From a Garage to a Licensed Lab: Surrey Skincare Maker Opens Its Own Manufacturing Facility

2026-04

Complete Elixir went from a home garage in 2020 to a 941-square-foot formulation facility, now supplying a California distributor

The path ran through three spaces. Founder Clara Song started formulation research in her garage in 2020, built a cleanroom inside a warehouse in 2021, and incorporated Complete Elixir Skincare Inc. in June 2024 before opening the current facility.

The facility runs a maximum batch size of 100 litres and is staffed by two - Song and one employee - with part-time help as production requires. Equipment includes a homomixer, magnetic and stand-up stirrers, pH and viscosity measurement, a stability incubator, UV sterilization and a clean dry room.

That batch size is deliberate. Song says large-batch processing chemically degrades the clinical actives her formulas depend on, so the company manufactures small batches across multiple production cycles rather than in single large runs - trading throughput for control over what actually survives in the bottle.

The production model follows from the formulation approach, which starts from tolerance rather than potency. Every skin has a tolerance threshold, and repeatedly irritated skin has a lower one. A single high-concentration active crosses that threshold, which is why the most aggressive formulas are often unusable on the skin that needs them most.

Instead, Complete Elixir combines multiple actives at low concentration to deliver function without provoking tolerance; carries irritation-prone actives such as retinol inside a lamellar structure; and loads comfort ingredients such as ceramides at high concentration rather than treating them as a secondary claim. A base of essential actives is built into every product, which supports a simplified all-in-one routine rather than a long layered one.

Every skin has a tolerance threshold, and skin that has been irritated repeatedly has a lower one. High-dose single actives cross that line, so the people who most need the result cannot use the product. We deliver the same function through several low-concentration actives instead, and we protect the aggressive ones inside a lamellar structure.

Clara Song, Founder and Formulator, Complete Elixir

The same logic governs filling. Product is filled by peristaltic pump, passing only through sterilized silicone tubing and never touching a dispenser head. Song says that prevents cross-contamination between products and removes any contact between actives and cleaning agents or dispenser materials.

It is this facility that is registered with both the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as the manufacturing site for the company's exported products.

Complete Elixir specializes in complicated skin - acne-prone, sensitive and barrier-compromised skin. The facility now supplies a California distributor serving spas and esthetic clinics in the Los Angeles area, and the company is expanding into Korea, China and Israel.

When you hand production to a contract manufacturer, you give up two things: control of the formula and control of quality. Large-batch processing degrades clinical actives. That is chemistry, not opinion. If I wanted the actives to still be active when the product reaches someone's skin, I had to own the process.

Clara Song, Founder and Formulator, Complete Elixir

About Complete Elixir

Complete Elixir is an independent professional skincare company based in Surrey, British Columbia. Founder and formulator Clara Song began research and development in 2020 and incorporated Complete Elixir Skincare Inc. in June 2024. The company develops and manufactures its full line at its own 941-square-foot formulation facility, which became fully operational in April 2026, using small-batch multi-cycle production rather than contract manufacturing. Complete Elixir specializes in complicated skin - acne-prone, sensitive and barrier-compromised skin - and pairs its products with professional education for estheticians. The company supplies the United States through a California distributor and is expanding into Korea, China and Israel. Learn more at completeelixir.com.

Media contact

Clara Song, Founder
info@completeelixir.com
+1-778-791-0649

Press kit: logo, founder and facility photography, product images