Paraben, Sulfate and Phthalate-Free Formulation
Vaulabs is a clean beauty contract manufacturer in Clearwater, Florida. Formulating without parabens, sulfates and phthalates is the default in our laboratory, not a premium option, and it applies across skin care, hair care, body care, oils and liquids.
What each exclusion actually changes
- Parabens are preservatives. Removing them does not remove the need for preservation: a water-containing product without an effective preservative system is a microbiology problem, not a cleaner product. It means a different system, and it means proving that system works.
- Sulfates are the surfactants that make a shampoo or cleanser foam aggressively. Replacing them changes foam volume, foam speed, rinse feel and viscosity behaviour all at once, which is why a sulfate-free shampoo has to be reformulated rather than edited.
- Phthalates appear most often inside fragrance, as solvents and fixatives, rather than being added by a formulator directly. Excluding them is a sourcing and documentation question: it is answered by the fragrance house, in writing, before the fragrance is used.
Preservation is where free-from products fail
The most common reason a clean formula fails in the market is not performance, it is preservation. A product that is stable on a bench can still support growth once a consumer opens it in a humid bathroom with wet hands, week after week.
That is what preservative efficacy testing, also called challenge testing, is for: the product is deliberately inoculated and then measured on whether it can control that challenge over time. We run it, and we also run microbial testing on the production batch itself. Microbial testing and label compliance are already inside our unit price. Stability and dermatological safety are quoted separately, because not every product needs the same set.
A claim is only as good as the file behind it
Under MoCRA, the responsible person for a cosmetic product holds a safety substantiation file. In practice that is the brand, not the manufacturer, and it is the reason we review claims before artwork is printed rather than after a retailer questions them. "Free from" claims are checked against the actual ingredient documentation, including fragrance and raw material statements from suppliers.
I want to be careful here, because a free-from list is a marketing frame and not a measure of safety by itself. An ingredient being excluded does not make what replaced it automatically better, and some replacements are less well studied than what they replaced. What we have come to believe is that the claim is worth making when it is documented, and worth dropping when it is not.
What else we support
Alongside paraben-free, sulfate-free and phthalate-free, we formulate for vegan, fragrance-free and cruelty-free positioning, and we work in the clean beauty standards brands are asked to meet by retailers. Every claim goes through regulatory review before it reaches a label.
Working with us
Custom formulation development starts at $1,000 per formula, benchmark matching at $1,500, both with two revisions, a production-ready formula and a sample shipped in the United States. Minimum order is 5,000 units per SKU, runs go to 50,000 and above, and a first production run takes 10 to 12 weeks from approved sample and deposit, with reorders at 6 to 8 weeks. The quote is one finished price per unit, packed and ready to ship.
Our facility
Our facility at 2021 Sunnydale Blvd, Clearwater, Florida is FDA-registered and NSF-certified under NSF/ANSI 455-2, certificate C0681369-HSCDS-5, valid through May 27, 2027. Cosmetic production runs in the same facility, under the same quality unit, with the same batch records and release documentation. Certification under NSF/ANSI 455-3, the cosmetic standard in the same series, is planned at our next audit. We are MoCRA compliant and manufacture in the United States.
Common questions
Are your formulas paraben-free by default? Yes, along with sulfate-free and phthalate-free.
What preservative system do you use instead? It is selected per formula and then validated by preservative efficacy testing, not chosen once for everything.
Can a sulfate-free shampoo still foam? Yes, with a different surfactant system. The foam profile is part of what gets approved in the sample stage.
Who holds the safety substantiation file? The brand, as the responsible person under MoCRA. We run the testing and hand over the reports.
Can you support vegan and cruelty-free claims too? Yes, subject to the supporting documentation for every raw material.
Talk to us
If you are building a clean formula and want to know what will replace what, and what it will have to be tested for, contact Vaulabs in Clearwater, Florida at info@vaulabs.com.