DEVELOPING COSMETIC PRODUCTS: 3 KEY THOUGHTS TO KEEP IN MIND

You’ve decided to create your own private-label beauty brand. Congratulations! Next steps?

If developing a new cosmetic brand is on your wish list, I’d like to share a few key thoughts to keep in mind. 

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three things to keep in mind concerning cosmetic product development.  

Concept. This is the beginning. What is the story that you would like to tell about your product?  Will it help reduce lines and wrinkles? Will it help moisturize skin? Will it help even skin tone? If it's a color collection, what is the shade line up?  How well will it wear?  Whatever the product story is, take the time to really think about how you can communicate your product in three words. Use your creative power and write out the look, the texture, how it will feel on skin, the color of the bulk, what the experience is that you want the final user to enjoy and benefit from. Write out  the claims of how the product will benefit the end user.

Note: With writing claims, you will need to ensure that the claims are viable through clinical studies.  Make sure that you have a budget set aside for testing. In the beginning, just start with a wish list of claims. This is the list that you’ll be turning over to your chemist so that he/she will know how the product should perform. THE TAKEAWAY: Create a profile for your product.

Benchmark. It’s best to start with a benchmark formula especially if you have never developed a product before. A benchmark can be a competitive product that you like for the aesthetic application, a product that you like for end benefits, or a starter formula from a chemist’s library. The reason to have a benchmark available is that the chemist or lab will know exactly where you want to land with the finished product, how you want it to look, how it should be dispensed, etc.  A benchmark will streamline the process and will take out a lot of guessing and reworking of the formula along the way, which can turn into hours of lab time and added expenses. The chemist will also be able to look at the ingredient list and will have a better idea if the performance that you have in mind will match up to some of the materials that are in your benchmark formula. You can always make tweaks along the way to customize the formula, but if it’s your first time starting out with a product, it’s easier to stay in close range of your benchmark target. THE TAKEAWAY: Have a formula starting point.

Ingredients or technology. Do you have to have the next best innovation or high-end technology in your formula to see a difference on the skin? Well, actually, yes and no. You can have a compelling story and great product performance by being very clear about what you would like the final formula to do. Let the chemist decide the primary materials to use as your formula base, and then if there is a technology or ingredient that you are particularly interested in, have a conversation with the chemist to see if the material is compatible in the base, and also inquire about the cost of the technology. At the end of development, the full product will be tested for the performance that you are looking for, so don’t be guided only on the active ingredient as the workhorse in the formula. THE TAKEAWAY: Trust your chemist.  

Bonus point: Hire an expert to help you. Can you guide the development of a cosmetic or skin care product on your own? Sure, yes, you can. However, like everything else, is this really the one more thing that you want to add to your plate? If you want to get your product launched in a timely fashion, don’t hesitate to bring on the extra help you’ll need to source vendors, finalize the technology, develop formulas, speak in chemist language, or to use as a second eye for design, copy, and marketing.

If launching your own private-label cosmetic or skin care brand is in your plan for 2017, or if you’d like to learn more, contact me to schedule a consultation to talk through your goals. Email Cherie@beautyedgeinc.com  Check out our site www.beautyedgeinc.com