Short answer
To hand a perfume over to production, give the manufacturer exactly the approved version in a form that leaves nothing to interpret: formula code and version; units stated; every dilution resolved or specified with its solvent; materials identified by supplier, product code and specification; the batch process (order of addition, mixing, resting, chilling, filtering); the finished product's concentration and fill; and the checks to run before release, against a reference sample. Decide in advance what you will not disclose, and put confidentiality terms in place before anything is sent.
Decide what to hand over
There are two common arrangements, and they need very different documents:
- You supply the concentrate. You (or a compounder) make the fragrance concentrate; the manufacturer dilutes, fills and packs. They need dilution and filling instructions, not the formula. This keeps the formula in-house.
- The manufacturer compounds the formula. They need the full formula and material specifications. Only do this under a confidentiality agreement, and only with what they need.
Confidentiality measures for either case are covered in how to protect confidential perfume formulas.
The formula document
- Formula code, version, approval date and approver.
- Units stated once and used throughout (grams or percentages by weight).
- Each material: specific name, your code, supplier, supplier's product code, CAS number where relevant.
- Each dilution: strength and solvent, and whether the manufacturer should prepare it or receive it ready-made. Alternatively, resolve dilutions into pure material plus a separate solvent row, and say so.
- Totals and a percentage check.
- Batch size and scale factor, or a percentage formula with the batch size given separately.
Dilutions are where handovers most often go wrong: a manufacturer reading "Ambroxan 1.00" without a dilution will weigh neat Ambroxan. Formula %, absolute % and relative % explains why the dilution changes everything.
Material specifications
A manufacturer may source materials themselves. Specify each one tightly enough that their material is yours: supplier and product where it matters (especially naturals and trade-name materials), or a specification with acceptable ranges. Approve any substitution before it is used, and require them to record lots. Supplier documents — SDS, specification, IFRA certificate, allergen statement — should be on file for each material, as described in SDS, specifications and CoAs.
Process instructions
- Order of addition, and any materials that need warming or pre-dissolving.
- Mixing method and time.
- Concentrate resting time and conditions, if any.
- Dilution into the final product: concentration by weight, alcohol type and grade, water if used.
- Maceration time and conditions; chilling and filtration.
- Fill weight per unit (calculated from measured density), packaging components.
Release checks
Agree what the manufacturer checks before release and what they send you: appearance and odor compared against a reference sample you supply, fill weight checks, and the batch record with actual weights and lots. Keep a retained sample of every batch. The record they should keep mirrors how to structure a perfume batch record.
Writing the specification those checks are made against is covered in writing a finished fragrance specification; choosing the manufacturer in the first place, in how to choose a perfume contract manufacturer.
Format
A PDF of the approved formula is a clear, fixed record that is hard to alter by accident. If the manufacturer needs to load the formula into their own system, they may ask for a spreadsheet or CSV as well; send it alongside the PDF, and treat the PDF as authoritative. Format choices are compared in how to export perfume formulas.
Keep a record of the handover
Log what was sent, to whom, when, which version, and under which agreement. When the formula later changes — a reformulation for a new IFRA amendment, say — the log tells you who needs the new version and whose copy is now obsolete. The wider workflow this sits in is described in building a fragrance development workflow.
In RUŌOD Lab, the approved formula can be locked and exported as a typeset PDF with every entry's dilution, the totals, and the formula measures you choose to show, alongside CSV or Excel copies for the manufacturer's own systems.
Frequently asked questions
Should I give my manufacturer the full formula?
Only if they compound it for you. If you can supply the concentrate, they usually need only dilution and filling instructions.
What if the manufacturer wants to substitute a material?
Treat it as a formula change: evaluate the substitute against the original, recheck compliance, and if accepted, issue a new version.
Written and reviewed by the RUŌOD Lab team. This article is general education about perfume formulation and record-keeping; it is not legal, regulatory or safety advice, and the examples are illustrations, not validated commercial formulas. How we write and check these guides.