I spent the last days in Hungary. This is my home country and also, the place where my company is going to be located. With the time passing, I am becoming every day more excited.
There are still so many things to do and finalize.
In this post, I am aiming at summarizing the most important points that have to be clarified to start the business.
Production place
This was the first question I faced once I decided on starting my own cosmetic business. Within the European Union there are clear rules that need to be respected if someone is producing and selling cosmetic products.
There need to be a dedicated production place other than the own kitchen, where the production can take place.
Although I live in Berlin for the sixth year now, I chose to locate my kitchen in Hungary, in a building on my grandmother’s property.
I am happy with this choice, since I wanted to start my business in my home country that I love and this way I can also spend more time with my relatives.
The cosmetic kitchen – to call it that way- is located in a separate building which stands next to the two-storied family house of my grandmother. She has this building built to be able to store some staff and also, she has been using it as summer kitchen to make marmalade and other delicious things. 🙂
To be able to start the production here, there were some changes that had to be made:
- Water and electricity needed to be installed in the building
- Isolation of the roof was made
- The floor needed to be evened, tiles were laid
- Tailor-made kitchen came in with a double-sink and a separate small sink for handwashing only
- The entrance door together with the windows got a mosquito-net.
These have been all important steps to ensure a properly safe production process in line with the EU regulations. I am pleased to start the work here soon…..!!! 😀
Ingredients
Well yesss, I believe so far this part of the job has been the most challenging! I enjoy the research of suppliers, products and every kind of information on the web and I think I am pretty good at finding things, but this has been hard work!!
It is not easy at all to find a company which has
- good quality
- can supply with the quantity you want
- and offers a reasonable price
After long months of searching, requesting samples and negotiation, today I have:
- the supplier of organic plant oils and butters: coconut, virgin olive oil, cocoa butter, castor oil
- a Hungarian supplier of cold-pressed plant oils
- three essential oil distilleries I will work with. Some essential oils I can buy from a Hungarian distillery. They plant, grow, harvest and process their own plants. The most I love their lavender and peppermint oils! 🙂
- I have found a Hungarian company, which is processing dried herbs and vegetables
Still to discover is a good and reliable supplier of French cosmetic clays. I have found a great company in France, but the minimum order quantity is 60 kgs at a price that is not convincing at all. I keep searching…
Kitchen Equipment
Beside the ingredients there is certain equipment, which I need to make the my products:
- Balance scales
- Thermometer
- Protection cloth, goggles, gloves
- Pots of different size
- Soap molds
- Soap cutter
- Shelves to store the soaps during the curing period
- Soap stamp
- Blender and
- other small kitchen equipment to process some ingredients: hand mill and juice press
With the appropriate equipment and the ingredients there I will produce high-quality, natural and handmade products. 🙂
linea márti 