What is cosmetic processing?

Cosmetic processing refers to the manufacturing workflows used to produce personal care, beauty, and physical aesthetic products from raw materials. Examples of cosmetic products include makeup, perfume, hair dye, nail polish, and moisturizer. Tangential products that serve a hygienic or body accessorizing function are often considered to be cosmetics as well, such as facial cleaner, teeth whitening solution, skincare products, and deodorant.

In general, cosmetic processing consists of ingredient preparation, mixing/blending, thermal treatment, stabilization, and quality control verification prior to downstream packaging steps. Since cosmetic products vary by their physical properties, additional advanced processes are often involved, such as distillation for fine fragrances, filtration for natural oils, and cutting/grinding/milling for plant-based ingredient extraction.