Simple Steps To Prepare Your Bath & Body Workspace

If you’ve discovered the brand new bath & body care supplies at makesy and are eager to start making your own clean beauty products, this blog is for you!

According to Statista Research, the estimated market value of the clean beauty industry is going to hit $22 billion by 2024!

Trends are showing that clean beauty brands being sold at high-end, luxury prices and affordable drugstore prices are performing at a very high level.

This means there is definitely room for you to join the clean beauty movement and thrive!

If you’re taking the exciting leap into the bath & body care industry, it’s super important to make sure your workspace is properly prepped and cleaned before creating new formulas. After all, these products will be going on your face, body, and hair, so they need to be free of all the germs!

You don’t need a big professional lab to create your own body care products, it can be done safely and efficiently in your home as long as you take the right steps to clean and prep the space you’ll be working in.

Thoroughly preparing to create your formulas ensures you’re making products safely AND sets you up for long-term success as a professional body care maker!

clean your workspace

Spray warm soapy water or disinfecting alcohol and wipe your space clean with a lint-free cloth. As a professional body care Maker, you will need to meet the industry standard of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), which simply means you work in a clean space.

A smooth surface is the most ideal when making body care products since it’s easy to wipe down and set your supplies on, so be conscious about any cracks on your tabletops/counters that you’re using as they can risk spills and lead to product contamination. 

properly ventilate the room you’re working in

It’s important to keep a flow of fresh air as you’re creating body care products. Open up windows if possible (with proper netting so insects don’t fly in) and do not work with a fan on as that can ruin your project formulas, especially if you’re using powders. 

clean your making supplies

It’s important to make sure your formula is made as germ-free as possible so you and your customers can reap all the delicious smelling, soothing benefits! Disinfect your supplies by dipping them in a 5% bleach water solution or spray them with disinfecting alcohol, then let them dry or wipe them with a lint-free cloth.

This includes any containers and spatulas or spoons you’re using to mix + blend your formula. Once you finish creating a product, clean your supplies again so they are ready to go for new formulas. Do not let them sit for a long time without being cleaned as this can be hazardous to your next project. 

organize and tidy up your workspace

Get ready to create by having your supplies neatly and readily available. Working in a cluttered space can harm the efficiency + accuracy of your making process so consider your entire making process when organizing your supplies.

Put what you won’t need away and only have your necessary supplies and ingredients available in front of you. It can be helpful to start a project by placing all your unused supplies on one side of your workspace and then once used, place them on the other side.

You can also create a checklist of ingredients to mark off once you’ve used them in your formula - you choose whichever process works best for you!

create a storage system

Create a proper storage system for your ingredients, finished products, and any formulas you’ve made that you won’t be using but still want to observe. You may want to create labels and boxes/containers to hold each of these categories, just make sure your storage system works for you and your process so you don’t mix anything up.

prepare a lab journal and formulation sheet

Your lab journal will provide space for all your notes as you’re making new body care products and your formulation sheet will hold concrete details about ingredients you’re using per formula, the amount you’re using per ingredient, and what your manufacturing method is. Writing these important details down will prevent mistakes and the risk of forgetting how a formula was made. 

use personal protective equipment

Use Personal Protective Equipment aka PPE to stay safe and healthy. Although you’re making with organic ingredients there are still risks involved when using some of them, so make sure your skin and eyes are thoroughly protected with safety goggles, a lab apron, and safety/heat-proof gloves.

If you’re a stylish Maker (and we know you are!), we recommend these ultra-chic Safety Glasses or Goggles and Maker Apron for extra layers of protection from unwanted (hot) splashes. If you have long hair, you may want to consider tying your hair back while mixing formulas so you don’t contaminate products with any loose hairs.

have a first aid kit handy

Lastly, have a first aid kit and eyewash readily available just in case! We sincerely hope you won’t ever need these, however, it’s important to have them on hand in case of accidental splashes that require special care and attention. 

wash your hands often

Always be sure to wash your hands before making a new project, after making a project, and whenever it is possible in between mixing formulas. Consistently clean hands are extremely important in the body care making process.

you're ready to get making

Once you’ve completed these steps, you’re well on your way to testing and creating your own clean bath & body care products! This is definitely an industry to get excited about and we’re extra eager to see makers join the clean beauty movement.

Look out for more bath & body care resources on our social pages and tag us on Instagram @makesy when you post your own formulas!

Check out this project for some body care inspiration: how to make sweet flowerbomb bath bombs.