Service
The Accelerator
The "Smart" Launch Strategy
You don’t always need to reinvent the wheel. Our Accelerator Program allows you to skip the 12-month R&D phase by leveraging our library of stability-verified bases.
Our Accelerator pathway serves as a premium private label skincare alternative, offering market-ready bases with custom active ingredients for rapid launch.
You choose the backbone (Cream, Serum, Cleanser). We add the 'Hero' ingredients that tell your brand’s story. It is the perfect balance of speed, safety, and customization.
Our Formulation Roadmap
Base & Actives
1-2 weeks- Select from our library of premium bases (verified for stability). Then, we work with you to choose your "Marketing Hero" ingredients—whether that's Manuka Honey, Vitamin C, or a custom botanical blend.
Customization
2-4 weeks- Our lab integrates your chosen actives and fragrance into the base. We ensure the new ingredients don't disrupt the formula's integrity. You receive prototypes to approve the final sensory feel.
Stability
9-10 weeks- We perform stability testing to ensure the changes in the formula does not effect the integrity. This saves months of time compared to full custom R&D.
Production Scale-Up
2-3 weeks- Once approved, we move straight to manufacturing. Your unique product is filled, labeled, and ready for retail.
What a stability-verified base actually means
A base is a finished formula architecture — the emulsion system, the preservative system, the pH and the texture — that has already been through our 12-week accelerated stability programme and come out the other side intact. The chemistry that usually breaks a new product has already been solved and proven.
That is the whole reason The Accelerator is faster than starting from scratch. We are not testing whether a cream can hold together. We are testing whether it still holds together once your actives are in it. That is a much smaller question, and it takes months rather than a year to answer.
What is customised, and what is not
You choose: the base architecture (cream, serum, cleanser, oil, balm), the hero actives that carry your brand story, the supporting botanicals, the fragrance or a fragrance-free route, and the sensory finish within the limits the base allows.
We keep fixed: the underlying emulsion and preservative system. Minor texture adjustments are possible. Rebuilding the texture from the ground up is not — that changes the emulsion, which invalidates the stability data and moves the project onto The Visionary pathway, where the full testing programme is priced in.
This boundary is the honest trade. You are buying proven chemistry and the time it saves. In exchange, the backbone stays as it is.
How the 3–4 months are actually spent
Weeks 1–2 — base and actives. We match your brief to a base and agree the actives. Most of this is decision-making, not lab work, and it moves at whatever pace you can make choices.
Weeks 3–6 — customisation. Your actives and fragrance go into the base. We check that nothing destabilises the system, and you receive prototypes to approve the feel, the scent and the finish.
Weeks 7–16 — stability. The customised formula runs through accelerated stability testing. This is the longest block and it cannot be compressed; it is the part that tells you the product will survive a shipping container and a shelf.
Final 2–3 weeks — scale-up. Pilot batch, quality control, and either production with us for smaller runs or a managed handover to one of our vetted manufacturing partners.
What the investment covers
The indicative range is NZ$2,000–5,000, and it covers R&D time, prototype samples, packaging compatibility testing and the stability programme. Where a project lands in that range depends on how many actives you are introducing and how many prototype rounds it takes to get the sensory profile right.
What sits outside it: your packaging, your label design, your regulatory registration fees, and the production run itself. We will tell you what those are likely to cost for your market before you commit, so the number you plan against is the real one.
When The Accelerator is the wrong choice
We would rather say so early than take a project that cannot work. The Accelerator is not the right route if you need to own the underlying formula outright — that is The Visionary, where IP transfers to you in full. It is not right if your concept depends on a texture or delivery system none of our bases use. And it is not right if you already have a formula you simply want validated, which is what Formula Supplied exists for.
If your project is one of those, we will point you at the pathway that fits, or at someone better placed than us. Discovery calls are free and there is no obligation on either side.
Try before you commit
Start with a Discovery Kit
Not ready for a full project? Choose up to two stock-formula samples to trial first — $89, shipped worldwide.
Explore the Discovery KitFAQ
No. Private label is putting a sticker on a stock product that 50 other brands sell. The Accelerator is Semi-Custom. We chemically alter the formula with your specific active ingredients, extracts, and scents. It is unique to you.
Minor tweaks are possible, but significant texture changes would move you into the Full Custom R&D pathway, as that requires re-doing full stability testing.
We handle the R&D and pilot batches. For full-scale production, we can either manufacture in-house (for smaller runs) or transfer your formula seamlessly to one of our vetted manufacturing partners. We manage that handover for you.
The Accelerator pathway is designed for cost-efficiency.
Indicative investment: $2,000 – $5,000 (Includes R&D, Samples, and Compatibility Testing). Final investment is shared after your discovery call, once your brief is understood.
The IP Model: You own the 'Finished SKU Profile' (your unique combination of base + actives). The underlying base formula remains the intellectual property of The INCI Lab, allowing us to keep your costs low and speed high.
You own the finished SKU profile — your specific combination of base, actives, fragrance and concentrations, together with the specification and documentation needed to have it made. The underlying base architecture stays the intellectual property of The INCI Lab and is licensed to you for that product. If you need to own the formula outright, The Visionary transfers full IP to you before manufacturing begins.
Yes, and it is common. We will need the technical data sheet, the safety data sheet and the recommended use level before we start, so we can check compatibility with the base and confirm the ingredient is permitted in every market you plan to sell in. If an active turns out to be incompatible or restricted in one of your markets, we will tell you during the first two weeks rather than after testing.
It occasionally does — that is what testing is for, and it is far better to find out at week 10 than after a production run. We diagnose what caused it, usually an interaction between an active and the emulsion or preservative system, and reformulate around it. Minor reformulation and a re-test sit inside the project. If the cause is a hero active that fundamentally will not work in that base, we will talk you through the options, including moving to a different base or to a full custom route.
We build region-specific compliance documentation for New Zealand, Australia (AICIS), the United States (FDA), the United Kingdom and the European Union. Tell us your target markets at the brief stage, because the answer changes which ingredients and claims are available to you. Retro-fitting compliance after a formula is finalised is the most expensive mistake we see indie founders make.