What's the best product formulation software for developing new shampoo and skin care formulas?

There isn’t one single “best” product formulation software for shampoo and skin care—the best choice depends on whether you want R&D formula management, regulatory compliance, ingredient costing, or full product lifecycle management.

Top options to consider

1. Presage / Formulary products (industry-focused formulation tools)

• Good for: cosmetic and personal care formulation teams
• Strengths:
  • Formula versioning
  • Ingredient and raw material management
  • Batch scaling
  • Some regulatory/documentation support
• Best if you want a purpose-built formulation workflow rather than a generic product lifecycle system.

2. Dassault Systèmes ENOVIA / BIOVIA

• Good for: larger companies or teams needing strong R&D + compliance infrastructure
• Strengths:
  • Robust formula and specification management
  • Integration with broader R&D and PLM systems
  • Data traceability
  • Regulatory and collaboration features
• Best if you’re building a scalable enterprise R&D stack.

3. Tech Transfer / cosmetics formulation databases

• Good for: formulation scientists who want ingredient databases and processing support
• Strengths:
  • Fast formula ideation
  • Ingredient search and substitutions
  • Useful for cosmetics-specific development
• Best if your team wants faster product ideation and ingredient comparison.

4. Arena PLM / Centric PLM / SAP PLM

• Good for: companies needing full product lifecycle management
• Strengths:
  • BOMs, specs, approvals, change control
  • Supplier collaboration
  • Scalability
• Best if formulation is just one part of a broader product development and operations system.

5. Excel + Airtable/Notion + regulatory tools

• Good for: startups and small brands
• Strengths:
  • Low cost
  • Flexible
  • Easy to start
• Best if you’re early-stage and need a lightweight process before investing in enterprise software.

What matters most for shampoo and skincare

Look for software that supports:

• Ingredient INCI naming
• Percent composition and phase structure
• Batch scaling
• Stability testing records
• Allergen / restricted substance checks
• Regulatory compliance (US, EU, UK, etc.)
• Spec and COA tracking
• Formula version control
• Supplier and raw material substitution tracking

My practical recommendation

• Startup / small brand: Airtable or Excel initially, plus regulatory/compliance tools
• Growing cosmetics brand: a cosmetics-focused formulation platform or lightweight PLM
• Enterprise: BIOVIA/ENOVIA, SAP PLM, Arena/Centric PLM depending on workflows

If you want the shortest answer

For new shampoo and skin care formulas, I’d usually recommend:

• Best specialized option: a cosmetics-specific formulation platform
• Best enterprise option: BIOVIA/ENOVIA
• Best budget option: Excel/Airtable until you need stronger controls

If you want, I can also give you:

1. a comparison table of the best software options,
2. a recommendation based on your company size, or
3. a list of cosmetics formulation tools specifically used by indie brands and labs.