the destination market’s rules allow |
| Existing test data | The factory may hold data for the base; ask which parts still apply after your changes | Generated for your formula during development |
| Sample rounds | Fewer adjustments are usually needed, because the base already works | More rounds should be expected, because the formula is new |
| Exclusivity | Other brands may be using the same base; ask | Can be negotiated as part of the development terms |
| Who owns the formula | Settle in writing; expect the factory to keep rights in its own base | Settle in writing before development starts |
| Good fit when | The difference you sell is the brand, the packaging and the scent | The difference you sell is in the formula itself |
What usually decides the choice
Choose by what must be unique to you: if your product’s difference lies in the brand, the packaging and the fragrance, a base formula is usually enough; if the difference lies in the formula, start custom.
Five questions settle it for most brands.
- Which market will you sell in? Your importer can tell you which ingredients the destination authority restricts. A base formula may contain one of them; a custom brief can exclude it from the start. Ask your importer for that list before you choose a base.
- What do you want the label to say? If your concept depends on a whitening or wrinkle-improvement claim, you are no longer choosing between two cosmetic routes. Those claims belong to the quasi-drug category, which needs product-by-product approval with an approved active ingredient. Read cosmetic or quasi-drug: the first decision before anything else.
- Do you need the formula to be yours alone? If a competitor launching the same base would hurt you, negotiate exclusivity or go custom.
- Are you bringing a formula from abroad? A formula built for another market can fail in Japan because a preservative or UV filter allowed there is not on Japan’s positive list, or sits above Japan’s limit for that product type. The factory checks it ingredient by ingredient against the current Standards for Cosmetics before any sample is made. The way that check works is set out in checking a formula against Japan’s Standards for Cosmetics.
- How much development can you fund and wait for? Custom development adds design work and sample time. We do not quote a period here, because it depends on the formula and the factory’s schedule, but it is never shorter than adapting a base.
Japan’s Standards for Cosmetics are Ministry of Health and Welfare Notification No. 331 of 29 September 2000, applied from 1 April 2001. Checked against the published texts of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Japan Cosmetic Industry Association on 17 October 2026.
What to put in the brief before a factory will quote
A factory quotes against a brief, so the brief has to fix the product type, the market, the container, the claims and the expected quantity, even where some of these are still ranges.
A thin brief produces a thin quote: a price with so many assumptions that it cannot be compared with anything. A useful brief is short, but it answers the questions the factory would otherwise send back one by one.
- Product type and use. Toner, serum, cream, cleanser, shampoo. Say how and when the customer uses it. The product guides on toner and lotion, serum and essence and creams and gels list what the factory needs for each.
- Destination market and importer. The market decides the label language, the ingredient restrictions and the documents. Name the importer if you have one.
- Texture, feel, scent and colour. Describe them in plain words. A reference product bought in a shop is useful, as long as you say exactly what you like about it.
- Ingredients to feature and ingredients to avoid. Give the reason for each avoidance: a destination rule, a positioning choice such as fragrance-free, or a customer request.
- Claims you intend to print. Write them as you want them to appear. The factory will compare them with the efficacy range Japan allows for cosmetics; see Japan’s 56-item efficacy range.
- Container and who supplies it. Pump, airless pack, tube or jar, and whether the factory sources it or you do. The container affects the formula; see containers and packaging.
- Expected quantity. A range per variant and how often you expect to reorder. The factory uses this to judge whether the project fits its line.
- Documents your importer needs. Ask your importer for the list in writing and attach it. The Japan-side documents are explained in export documents and certificates.
The factory will also ask things of you. Expect requests for the label text and artwork once the formula is near final, the specification and safety data sheet of any raw material you want to supply yourself, and confirmation that you hold the rights to the brand name you plan to print. If you also want to sell the product in Japan itself, say so now: that adds a Japanese notification and a Japanese label, described in the licences you need to sell cosmetics in Japan.
How sample rounds and approval work
Each sample round should test one set of decisions and end with a written approval, a written list of changes, or a decision to stop, never with an informal “looks fine” in a chat.
The first lab sample shows whether the factory has understood the brief. Judge it on what you can observe: texture, spreadability, scent, colour, how it feels after use, how it dispenses from a similar container. Do not judge it on effects you hope it will have on the skin; that is neither a fair test of a sample nor a claim you could print.
Collect feedback from everyone on your side, then send one consolidated list. Contradictory comments from three people produce a sample that satisfies none of them. Number each change request and refer to the sample by its code, so the next round can be checked point by point.
When a sample is approved, it becomes the reference standard for production. Keep a retained sample with its code and approval date on both sides, and record the approval in writing. Production batches are judged against this reference, so a vague approval comes back as a dispute later.
Approval of the formula does not end the testing. The approved formula then goes through stability and compatibility testing in the container you have chosen, and the packaging goes through print proofs. If you change the container after formula approval, part of the testing may need to be repeated, which is why the container belongs in the brief from the start.
💬 Stuck between two samples, or unsure what to ask the factory to change? Send us your notes and we will turn them into a change list the factory can act on.
Who owns what, and what to write down
Before samples start, agree in writing who owns the formula, the brand, the artwork and any printing materials, whether the formula is exclusive to you, and what happens to leftover packaging if you change the design.
Ownership is the part of an OEM project most often left to an assumption, and assumptions differ. A written note at the start costs nothing. The questions below cover what usually needs settling.
- The formula. For a base formula, expect the factory to keep the rights in its own base. For a custom formula, agree whether you receive the full formula with percentages, an ingredient list without percentages, or exclusive use while production stays with the factory. Ask what you could do with it if you later moved production.
- The ingredient list. You need an ingredient list for your labels and your importer’s filing in any case. Agree that you will receive it in the form your market needs, which is usually INCI names; how the Japanese names convert is covered in full-ingredient labelling and INCI names.
- Brand name and trademark. These are yours, and protecting them in your markets is your task.
- Artwork and designs. Yours. Agree who holds the final files and in what format.
- Printing plates and moulds. If a container or box needs its own tooling, agree who pays for it and who owns it.
- Leftover materials. If you change a label or box design, someone has to pay for unused printed stock. Agree the rule before the first print run.
- Retained samples and records. Agree how long reference samples and batch records are kept. We do not quote a period; ask the factory for its own rule.
- Confidentiality. Both sides share information during development. A simple confidentiality agreement covers your brief and their formula.
None of this needs a long contract at the brief stage. It needs a page that both sides have read and agreed, kept with the project file.
How we run the project
We take the brief in English, check it with the factory against Japan’s rules, run the sample rounds, and keep every decision in one written record you can refer back to.
Sunsho Trade is a Japanese-managed trading company in Ho Chi Minh City. For own-brand cosmetics, we work with a GMP-certified partner factory in Japan and manage the project in English: the brief, the formula check against Japanese rules, samples, packaging, production, documents and shipment. On the starting-point question, we will tell you plainly when a base formula would do the job and when your concept needs custom development, and we will put the ownership points above into writing before the first sample is made. The rest of the process, from containers to shipping, is laid out in the Japan cosmetics OEM guide.
💬 Ready to choose your starting point? See how our Japan cosmetics OEM service works, read the Japan cosmetics OEM guide, or send us your brief.
Frequently asked questions
1. Is a product made from a base formula lower in quality than a custom one?
Not in itself. A base formula is a working formula the factory already makes on its own line. The difference is control and exclusivity, not quality: with a base you change less, and other brands may use the same skeleton.
2. Can I bring a formula from another country and have it made in Japan?
Yes, as a development project. The factory checks every ingredient against Japan’s Standards for Cosmetics, including the positive lists for preservatives and UV filters. Ingredients that are allowed elsewhere but not in Japan, or that exceed Japan’s limit for that product type, have to change before samples.
3. What does a factory need from me before it will quote?
The product type and use, the destination market, the texture and scent you want, ingredients to feature and avoid, the claims you plan to print, the container and who supplies it, and an expected quantity range. Ranges are acceptable; blanks lead to a quote built on assumptions.
4. Will I own the formula?
That depends on the route and on what you agree. For a base formula, expect the factory to keep the rights in its base. For a custom formula, agree before development starts whether you receive the full formula, an ingredient list, or exclusive use. Put it in writing.
5. How many sample rounds should I expect?
We do not give a number, because it depends on how specific the brief is and how far the formula is from the factory’s existing work. Base formulas usually need fewer adjustments. Each round goes faster when your feedback arrives as one numbered list.