How to start your own cosmetic line in 5 easy steps

Looks like it’s been every Hollywood star’s dream to come out with their own cosmetic line: look at Rihanna, Drew Barrymore, Kim Kardashian, not to mention the queen Kylie Jenner. All these huge names weight juuust a little on all other mortals who would like to aspire at making their own cosmetic line; but hey: let’s not get intimidated here!

The cosmetic world is both a blessing and a curse: meaning that there is A LOT of competition but, despite that, there’s also room for everyone. It’s such a wide market that every fruit gets picked, when ripe.

So, what to do to make sure that your fruit is ripe enough for consumers to pick it?

I know it can feel a little overwhelming to go through the whole process from scratch but we’re here to make things easier. So here’s a list of 5 quick and easy steps you need to follow in order to achieve your dream.

1. Get an (amazing) idea

Sounds extremely dumb, but it’s actually the most important step of the whole process. A plan without a great idea to sustain it is just worthless. But how to get a great idea? Well, if you’re a creative person, you should be ok; if you’re not, don’t worry: there’s a logical way to go about this that works just fine.

Look at a product that you like and ask yourself: how can I make this better? What is it that’s missing here?

Go to Amazon or any other competitor’s e-commerce and read the comments, especially the complaints. What is it that the people want? More texture? More fragrance? Less oiliness? WHAT?

Whatever that might be, write it down. Check for gaps in the market and think how you could fix them with your product.

However, be mindful not to go overboard with creativity and come up with brilliant ideas that just aren’t applicable. Keep your feet on the ground: the best ideas are the ones that are 100% feasible IRL, not your dreams.

2. Develop a custom formula

You don’t wanna be just ANOTHER dude who made a cosmetic line. The world has enough of that. You need to find something that is going to make you stand out of the crowd and make people go “Mmh interesting”.

A custom formula might be it! Something that you, and only you have. A unique formula that is going to be specifically made for your cosmetic line, with innovative ingredients and effective percentages.

In order to do this, you might want to trust professional chemists: people who know what they’re doing, who know how to use ingredients and lab tools, and can advise you on the best way to go about this.

3. Test yourself before you wreck yourself

Now that you have some samples, test them. And don’t just ask your mom or your sister to do it, ask strangers. They won’t be biased or afraid to hurt your feelings if the product sucks.

Ask beauty bloggers or trusted customers who have bought from you before. They will gladly give out their honest opinion and to you that is literal GOLD, because it allows you to upgrade your product, making it more appealing to consumers, for free.

4.      Packaging is key

People may not judge a book by its cover, but they will judge a cosmetic product by its packaging. It’s just how it goes! A great formula is nothing if the packaging is not as cool.

Not only does it have to be pleasing to the eye, but also practical and easy to use. Again, you might wanna hire a professional for this: I mean you could make your own packaging and labeling on Canva, but I’m afraid the result wouldn’t be worth the time and effort. Nothing personal.

If you’re debating whether you should (or shouldn’t) design your own packaging, this article might clear things up for you:

Design your own cosmetic packaging (or not?)

5.      Study a marketing plan

Your products are not just going to go out into the world by themselves. They’ll need you to take them by the hand and you’ll need to figure out an effective way to let people know about them.

So, there are two main things that you’ll have to consider:

• Costs: look at the market, identify products that you could potentially compete with and price your products similarly.
• Selling strategies: how are you going to get your products to consumers? Set up a website with an e-commerce to sell your products online and use social media to build up and maintain a strong customer base. Then, run advertisements and sponsored contents on both social media and search engines to reach new customers. Keep them interested in your products with fun and entertaining content.

And here it is: the “how to start your own cosmetic line” starter pack.