From brief to production: a realistic timeline for your first beauty product

“Can we launch in three months?” is one of the first questions new brands ask. The honest answer is usually “it depends on the packaging”. Formulation gets most of the attention, but launches slip most often in the steps around it: packaging that arrives late, a change that reaches one supplier and not another, documents left to the end.

Here’s what happens between a first brief and finished goods, with typical ranges for each step. Every project is different, so treat these as a starting point for planning rather than a promise.

The steps

1. Brief and first quotes: one to three weeks

You share what you want to make, your target price and your markets. Manufacturers reply with questions, a rough unit cost and their minimums. A specific brief shortens this step more than anything else.

2. Formulation and samples: one to three months

For an ODM product, the lab prepares a first sample from your brief. Each round of samples, feedback and revision often takes two to four weeks, and most products go through two or three rounds before the formula is final. Changing direction late, such as a new texture or a new key ingredient, starts the clock again.

3. Packaging: a few weeks to several months, in parallel

Stock bottles, jars and pumps can be ready in a few weeks. Custom molds, special finishes or printed decoration can take two to three months or more, and each component may come from a different supplier. This is why packaging should start alongside formulation, not after it.

4. Stability and compatibility testing: several weeks to a few months

Once the formula and packaging are close to final, the manufacturer tests how the product holds up over time and at different temperatures, and whether it reacts with its packaging. If a test fails, you may need another formula or packaging change, so start as early as you can.

5. Artwork, labels and documents: two to six weeks

Labels and cartons need the final ingredient list, the right claims and the information each market requires. Printed packaging needs approved artwork before production. Regulatory documents, such as US FDA registration and listing or an EU safety report, take time to prepare.

6. Production: three to six weeks

After you confirm the order and all materials arrive at the factory, production and filling begin. Many brands approve a pre-production sample first. Then comes quality inspection.

7. Shipping: one to six weeks

Air freight is fast and expensive. Sea freight from Korea to the US or Europe takes several weeks door to door once you add booking, customs and handling.

Put together, a first product with stock packaging and an ODM formula can often be ready in four to six months. Custom packaging, a brand-new formula or extra sample rounds can push that to nine months or more.

Where launches lose time

• Packaging decided late. The formula is ready, but the bottle, the pump or the carton is still months away.
• Changes that don’t reach everyone. You switch to frosted glass, and the bottle supplier knows, but the carton supplier is still working from the old dimensions.
• Small spec changes with big effects. Reducing a sheet mask’s essence from 25 ml to 22 ml can lower cost, and it also changes the fill, the pouch, the label and possibly the claims.
• Everyone waiting on someone else. The lab waits for packaging dimensions, packaging waits for artwork, artwork waits for the final ingredient list.
• Paperwork left to the end. Documents for each market can hold up a finished product.

How to keep it moving

• Start packaging with formulation. Pick your packaging direction in the first weeks, even if details change later.
• Keep one current spec. Every partner should work from the same version, and every change should reach everyone it affects.
• Set a target unit cost early. It helps the lab and the packaging suppliers make choices that fit.
• Talk to your partners directly. Questions get answered faster when you know who is making each part of your product.
• Plan documents from day one. Know what each market needs before artwork is final.

Where Andle fits

Andle is an AI manufacturing agent that runs this process with you and your partners in one workspace, for brands that make cosmetics in Korea. It keeps a single current spec, tells every affected partner when something changes, tracks samples, quotes and timelines, and follows up so nobody is left waiting. You work with every manufacturer and supplier directly, by name, from the first quote.

If you’re planning your first product, tell us what you’re making and we’ll send a free feasibility check within 48 hours.