Bespoke barrier and sensitive-skin care manufacturing
British VitaTech is a sensitive skin care manufacturer that develops and makes custom barrier creams, serums and sprays for brands worldwide, from formulation to finished product, and the brand owns the formula.
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A sensitive skin care manufacturer, fragrance-free by default
Bespoke barrier creams and balms, serums and essences, gentle cleansers, mists and hypochlorous acid sprays are what we develop and make in Leicester as a sensitive skin care manufacturer for premium wellness brands. We build short, considered ingredient lists around a lipid core of ceramides, cholesterol and fatty acids, with niacinamide, panthenol, centella, beta-glucan and ectoin for hydration and comfort, and no fragrance or essential oils by default. We take each product from the first formula to a finished product that is assessed, notified and ready to sell in the UK, the EU and the US. It comes with its specification, stability and challenge test reports, the CPSR and a certificate of analysis for every batch.
Some private label sensitive skin care is a stock formula that anyone can buy under their own name. Bespoke development gives your brand its own barrier system, preservative choice, texture and pack, with tolerance and stability data behind them. Your formula is yours, with its specification and data, as our formula ownership commitment sets out.
- Barrier creams and balms. Emulsions that combine ceramides, cholesterol and fatty acids, and richer balms for very dry skin, made fragrance-free by default.
- Serums and essences. Light layers of niacinamide, panthenol, centella, beta-glucan or ectoin for hydration and a calmer look.
- Gentle cleansers. Cleansing milks, gels and balms built on mild surfactants and set near skin pH.
- Mists and hypochlorous acid sprays. Simple sprays for cleansing and refreshing skin, made and claimed as cosmetics.
- Microbiome-friendly formulas. Prebiotic and postbiotic ingredients, such as oligosaccharides and ferment lysates, in formulas tested for their effect on the skin's resident microbes.
- Body and scalp. Barrier lotions for dry skin from our body care range, and comfort-focused haircare and scalp care.
Euromonitor says ceramides, cholesterol, niacinamide and panthenol "will remain foundational", and finds that "early ageing begins with barrier decline" (Euromonitor, 2026). Centella and other soothing actives are staples of Korean routines, as our page on Korean-style skincare explains, and barrier lipids sit under many peptide skincare formulas too. Our skincare and cosmetic manufacturing hub covers the full range and the cosmetics rules in each market.
How a sensitive-skin project runs
Our research and development team runs each project from brief to scale-up. We write the sensitive-skin rules into your brief, choose actives and a preservative system for tolerance, and make laboratory samples for you to judge on texture, finish and skin feel. The lead sample goes into stability and challenge testing in its final pack while we plan the tolerance tests behind your claims, and a pilot batch confirms the process before the first production run. R&D is a paid stage that can be included with an order of the right size.
Barrier lipids, gentle actives and fewer ingredients
The barrier and skin pH
The skin's outer layer works like bricks and mortar: flattened cells set in a lipid matrix of ceramides, cholesterol and fatty acids. Skin's surface is naturally acidic, on average below pH 5 (Lambers and colleagues, International Journal of Cosmetic Science, 2006), so we set leave-on barrier products in a mildly acidic range and build cleansers on mild surfactants that leave those lipids in place.
Barrier actives and what to watch
| Active | What it brings | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Ceramides, cholesterol and fatty acids | Barrier comfort and less dryness | They work as a mix that mirrors the skin's own lipids. Ceramides melt at high temperatures and crystallise easily, so the oil phase, emulsifier and cooling profile are designed around them and checked by microscopy. |
| Niacinamide and panthenol | Barrier support, comfort and hydration | Stable and easy to pair: the backbone of many barrier formulas. |
| Centella asiatica (cica) | A calmer, more comfortable look | A mature, widely traded active, so the grade matters. We specify extracts by their triterpenes, asiaticoside, madecassoside, asiatic acid and madecassic acid, measured by HPLC. |
| Beta-glucan (oat or yeast) | Hydration and a calmer look | High-molecular-weight forms thicken and form a film on the skin, so the texture is designed around them. |
| Ectoin | Hydration and comfort | A small, water-loving molecule that some bacteria make to survive salt, heat and drought, produced by fermentation. |
| Prebiotics and postbiotics | Claims about the skin's natural balance | Non-living ingredients, so they sit well in preserved formulas. |
| Hypochlorous acid | Cleansing and refreshing sprays | It is the predominant species between pH 3.0 and 7.4 (Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/365), so pH control keeps it in that form. It reacts with light, heat, metals and organic matter, so formulas stay simple, packs stay opaque and the spray path holds no exposed metal. |
Fewer ingredients, chosen for tolerance
We formulate sensitive-skin products fragrance-free and without essential oils by default. EU labels must name listed fragrance allergens above 0.001% in leave-on and 0.01% in rinse-off products (Regulation (EU) 2023/1545), and a sensitive-skin claim is hard to defend with them on the label. We screen every ingredient for its sensitising potential, and choose preservatives from the Cosmetics Regulation's preservatives annex at the lowest level that passes challenge testing to ISO 11930.
Microbiome-friendly claims
Cosmetics law doesn't define "microbiome-friendly", so the claim rests on evidence from the finished product. With specialist partners, we test how the formula affects the growth of the skin's resident microbes in vitro, sequence the skin microbiome before and after use, and run use studies that link the two. Challenge testing runs alongside, because the preservative system must protect the product without being harsh on the skin's own microbes.
Ceramides melted in, hypochlorous sprays blended cold
- Specify. We agree the specification with you: actives and grades, claims, pack, markets and shelf life, with sensitive-skin rules written in and every ingredient screened against each market's annexes.
- Approve suppliers. Every material comes from a supplier approved before use and reviewed every year. Centella extracts arrive with their triterpene assay, and hypochlorous acid as a stabilised solution with its available chlorine and pH on the certificate of analysis.
- Weigh and build. Ceramides and other barrier lipids are melted into the oil phase, emulsified and cooled under control so they stay dispersed, and heat-sensitive actives go in as the batch cools. Sprays are blended cold in closed vessels.
- Check in process. Appearance, odour, pH, viscosity and fill weight are checked against the specification, and available chlorine for hypochlorous sprays.
- Fill and label. Products are filled into airless pumps, tubes, jars or spray bottles and labelled, and labels are verified on every batch.
- Test, retain and release. Every batch is tested by accredited partner laboratories (ISO/IEC 17025) as part of every order, three retained samples per batch are kept for shelf life plus one year, and every batch is released by quality control against its specification.
Packs for sensitive skin
Airless pumps and tubes keep air and fingers out of preserved creams and serums. Hypochlorous sprays go into opaque bottles with pumps that keep metal out of the spray path, and each pack passes compatibility testing with your formula before we approve it. Every unit carries its batch code and either a best before date or a period-after-opening symbol, set by the stability results.
Tolerance reports and the product file
Each product comes with its documents: the agreed specification, a certificate of analysis for every batch, the stability and challenge test reports, the CPSR, and the product information file built with you for your Responsible Person. Tolerance and claims test reports join the file when you commission them, and we check label and claims copy for each market you sell in.
Patch, stinging and use tests behind a sensitive-skin claim
Before launch, every product has a cosmetic product safety report (CPSR), signed by a qualified safety assessor who compares each ingredient's expected exposure with its safety data, following the SCCS Notes of Guidance. For sensitive-skin products, the assessor weighs each ingredient's sensitising potential; for hypochlorous sprays, the available chlorine level and use near the eyes. We run the test programme with accredited partner laboratories:
- Stability in the final pack, accelerated and real-time, tracking appearance, odour, pH and viscosity. Ceramide emulsions are checked for crystals, and hypochlorous sprays for available chlorine, which falls over time and sets the shelf life. Our stability and shelf life testing page sets out the method.
- Compatibility between formula and pack, including the bottle, pump and spring materials that hypochlorous acid touches.
- Challenge testing to ISO 11930 for every product that contains water.
- Microbiology on finished product, against the limits your specification sets.
- Sensitive-skin claims tests, arranged with specialist partners: repeat patch tests on volunteers under dermatological supervision, use tests in people who describe their skin as sensitive, stinging tests, and instrumental readings of hydration, water loss through the skin and redness.
We make every product in our Leicester facility, which is ISO 9001 certified by BSI, and the certificate's scope includes cosmetics.
When barrier care is a cosmetic, a medicine or a biocide
Barrier care sells as a cosmetic in all three markets when its claims describe comfort, hydration and how skin looks and feels; a product presented as acting on a skin condition is a medicine. This is the position as of October 2026.
- Great Britain. We arrange the CPSR and build the product file for your UK Responsible Person, who notifies the product through SCPN before sale.
- European Union and Northern Ireland. The same file supports CPNP notification by your Responsible Person in the EU, or in Northern Ireland for that market. EU labels carry the expanded fragrance allergen list; Great Britain keeps the original list.
- United States. Claims stay with cleansing, comfort and how skin looks, because a product intended to affect "the structure or any function of the body" is a drug (FDA). Cosmetics need facility registration and product listing under MoCRA. Our FDA registration is a food facility registration for dietary supplements, so we register our Leicester facility under MoCRA as US skincare programmes start.
Sensitive-skin wording
The EU's technical guidance on cosmetic claims sets the bar for the words sensitive-skin brands use most, and we apply it to GB labels too. "Hypoallergenic" needs a product that "has been designed to minimize its allergenic potential", backed by "scientifically robust and statistically reliable data". "Dermatologically tested" implies the product "was tested on humans under the supervision of a dermatologist". A claim that a product lacks perfume can't be made where any ingredient "exerts a perfuming function", and a claim to lack parabens is out because it "is denigrating the entire group of parabens".
Hypochlorous acid sprays: cosmetic or biocide?
The spray's main purpose and its claims decide. Presented to cleanse, refresh or comfort skin, a hypochlorous spray is a cosmetic, with a CPSR and notification like any other. Presented to disinfect skin, it is a biocidal product in GB and the EU, under the biocides rules rather than cosmetics law (HSE). We make hypochlorous sprays as cosmetics. Hypochlorous acid does a cosmetic job in them, cleansing and refreshing skin, not preserving the product, and challenge testing to ISO 11930 proves the spray's own protection.
We write every claim and the test behind it into the specification before the first sample. Start your project with your actives, claims and markets.
References: Lambers and colleagues, International Journal of Cosmetic Science (2006); Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 on cosmetic products (2009); Commission Regulation (EU) No 655/2013 on common criteria for cosmetic claims (2013); Working Group on Cosmetic Products, Technical document on cosmetic claims (2017); Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/1545 on fragrance allergen labelling (2023); Regulation (EU) No 528/2012 on biocidal products (2012); Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/365 on active chlorine released from hypochlorous acid (2021); HSE, Check your product is regulated as a biocidal product (2025).
Where this is going
To 2030
Up: medically endorsed barrier and derma care keeps outgrowing beauty
To 2036
Up, maturing: derma-grade becomes the norm in mass skincare
What to watch
Mass-market competition as derma claims spread
Questions brands ask
Can you make private label sensitive skin care?
Yes. We develop and make custom barrier creams, serums, cleansers and sprays for sensitive skin, built to your brief rather than a stock formula. Sensitive-skin rules go into the specification: no fragrance or essential oils by default, every ingredient screened for sensitising potential, and preservatives at the lowest level that passes challenge testing. Your formula is yours, with its specification and data, and R&D is a paid stage that can be included with an order of the right size.
Is a hypochlorous acid spray a cosmetic or a biocide?
It depends on its main purpose and its claims. As of October 2026, in GB and the EU, a spray applied to skin for the primary purpose of disinfecting it is a biocidal product under the biocides rules, not a cosmetic. A spray presented to cleanse, refresh or comfort skin is a cosmetic, with a safety report and notification like any other. We make hypochlorous sprays as cosmetics: the hypochlorous acid does a cosmetic job, not preserving the product, and every claim stays cosmetic.
What does a hypoallergenic claim need?
A product designed to minimise its potential to sensitise, with data to prove it. As of October 2026, the EU's technical guidance on cosmetic claims says the claim fits only a product that "has been designed to minimize its allergenic potential", backed by "scientifically robust and statistically reliable data", with known allergens avoided. We build the claim into the formula and the test plan from the start, and apply the same standard to GB labels.
Can you substantiate a microbiome-friendly claim?
Yes, with tests on the finished product, because cosmetics law doesn't define the term. Testing laboratories use in vitro tests of how the formula affects the growth of the skin's resident microbes, sequencing of the skin microbiome before and after use, and use studies that link the two. We run them alongside challenge testing to ISO 11930, so the preservative system still protects the product, and keep the claim about the skin's natural balance.
What does dermatologically tested mean?
That the product was tested on people under a dermatologist's supervision. As of October 2026, the EU's technical guidance on cosmetic claims says the phrase "implies that the product was tested on humans under the supervision of a dermatologist", and that consumer self-perception studies are not appropriate support. We arrange repeat patch tests and use tests on volunteers under dermatological supervision with specialist partners, alongside instrumental readings of hydration, water loss through the skin and redness.
Which actives do you use for barrier care?
Ceramides, cholesterol and fatty acids as the lipid core, with niacinamide, panthenol, centella, beta-glucan and ectoin for hydration and comfort. Centella extracts are specified by their four triterpenes and measured by HPLC, and ceramide emulsions are designed and checked so the lipids stay dispersed. We choose actives for tolerance as much as activity, keep formulas short and fragrance-free by default, and test each claim on the finished product before it goes on the pack.
Can you make sensitive skin care for the US market?
Yes. As of October 2026, US cosmetics need facility registration and product listing under MoCRA, with safety records held by the responsible person named on the label. Our FDA registration is a food facility registration for dietary supplements, so we register our Leicester facility under MoCRA as US skincare programmes start. US claims stay cosmetic, covering comfort, hydration and how skin looks, because a product intended to affect the structure or any function of the body is a drug.
Start your project
Tell us what you want to make. Every project starts with a conversation about your product, your customers and your markets.