Dear Valerie: I’m working on a sugar scrub. Should I order sugar from a raw material supplier? Or should I purchase sugar from a big box store, like Sam’s Club? Is there a difference? 

—Sweetie Pie

Dear Sweetie:

I once worked on a project with sugar, and we used to joke that we could run to Starbucks and grab sugar packets out of the condiment bar for the batches. In reality, we ended up getting pallets of it from a store like Costco or Sam’s Club. Their big sacks of sugar are fine granulated, pure white in color, and food grade. This is a common grade used in personal care—there really is no cosmetic grade, and while there is pharmaceutical grade, it’s costly and unnecessary for use in cosmetics. From big-box stores you can buy it by the bag, or even by the pallet, and they have their own bulk sales teams for you to contact. You might see even see that the sugar is produced by a big-time sugar player, like Domino. Sometimes regulatory documentation can be pain to get when purchased this way, so that’s a con. If you’re looking for more fancy types of sugars, I recommend connecting with a raw material supplier. They sell food-grade sugar, with more variety than the white granulated: demerara, turbinado and extra-fine granulated are a few. In further fun-ness, there are different crystal sizes and varying colors (usually shades of brown). The prices are competitive, although sometimes the MOQ is a little high as it requires buying full pallets. Another consideration is freight cost from supplier to production site. It can be costly in today’s economic climate, and there is a Costco or Sam’s Club in nearly every town.

Valerie George

[email protected]

Valerie George is a cosmetic chemist, science communicator, educator, leader, and avid proponent of transparency in the beauty industry. She works on the latest research in hair color and hair care at her company, Simply Formulas, and is the co-host of The Beauty Brains podcast. You can find her on Instagram at @cosmetic_chemist or showcasing her favorite ingredients to small brands and home formulators at simply-ingredients.com