If you’re passionate about hair care and want to make hair conditioners to sell, you’ll need to learn the basics first. It can be a great home business if you know how to make and package hair conditioners for selling.
So, how to make hair conditioners to sell? Choose or develop a formula that you can recreate. If you’re using an online formula, be sure to make your own modifications before you sell to avoid any legal issues. Once you’ve chosen your formula, purchase your ingredients. follow the recipe, make sure it’s shelf-stable, and package neatly.
Making hair conditioner can seem like a daunting task, but once you choose a formula and get the hang of it, you’ll be up and running with your small business in no time. Read my full guide below on how to make hair conditioners to sell to help you get started.
How To Choose A Hair Conditioner Formula
Some hair conditioner formulas are more involved than others and require more steps and ingredients. The biggest thing to consider when making hair conditioners to sell is the formula.
Once you’ve decided on a formula, the rest will fall into place. But sometimes it’s easier said than done – so how do you choose a hair conditioner formula?
Consider the following 4 factors:
- Your kitchen space
- Your chemical knowledge
- Your desired hair type
- Your packaging
Kitchen Space
The amount of space you have to work with in your kitchen will be a major factor in the type of formula you can use.
If you have a small kitchen space, stick with a simple formula that has a short list of ingredients and just a few simple steps.
Formulas with a small amount of ingredients and easy steps can sometimes be for conditioner bars instead of liquid conditioner, so keep this in mind when making your decision.
Chemical Knowledge
Another major factor is your own chemical knowledge. As you read over some of the hair conditioner formulas out there, you’ll notice that a lot of them have scientific chemical names in the ingredients list.
This doesn’t mean the chemicals aren’t good or healthy. A lot of times, the scientific names are just fancy names for simple vitamins or other additives that are normal to put in hair care products. And even though they sound scary, preservatives are necessary to keep your product shelf-stable.
You’ll need to consider your own working knowledge of chemicals and how to combine and manipulate them when choosing a formula.
This is especially true if you plan to use a formula you found online rather than developing your own.
You can’t use someone else’s formula for your own profit without entering a legal business agreement with them. You’re free to use their formula for your own use, but once you start selling, you run into legal issues.
You can alleviate those legal issues by simply developing your own formula with your own chemical knowledge, or modifying an existing formula to be uniquely your own.
There are some great formulas online that you can start with. Check out the two videos below for references.
One video is from WholeElise, who also has a website where she details her hair conditioner formula. Remember to change it up a bit before bottling to sell.
The other video is from Ariane Arsenault, who has some great tips throughout her video for how to bottle the conditioner. Remember to tweak the formula and make it your own before selling.
Compatible Hair Types
You’ll also need to consider the type of hair you want to market towards.
Different hair types need different things. If you go to the hair care aisle in the grocery store, you’ll notice there are plenty of different hair conditioners made for varying hair types and hair needs.
Do you want to create something hydrating and moisturizing? Something fully natural, organic, or plant-based? Something designed to strengthen hair? Something to help support dyed hair?
Think of the type of hair you’re trying to cater to, then search for or design a hair conditioner formula to support and enhance that hair type.
Packaging
We mentioned earlier that some formulas are for hair conditioner bars rather than liquid hair conditioner.
You’ll want to decide how you plan to package your hair conditioner. Are you planning to bottle it? To put it in a pot? To create a conditioner bar that you can package with paper?
Some packaging can be more expensive or harder to do than others. If you plan to bottle your hair conditioner, you’ll likely want to use a bottler, which can be a hefty investment and will take a lot to clean after each batch.
It may also be pricey to continue to buy bulk amounts of empty bottles or pots to fill with your product.
If you plan to create a hair conditioner bar, you’ll have an easier time with the end packaging. All you’ll need to do is wrap it in paper or plastic. But remember that conditioner bars require a mold to set, whereas liquid conditioners do not.
There are pros and cons to each way, so consider how you plan to package your product and find or develop a formula that suits your needs.
Common Hair Conditioner Ingredients
Although the formulas will vary with the ingredients used, you can probably count on using at least a few of the following ingredients:
- Natural oils (such as coconut oil, argan oil, jojoba oil, grapeseed oil)
- Emulsifying wax
- Essential oils
- Vitamins
- Water
- Shea butter
- Preservatives of choice
Conditioner works by coating your hair in gentle oils to protect it against damage due to environmental factors such as humidity and temperature.
So it makes sense that the oils will be the primary basis for your conditioner. The types of oils used vary by formula, and you may play with the ratios to decide which amount of each oil works best in your hair conditioner.
It’s important to use lighter oils that aren’t heavy in fat so that the oil doesn’t cling too hard to your hair and weigh it down.
Emulsifying wax is what’s used to bind the oils with the water. Since oil and water don’t naturally mix, your hair conditioner may separate over time if it’s not bonded with emulsifying wax.
The wax will also help your conditioner stay liquid and fluid. Without it, your oils may tend to harden in cooler temperatures and turn into a block.
If you’re making hair conditioner bars, then you won’t need emulsifying wax.
Essential oils are used to give the hair conditioner fragrance. Always start small and add more as you go. Essential oils are potent, so just a few drops can go a long way.
Again, this is something you’ll want to test and play with the ratios on to get right.
Vitamins and shea butter can be added based on the type of hair you’re targeting and the type of conditioner you want to make. Neither are mandatory additives, but they’re often used for hair conditioner recipes.
Tips For Making Hair Conditioners To Sell
If you’ve developed your hair conditioner formula and you’re ready to get started, here are some of our best tips.
The first, and probably most important, tip is to follow your formula. Make sure you pay attention to the measurements, the steps, the temperatures, and follow the formula closely.
Deviating from the formula with a different temperature or ratio, or adding an ingredient too late or too early, can cause issues with the hair conditioner.
Since this is a product you’re selling and not just keeping for yourself, it’s important to get it right. Making a mistake in the process can be costly, as you’ll have to throw out the whole batch and waste all the ingredients before starting from scratch.
One good tip about following the formula is to scrape down the sides of your measuring cups when pouring in your oils.
Oil is thick and will stick to your measuring cup. Using a rubber spatula, scrape around the sides of the measuring cup thoroughly before moving forward in your process.
This will ensure your hair conditioner has the proper amount of oils. Another great tip is to use low heat. The fats in the oils you use can react negatively to high heat, so it’s important to keep things on a low heat.
You can use a bain-marie to control the temperature better. A bain-marie is a water bath, or the process of heating something by placing it in its own container, then placing that container in a pot of hot water.
Also remember to sterilize your bottles before packaging. Bottles bought in bulk online or in a store are not considered sterile or safe for packaging yet.
Before you fill your bottles, wipe them down with isopropyl alcohol. You can use a paper towel to wipe down the outside, then pour some isopropyl alcohol inside the bottle, put the cap on it, and shake it to sterilize the inside.
Finally, be sure to include all relevant information on your packaging labels.
Your labels should have your brand name, the amount of conditioner in the package, a note that states this product is handmade, instructions for application, and all the ingredients used.
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