It’s not always easy to stand out in business when every esthetician is offering similar products and services. What can you do to build a memorable brand that stands out from the rest?
Creating your own skincare line can be a great way to separate your spa business from the masses.
It can also help augment your expert status and differentiate you from being just a “technician” or a retailer.
The idea of formulating your own products may sound intimidating at first, but it’s actually not as hard as you think if you have the right guidance.
I chatted with Rachael Pontillo, founder of Nutritional Aesthetics Alliance and Create Your Skincare. Rachael teaches others how to create your own skincare line to enhance your brand.
Rachael has been formulating skincare products, analyzing labels, and working with chemists for years. She’s also an herbalist and has extensive knowledge on whole plant skin nutrition.
I’m so thrilled to have her share her knowledge with my readers:
Busting the Skincare Formulation Myth
Calling something “professional products” is often just a marketing ploy manufacturers use to sell to estheticians. Ouch. Often times, these products aren’t that much different from those sold at retail stores.
When you private label a product line from manufacturers, you don’t really have control over the ingredients. If the supplier changes the base formula, you can’t do much about it.
In addition, the use of actives and isolates isn’t necessarily the most effective way to formulate a product.
On the other hand, we are seeing more evidence on the benefits of whole plant skin nutrition and more estheticians are using artisan skincare lines made fresh in small batches.
Unlike manufactured products, these highly concentrated herbal preparations contain potent plant phytochemicals in a mixture of lipids (oils) that the skin recognizes so they’re more readily absorbed and utilized by our body.
The Rise Of Custom Skincare Products
More and more estheticians are now whipping up their own custom products to address specific client needs.
Since custom skincare products are made in small batches and used immediately, there’s no need for additives or preservatives.
When you develop your own signature line, you’re taking your business to the next level since profit margins will be higher.
With these custom-made formulations, estheticians are offering skincare and not just selling products, thereby elevating the brand with a form of personalized service.
You’d have an opportunity to offer your packages at a premium and give clients a reason to come back to your practice.
Not to mention, you get to control everything from ingredients and packaging to pricing and positioning – which means you can boost your profit margins without sacrificing the quality of the products you sell.
You’re making your brand unique and eliminating competition because your clients can’t comparison-shop or look for a better price elsewhere.
And unlike private label products, you don’t have to keep excessive stock and have liability sitting on the shelf because you’re making these products on demand.
Your Skincare Line is an Expression of Your Brand Philosophy
In her course, How To Create Your Own Skincare Line, Rachel doesn’t simply teach recipes because formulating your own products is more nuanced than that.
Your skincare line is an expression of your brand philosophy as a skincare professional. Your expertise, points-of-view, and belief system all influence how you formulate the products.
When you create formulations for your clients, you can adjust the proportion of the ingredients to meet their individual needs while expressing your unique approach to skincare.
In addition, as you master the craft and learn how the ingredients work together, you can take advantage of the synergistic effects in whole plant herbal preparations to deliver amazing results.
Don’t Overlook Legal and Safety Issues
If you include actives, synthetics, or herbal extracts in your formulations, you need to pay attention to the typical safety range. Otherwise, you may run into product and insurance liability issues.
In addition, each ingredient has to be used in a certain step within the formulation process.
It has to be done correctly because when certain ingredients are blended together, you often get a synergistic effect – the ingredients work together to make each other more potent.
This is particularly true for whole plant ingredients so it’s important to learn how they interact with each other.
In addition, test for contamination periodically to ensure the safety of your products.
When you’re formulating your own skincare line, you need practice liability insurance as well as product liability insurance in place.
Depending on your location and insurance carrier, you may have to adjust your business setup so that you’re considered a manufacturer.
To protect yourself, always consult an FDA lawyer so you can ensure compliance with your state law. You should also get advice on what verbiage you can and can’t use when labeling or describing your products.
For example, in aesthetics and cosmetics, we aren’t allowed to make health claims nor drug claims. We can’t say that our products or services can make a physiological or structural change to the skin.
Unless you’re also a medical professional, you shouldn’t describe your products as having the ability to “treat” conditions. We need to be careful when talking about our products to avoid infringing the law.
Elevate Your Practice With Your Own Product Line
Developing your own skincare line can be a fulfilling and fruitful experience when you get the right guidance to help avoid common pitfalls.
If you want to launch your own skincare line, you can check out Rachael’s online course: How To Create Your Own Skincare Line and learn how to formulate your own products.
Rachael Pontillo is the bestselling author of the book Love Your Skin, Love Yourself, and co-author of The Sauce Code. She’s an AADP and IAHC Board Certified International Health Coach, licensed aesthetician; and natural skincare formulator and educator. She’s the president and co-founder of the Nutritional Aesthetics™ Alliance, the creator of the popular skincare and healthy lifestyle blog, Holistically Haute™, as well as the much-loved online course, Create Your Skincare. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Holistic Life Counseling. Rachael also holds additional certifications in metaphysical science, detoxification, acupressure, Reiki, Medical Qi Gong, Chinese Facial Diagnosis, and Ayurveda.
She’s an avid herbalist, self-professed skincare ingredient junkie, and lifelong learner.