Premium (Sleep Hair Mask)
Overnight Leave-In Hair Mask
A premium leave-in treatment applied before bed and left on until morning, the only no-rinse format in this range. That single difference changes the formulation logic more than any ingredient choice would. A rinse-off mask can be generous because most of it comes off; a leave-in has to perform at a level the customer can wear on a pillow for eight hours, which caps oil and cationic load well below where a mask would sit. It also moves the product into a stricter regulatory bracket, since EU limits on leave-on hair products run roughly half those for rinse-off. Manufactured under ISO 22716 for brands selling into Southeast Asia, where overnight treatment suits a market that washes frequently and wants morning manageability without a longer routine. The system below is our standard ODM formula and can be adjusted to suit your positioning, destination market rules, and cost structure.
Product Overview
| MOQ | 2,000–3,000 jars / SKU |
| Lead Time | 35–45 days |
| Sampling | 2–3 weeks for a custom sample round |
| Sizes | 100–150ml |
| Packaging | Pump bottle or Tube |
| Mini Pack | Yes - Single-use sachets (15-30ml/ packs)Suitable for trial |
| Suitable For | Dry, tangle-prone hair |
| Pricing | Quote-based — depends on oil selection, cationic level, silicone route, pump or tube choice, and order volume. |
Response within 24 hours · Free samples available
Key Active Ingredients
How the Active Ingredients Work
Four parts do the work: a lightly loaded cationic system set for leave-on wear, light oils selected for absorption rather than richness, hydrolysed keratin for the cuticle, and panthenol for slow-acting moisture retention over the night. The system below is our standard ODM starting point, adjustable for your target market and price point.
Cationic conditioning agentsleave-on level, set well below regulatory caps
The same charge mechanism a rinse-off mask uses — hair keratin carries a net negative surface charge and cationic agents adsorb onto it, more strongly where the cuticle is damaged — but the level here is a fraction of what a mask carries, because nothing rinses away. Two limits apply and the tighter one is not the legal one. Practically, a leave-in that deposits like a mask reads greasy by morning and transfers onto bedding. Legally, Annex III of Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 sets leave-on hair limits at roughly half the rinse-off values: entry 287 caps behentrimonium chloride at 3.0% in leave-on hair products against 5.0% for rinse-off, and entry 286 caps cetrimonium and steartrimonium chloride at 1.0% against 2.5% for rinse-off. Both entries also require the ingredient to be present for conditioning rather than preservation, with that purpose apparent from how the product is presented. Our standard leave-in runs comfortably under the applicable cap on either route.
Light oilsselected for absorption over richness
Argan oil at a restrained level plus lighter esters, chosen on how quickly they absorb rather than on how nourishing they read on an ingredient list. This is where a leave-in most often fails in the market: a formulator borrows the oil phase from a rinse-off mask, the sample feels wonderful in a wet-hair demo, and the customer wakes up with flat roots and an oily pillowcase. Heavy butters and high oil loads are deliberately excluded here. The load is set by next-morning assessment on hair left overnight, not by how the product feels when first applied, and in humid climates that ceiling is lower still.
Hydrolysed keratinprotein repair agent
Hydrolysed keratin fragments settle into gaps in a roughened cuticle so hair combs with less snagging in the morning, which is the practical benefit customers buy this format for. The long contact time is a genuine advantage over a rinse-off product: the protein stays in place for hours rather than minutes. Being precise about the ceiling: this is surface smoothing, not structural reconstruction, and no leave-in rebuilds disulphide bonds broken by bleach or perming. Protein is heat-sensitive so it is added at cool-down. Keratin is animal-derived, so a vegan claim requires hydrolysed wheat or soy protein instead, which is a different base rather than a swap on the same batch sheet.
Panthenolhumectant and slow-acting conditioner
Panthenol converts to pantothenic acid on the hair and acts as a humectant, holding moisture in the fibre and improving flexibility so hair is less prone to snapping when combed. It suits a leave-in better than almost any other conditioning ingredient because its benefit builds over hours rather than needing a warm dwell, and because it delivers softness without the weight an oil would add at equivalent effect. It is also heat-sensitive and goes in during cool-down. One formulation note relevant to humid markets: panthenol is a humectant, so in very high ambient humidity an over-loaded formula can draw moisture inward and leave hair feeling limp rather than soft — we set the level against local conditions rather than at the maximum that still tests well in a dry lab.
Formulation & Customization Options
| Service model | OEM from your own brief, or ODM starting from this baseline. Both include formulation, stability and pilot batch before production. |
| Adjustable elements | Oil selection and load, cationic level, silicone or silicone-free route, texture from milk to light cream, and pump or tube format. The trade-off that governs this product: every increase in richness improves the immediate feel and worsens the morning result, so we optimise on next-day assessment rather than on application feel. |
| Target pH | Weakly acidic, in the range conventionally used for hair products, to keep the cuticle lying flat and the cationic system charged over a long wear time. Final target pH confirmed per project. |
| Texture and base | Light cream or milk, thin enough to distribute through dry or damp hair without sectioning. Texture is set by the fatty alcohol and ester balance, so it can be retuned without changing the active level. |
| Silicone route | Available with or without silicone. Where a silicone route is used we specify linear dimethicone rather than cyclic siloxanes. This matters more for a leave-on product than a rinse-off one: Regulation (EU) 2024/1328 extends the below 0.1% restriction to D5 in leave-on cosmetics and to cyclohexasiloxane (D6) in all cosmetics from 6 June 2027, and D4 is already prohibited under Annex II of Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009. A formula built on linear dimethicone today needs no reformulation when that date arrives. |
| Fragrance | Your specified fragrance, or our low-intensity options. Fragrance load is normally set lower than in a rinse-off mask because the customer wears it overnight rather than for minutes, and a strong scent on a pillow becomes a complaint rather than a feature. |
| Certification support | Halal, COSMOS and vegan-positioned formulations can be scoped to your requirement — tell us the destination market and certifying body and we will confirm feasibility before sampling. Note that keratin is animal-derived, so a vegan version substitutes hydrolysed wheat or soy protein and is a different base rather than a tweak. |
| Packaging | Pump bottle or tube, with pump generally preferred for a bedside product where the customer applies it with one hand. Industry-standard formats including bottle, jar, tube, soft tube, sachet and airless are available; artwork and labelling are prepared to your destination market's requirements. |
| Certifications | ISO 22716 & GMPC certified; SGS testing supported upon request. |
Who This Product Is Built For
No-rinse format differentiation
Brands that need a no-rinse SKU to differentiate a hair range, where the format itself is the story rather than the ingredient list.
Busy routines, frequent washing
Markets where customers wash frequently and want morning manageability without adding a step to an already short routine — the treatment happens while they sleep, which is the easiest sell in a busy category.
Morning-reveal content structure
Short-form content built on a morning reveal: overnight formats film as a before-bed and next-morning pair, which is a stronger narrative structure than a single in-shower demo.
Siloxane compliance foresight
Brands planning ahead on siloxane compliance, since a leave-on product built on linear dimethicone now avoids reformulation when the 2027 EU restrictions on D5 in leave-on cosmetics take effect. Pairs with the intensive rinse-off mask and a leave-in conditioner for a full treatment tier.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the MOQ?
2,000–3,000 jars per SKU, or the equivalent in pump bottles or tubes. Travel sizes are filled at their own minimum and can be quoted alongside the main size.
Why is a leave-in formulated lighter than a rinse-off mask?
Because nothing rinses away, so two ceilings apply at once. The practical one comes first: a leave-in loaded like a mask reads greasy by morning and transfers onto bedding, and that single experience loses the repeat purchase. The regulatory one is real too — EU leave-on hair limits run roughly half the rinse-off values, with behentrimonium chloride capped at 3.0% for leave-on against 5.0% for rinse-off. In practice we hit the feel limit before the legal one, but both need respecting and a formulator who only checks the second will still make an unsellable product.
Will this make hair oily overnight?
Not at the levels we set, and that constraint is the main design input rather than an afterthought. The oil phase here uses light, fast-absorbing materials rather than the butters a rinse-off mask can carry, and the load is judged on next-morning root condition in humid conditions rather than on how rich it feels when applied. If your brief calls for a noticeably richer overnight product, we would flag it as a risk and suggest testing on local water and climate before committing to production.
Can this repair damaged hair while I sleep?
It improves how hair behaves by morning, not how it is built. The long contact time is a genuine advantage over a rinse-off product, so surface smoothing from keratin and moisture retention from panthenol both get hours to work rather than minutes. What no leave-in does is rebuild the disulphide bonds that bleach or perming break, so overnight repair works as a benefit description and overnight bond repair does not. We would keep your claim on manageability, softness and combing, which the product delivers visibly.
Do the 2027 silicone rules affect this product?
They affect the category, and this formula is already built to sit outside them. Regulation (EU) 2024/1328 brings D5 in leave-on cosmetics and D6 in all cosmetics under a below 0.1% limit from 6 June 2027, and D4 is already prohibited under Annex II. Our silicone route uses linear dimethicone, which is a different material and is not covered, so a brand launching now on this base does not face a reformulation deadline. If a project specifies cyclomethicone, note that it is a mixture name that may contain D4, D5 or D6, so we would request component levels from the supplier before quoting.
What is the sampling and production timeline?
2–3 weeks for a custom sample round, then 35–45 days for production once the sample and artwork are approved. Accelerated stability testing on the finished formula is run inside that window. Because this is a leave-on product, we would also recommend allowing time for consumer use testing on next-morning feel before you commit to a large first order — that is quoted separately and is not part of the standard lead time.
Which export certifications and claims should I plan for?
We manufacture under ISO 22716 with GMPC, and SGS testing is supported on request. A leave-on product carries more claim exposure than a rinse-off one because the consumer contact is longer, so overnight repair, restore and rebuild wording all need care. Send artwork before printing and we will flag anything reading as a structural claim for your destination market.
Customization
OEM/ODM supported
Target Markets
Certifications
ISO 22716 & GMPC certified; SGS testing supported upon request
Need a Custom Overnight Leave-In Hair Mask Formula?
Tell us your requirements — target actives, texture, packaging, quantity, and target market. We will respond with a custom formulation proposal within 48 hours.
Response within 24 hours · WhatsApp available · Factory visits welcome