Private label beauty products for retailers: target national-brand quality, built to your specifications

Retailer private label cosmetics are beauty or personal care products sold under a retailer's name, or a brand it owns, and made for it by a manufacturer to its specifications. The retailer defines the positioning, price and specifications; the manufacturer formulates, produces and documents the products.

In France, the Consumer Code defines a retailer private label product as one whose characteristics are set by the company selling it at retail and owning the brand. In cosmetics, store brands span the entire beauty and personal care category: shower gels, shampoos, facial skincare, body creams, sun care and toothpaste.

A store-brand range can start with an existing formula from our catalog (as with white label cosmetics) or custom development. In either case, the product carries only your retailer's name.

A store-brand cosmetics range gives retailers control over margin, positioning and shelf differentiation, alongside national brands sold everywhere in the same form.

• Your purchase price, negotiated directly with the manufacturer, with no brand intermediary between the factory and your shelves.
• A product your competitors do not stock : your brand, your formula and your packaging on the shelf.
• A range designed for stock turnover : you choose the products, fragrances and sizes that match your sales.
• Customer loyalty to your retailer, rather than to a brand also stocked next door.

Consumers have already made the shift: we discuss it in our article on the growth of store-brand cosmetics.

We formulate your store-brand range to the level you specify: texture, fragrance, perceived performance, ingredient list and target purchase price. You identify the product in your category you want to benchmark, and we develop a formula unique to your retailer.

• Benchmarking against your specifications : you describe the desired product (sensory feel, scent, lather, finish), and our formulators work to that brief and send free samples for comparison.
• 1,000+ existing formulas as a starting point: a more efficient approach than starting from scratch.
• Clean formulas available : sulfate-free and silicone-free, depending on your range's positioning.
• Moroccan ingredients you can highlight : Moroccan-origin argan oil and rhassoul (ghassoul) clay, for a range that stands out on the shelf.
• Optional testing by a partner laboratory in Europe accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 (tolerance and dermatological testing): we agree on the appropriate program for each product with you.
• A Cosmetic Product Safety Report (CPSR) signed by an independent external assessor.
• Your retailer owns the formula.

We do not copy any brand: we develop an original formula that meets your requirements.

Carmel manufactures more than 1,000 formulas in one factory: a buying group can approve a single supplier for several beauty and personal care categories, supported by one quality documentation package.

• Body cleansing : shower gels and soaps, black soap (beldi) and everyday care
• Hair care : store-brand shampoos, conditioners, masks and oils
• Body care : body creams and lotions, plant oils and argan oil, scrubs
• Face care : cleansers, serums, day and night creams, masks
• Sun care : sunscreens and after-sun care
• Oral care : toothpaste and oral care products
• Men's, baby and maternity care and other catalog categories, on request

For pharmacy and drugstore private label ranges, see our dermocosmetics laboratory.

A cosmetics supplier for retailers, from value to premium

Whether your store brand is a value, core or premium range, the same manufacturer adapts the formula, packaging and purchase price to each tier. You keep one point of contact, one quality process and a consistent identity across the category.

Before approving a private label manufacturer, a procurement team checks compliance, quality, logistics and the ability to meet specifications or respond to a tender. Here are the items commonly requested and what we provide for each.

Send us your buying group's checklist or tender documentation: we respond point by point before any commitment.

For European and Moroccan retailers, Carmel offers a Mediterranean alternative to Asian manufacturers: an ISO 22716-certified factory close to Europe that handles the European regulatory compliance of your store-brand range itself.

European standards

• ISO 22716 : the reference standard for cosmetic good manufacturing practices under Regulation (EC) No. 1223/2009.
• Product Information File (PIF) and CPNP notification filing handled by Carmel: your store-brand range reaches the shelf with its regulatory documentation.
• A factory your quality teams can audit and visit, by appointment, in Aït Melloul (Greater Agadir). A second production site is planned.
• Project support in French, from specifications to production.
• An origin with a story to tell : Moroccan argan oil and rhassoul clay, for a range with its own story.

Retail chains in Morocco

For retail chains in Morocco, Carmel manufactures locally with ONSSA and AMMPS authorizations. Your store-brand range is made in the country where it is sold.

We adapt each product's size and packaging to your category: consumer bottles and tubes, refills, 1 L sizes, and bulk 5 L and 20 L formats for professional channels.

• Choose bottles, tubes, pumps and caps with our service for packaging and sizes
• Graphic design reflecting your retailer's identity
• Refills to extend the life of the bottle on the shelf
• EAN barcodes and logistics handled by Carmel
• Bulk 5 L and 20 L formats for professional categories or cash-and-carry
• Accessible MOQ: quantities are agreed with you during your consultation

A store-brand project starts with a free consultation and progresses through successive approvals: you commit only after testing the samples.

1. Free consultation or tender present your retailer, product categories and specifications, or send us your tender.
2. Proposal a selection of existing formulas or custom development, positioning and target purchase price.
3. Free samples your team compares, comments and approves. Your quality team can audit the factory.
4. Packaging and labeling reflecting your retailer's identity.
5. Regulatory documentation PIF, safety report and CPNP notification filing for the European Union (your retailer remains the Responsible Person); EAN barcodes.
6. Production, packing and logistics from our ISO 22716-certified factory.