Chicago, IL

Cosmetic Contract Manufacturer in Chicago, IL

Chicago's chemist-founded cosmetic contract manufacturer for indie skincare, haircare, and grooming brands. MOQ 500. Custom development, reverse engineering, BYOF, and private label — all run domestically through the Chicago lab.

Formula 117 is a boutique cosmetic contract manufacturer operating out of Chicago, Illinois. The lab is founded and run by a degreed cosmetic chemist with 10+ years of formulation experience across major retail and indie beauty brands. If you're an indie brand founder or emerging beauty company sourcing cosmetic manufacturing in the Midwest, you're in the right place.

Four manufacturing paths. MOQ 500. Same chemist from bench prototype to production batch. Domestic only — no offshoring, no white-labeling, no drop-shipping from a third-party warehouse.

10+ Years
Chemist Experience
500 Units
MOQ
19–30 Weeks
Custom Timeline
Chicago, IL
Domestic Lab
Four Paths

Four manufacturing paths for Chicago and Midwest brands.

Midwest Advantage

What Midwest brands get working with a Chicago lab.

Most large contract manufacturers are West Coast or Utah. Most low-MOQ shops can't formulate from scratch. Formula 117 is a chemist-led boutique manufacturer in Chicago — close enough to visit, focused enough to actually iterate, deep enough on chemistry to develop a custom formula and run it.

Domestic, USA-made — no offshoring or white-labeling.
Midwest proximity — Chicago and Chicagoland brand owners can visit the lab and meet the chemist on the same trip.
Same chemist from bench prototype to production run. No handoff risk.
No minimum-order inflation — MOQ 500, boutique model.
48–72 hour response time on briefs.
Manufacturing at $2–$3+ per unit at 2,500–5,000 units.
Chemist-Founded

The chemist-founded difference.

Most contract manufacturers in the Midwest run on operations staff and lab technicians. Formulation decisions either go to a separate department or get outsourced to a freelance chemist who hands the formula back and disappears.

Formula 117 runs differently. The degreed cosmetic chemist who founded the lab sits at the bench, runs stability testing, and signs off on production. The same person who develops your formula is the same person scaling it. There is no handoff between formulation and manufacturing — because there is no separate formulation team to hand off to.

That's the entire model. It's not the cheapest way to manufacture cosmetics, and it's not the highest-volume. It's the version where the chemistry actually works.

What We Manufacture

Skincare, haircare, grooming, and specialty — all out of Chicago.

Location & Service Area

Based in Chicago. Serving brands across the Midwest, US, and internationally.

Formula 117 operates out of Chicago, Illinois — by appointment only, Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM Central Time. Service area covers Chicago, Cook County, DuPage County, the Chicago metropolitan area, Illinois, and the broader Midwest. Most clients are not local — they ship to and from Chicago because they want a chemist-led manufacturer, not because they need proximity.

Brand owners are welcome to visit the lab by appointment — typically during pilot batch approval, kickoff for a custom development project, or a manufacturing run review. Direct conversation with the chemist is the entire point of the appointment-only model.

Contact
Formula 117
Chicago, IL
(815) 488-2963
info@formula117.com
FAQ

Common questions about working with a Chicago manufacturer.

Where is Formula 117 located?
Chicago, Illinois. Every product is formulated and manufactured domestically through the Chicago lab — not drop-shipped, offshored, or white-labeled to a third party.
Do you work with brands outside of Chicago or Illinois?
Yes. While the lab is in Chicago, Formula 117 works with indie brands and emerging beauty companies across the United States and internationally. Many clients aren't local — they choose Formula 117 for the chemist-founded model and the boutique MOQ, not proximity.
What is the MOQ for cosmetic contract manufacturing in Chicago?
500 units per SKU across all four service paths — custom formula development, reverse engineering, BYOF, and private label.
What types of cosmetic products do you manufacture in Chicago?
Skincare (serums, creams, oils, eye treatments, cleansers, masks, balms and butters), hair and scalp products, men's grooming, and clinical or specialty formulations.
How long does cosmetic contract manufacturing take?
Depends on the service path. Custom formula development: 19–30 weeks end-to-end. Reverse engineering: 21–29 weeks. BYOF: 8–10 weeks. Private label: 4–6 weeks.
Is Formula 117 a chemist-founded lab?
Yes. The lab is founded and operated by a degreed cosmetic chemist with 10+ years of formulation experience across major retail and indie beauty brands. Every formula is developed and validated by the founding chemist — bench prototype through production scale-up.
What's the difference between Formula 117 and larger contract manufacturers?
Scale, attention, and where the formulation expertise actually sits. Larger manufacturers route brands through sales teams and outsource formulation to a separate department or third-party formulator. At Formula 117, the degreed chemist who developed your formula is the same person running your production batch. MOQ starts at 500 units, not 5,000.

More questions about MOQ, IP ownership, regulatory, or what a project timeline actually looks like? See the cosmetic contract manufacturing FAQ.

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