The recent sunscreen debacle has shaken trust in the skincare world. But it’s also shone a spotlight on something many don’t realise about the skincare industry. Here’s the reality:
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Most skincare brands don’t make their own products — they outsource them to contract manufacturers.
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Those manufacturers produce base formulas in bulk and sell slightly tweaked versions to different brands.
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Safety, quality, and efficacy can’t truly be guaranteed when brands aren’t involved in making their own skincare.
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What customers often end up buying is marketing and packaging, rather than genuinely unique or carefully crafted products.
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Handmade, small-batch skincare is different: it offers accountability, freshness, and transparency.
At Four Cow Farm, our mission from day one has been to make our own skincare. By hand, in small batches, using recipes we developed ourselves. We’ve always believed that if our name is on the jar, then we should be the ones making it. That way, we know every ingredient, every process, and every batch. For us, trust should never be outsourced and never be about empty marketing or chasing trends. It’s about integrity. When we put our name on a jar, it’s because we’ve chosen every ingredient and made it ourselves. That’s a promise no contract manufacturer can deliver on your behalf.
The truth is, most skincare works very differently. Big brands often buy formulas off the shelf from contract manufacturers, adding only a few tweaks before selling them at premium prices. The cream in one 'luxury' jar might be almost identical to the lotion in another — just a different scent, colour, or label. Behind the scenes, the focus is usually on cost-cutting and scale, not on creating the safest or most beneficial skincare possible.
That’s where the disconnect lies. When a brand doesn’t actually make its own products, it can’t fully vouch for what goes into them. If an ingredient source changes, if quality slips, or if a shortcut is taken, the brand itself may be the last to know. For customers, that means you’re often putting your trust not in the name on the label, but in a faceless factory.
Handmade skincare takes a completely different approach. At Four Cow Farm:
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We source our ingredients with care and know exactly where they come from.
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We test and refine each recipe ourselves, not rely on someone else’s base formula.
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We keep batches deliberately small, so products are fresher and ingredients stay potent.
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We’re accountable for every single jar and bottle, because we make them ourselves.For us, skincare isn’t about chasing trends or flashy marketing. It’s about integrity and honesty. We want every product to reflect the same care we’d put into something made for our own family — because in fact, that’s how we started.
The sunscreen debacle has reminded many people how fragile trust can be. Our belief is simple: trust should never be outsourced. It should be built, batch by batch, through skincare made with care, honesty, and a genuine commitment to your wellbeing.
Further reading:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-30/more-sunscreens-pulled-from-shelves-over-spf-concerns/105836976
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/sep/30/base-formulation-may-be-linked-to-20-sunscreens-falling-short-of-spf-claims-drug-regulator-finds
