Your guide to the compounded skincare process

Compounding involves mixing ingredients to create a product designed to fit the user's specific needs. At Software, your health practitioner will recommend you a skincare formulation to meet your specific skin goals, which will be compounded by licensed pharmacists.

Using skincare products that have been designed for your skin is particularly helpful for those with sensitive skin or if you're trying to target specific skin conditions like acne, pigmentation, scars, age spots and wrinkles.

All of our Software solutions are expert-formulated, so you know that you're getting some of the most effective treatments available.

What is compounding?

Compounding is the process of measuring, combining and packing ingredients in particular strengths and dosages in order to cater for particular skin concerns. In most cases, the product is compounded as per a practitioner's guidance.

The entire compounding process is undertaken in a controlled environment to ensure safety and quality.

What does Software's compounding process look like?

The compounding process at our pharmacies has been refined, with processes and technologies in place at our pharmacies to reduce any room for error. The result of this process is a freshly compounded skincare treatment, delivered to your door.

At a high level, our process looks something like this:

Preparing to compound

Before the compounding technician starts to create your custom treatment, a pharmacist will check the number of treatments they need to compound on that day.

Weighing and measuring ingredients

Using a specialised compounding software program and advanced machines, the pharmacist will weigh and measure out each ingredient precisely so that each treatment contains the exact formulation that has been recommended.

The mixing process

From here, the compounding pharmacist will mix all of the ingredients together using an electronic mortar and pestle. This machine has specific settings that ensure consistency across formulations.

Treatment dispensing

Once your treatment formula is mixed, it's time to dispense it into the Software bottle. The treatment will be dispensed to a specific weight and will be double-checked to ensure that the weight, consistency and colour of your treatment are correct.

Labelling and packing

Now, your Software formula will be labelled with your name and treatment instructions. It will be scanned against your order to check that we have everything needed for packing and if you've ordered additional Software products, they will be packed at this stage.

Delivery

After a final quality check to ensure everything in your box is correct, your box will be scanned and is now ready to be shipped out by our courier. You should receive a tracking link at this stage, so you can see where your order is.

While our pharmacists aim to complete the entire compounding process as quickly as possible, there are a number of treatments to compound and each cream is created from scratch. Please allow five to seven business days to receive your custom formula from when your order was first processed, which is usually when your payment is processed.

For new customers, this is after your health practitioner has created your personalised treatment.

What is the base of my treatment formula?

Each person requires a different formula to suit their unique needs, which is why the compounding process takes time.

But, the common thread through each Software formula is the base cream, which is used across all of our medical-grade treatments. The cream is an oil-and-water emulsion that contains natural antioxidants and is also enriched with vitamin E and hyaluronic acid for hydration and to help maintain your skin barrier.

This base cream is designed to help for greater absorption of the active ingredients in the Software treatment into your skin.

Am I able to return my compounded treatment?

As you can see from this process, the creation of our formulas is lengthy and includes a number of important steps to produce a correctly compounded custom skin treatment.

Unfortunately, once the treatment has been compounded, it cannot be used for a different patient and it is actually against the law for us to do. This means that regardless of the medication that has been used, any unwanted formulas must be disposed of.

This is why we don't process refunds for the treatment once a script has been compounded — unless the product is deemed faulty. If you need to delay or cancel your treatment, please be sure to do this before you are charged to avoid paying for a formula you don't need.

Targeting specific concerns and working on your skin goals has never been easier thanks to custom formulations. At Software, we create skincare specifically for your skin, with treatments created by our team of expert practitioners with proven ingredients.