Complete List of Equipment for Beginner Skincare Creators

You are starting to make skincare products, but you do not want to waste hundreds of dollars on equipment you do not need. Learning about the equipment for beginner skincare creators will help you save money and have quality products you need.

When starting to make skincare products for yourself or others, you need basic supplies to produce the best products. Each tool you use has a purpose in making your skincare products safe for your skin and others.

The tools you buy do not need to be the best of the best starting out. You can upgrade later.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Personal protective equipment (PPE) is a phrase that most of us have heard in the last two years with COVID. When making skincare products, you need PPE. Having gloves, masks, and protective eyeglasses will help keep you safe when making skincare products.

You do not need masks and glass every time you make skincare products. Masks and protective eyeglasses are necessary for some ingredients that you use, such as fine powders that you could breathe in. 

Gloves are always necessary when working with ingredients. Some ingredients are not safe for your skin at a 100% usage rate. Gloves will keep your skin free from possible irritation.

Also, when sanitizing your equipment, you should use gloves. Getting sanitizer on your skin could lead to irritation.

Gram Scale

Another piece of equipment for beginner skincare creators is a scale. When looking for a scale, you want one that will weigh in grams. It is best to get one that will weigh 0.01 grams. 

A scale is an important piece of equipment that you will buy for your skincare creations. Weighing ingredients out versus measuring them out in cups or tablespoons will help the product be constantly the same. 

When you use a cup or tablespoon, you can not be accurate all the time. Sometimes when you make the recipe, your one tablespoon could be mounded, while other times, it is not. When you weigh out your ingredients, it is always constant with that gram amount.

Why weigh out your products in grams and not ounces? Grams are smaller and more accurate when making a skincare product.

Most kitchen scales will weigh in grams. You can find them in the store or online.

If you are looking for a top-grade scale, check out this Ohaus scale.

Droppers/Pipettes, Paper Cups, and Plastic Spoons

Some equipment is to help you accurately weigh your ingredients and keep them pure. 

Some of the equipment for weighing out your ingredients are pipettes, paper cups, and plastic spoons.

Droppers/Pipettes

A pipette helps you to weigh out the ingredient precisely. These pipets will save you a lot of time and hassle when measuring out ingredients. They will help you weigh out each liquid ingredient precisely.

Use a new pipette for each ingredient. You do not want to contaminate them. Pipettes are cheap, so do not be stingy with using them.

Paper Cups

The paper cups are another piece of equipment for beginner skincare creators. Paper cups help with measuring out ingredients. You can use one cup per ingredient. If you pour too much into a cup containing only that ingredient, you can use a pipette to take some of the liquid away. 

Once you have finished weighing the product in your cup, you can combine it with the other ingredients in the beaker.

Plastic Spoons

Plastic spoons will help weigh hard or pellet-like ingredients like beeswax. Using a plastic spoon to scoop out the ingredients will help you make less of a mess.

Beakers or Heat Resistant Containers

The containers you use in each phase of the formulation should be heat resistant. Most skincare formulators prefer beakers to put the ingredients in.

You do not need to use beakers as your heat-resistant container. You can use mason jars or glass heat-resistant measuring cups. 

The reason you need a heat-resistant container is because it will be going into a double boiler.

Double Boiler

You can create a double boiler by using a skillet-style pan with an inch of water in the bottom. You will place the heat-resistant containers in the pan with water. 

Tinfoil

Place tinfoil on the top of each heat-resistant container before placing them in the double boiler. 

The tinfoil is to stop foreign objects from falling into the containers. It also will help by decreasing evaporation.

Thermometer

Another piece of equipment for beginner skincare creators is a thermometer. A handheld thermometer gun is helpful when taking the temperature of your ingredients in the double boiler.

A temperature gun will give you quick digital readings for your ingredients.

Coffee Frother or Immersion Blender

When your phases are ready to be combined, you can use a coffee frother or immersion blender. 

When making a smaller batch, a coffee frother is helpful. This is because it is not as big as an immersion blender.

I like to use my coffee frother in my test batches or small batches that I am making. Although a coffee frother seems to add air into the product more than an immersion blender.

An immersion blender is helpful when doing a larger batch of a skincare product. This is because it has a longer handle than a coffee frother. 

Measuring the pH 

Testing the pH of a skincare product is very important. The pH value of our skin is between 4.5 and 5.5, meaning our skin is slightly acidic, mentions the School of Natural Skincare. We want our skincare products to be right around the pH of our skin.

You can use pH testing strips or a pH meter when testing the pH. When starting, the cheapest option is using pH testing strips.

When looking for a pH meter, you will want to find one you can use without diluting the finished product. Look for a pH meter that will give you an accurate reading when you stick it in the finished product.

Spatula

A spatula is a helpful tool in every stage of making a skincare product. When you measure your ingredients in a cup, a spatula helps you get every last drop into the final container.

When you are blending your phases, it is helpful to have a spatula to get all the product off the sides of the containers to make sure everything is combined well.

At the end of making your skincare product and you need to transfer it into a container, a spatula can help with that as well.

Container for Finished Products

The container you use can vary based on the product you are making. For example, you may want to put body scrubs in open jars, and with lotion, you may want to put it in pump containers.

When looking for containers, it is best to know what size you want to put them in and if you want them in a clear or colored jar. If you use a colored container, it will help keep direct sunlight off of your product.

Buckets and Sanitizer

When you finish creating your skincare product, it is time to clean the equipment.

To clean up, you will fill two large buckets with distilled water. One bucket will have a sanitizer tablet in it, and the other will be for rinsing off the equipment that you used.

The best buckets to use are 2.5 gallons.

The sanitizer that you can use for cleaning your equipment is Steramine Tablets. Wear gloves when you work with the sanitizer to prevent any irritation it could cause your skin.

Conclusion

These are the basic tools you will need to start making skincare products. As you continue to grow or start selling products, you can upgrade to better equipment.

Learning about the equipment for beginner skincare creators will help you to save money and buy the right tools.

When I was a beginner, having information on what to buy helped me not waist money on things I did not need.

Be creative and make products that wow!