Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Vanessa Barrientez on May 14, 2015 at 8:26pm

Sorry some

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Permalink Reply by Vanessa Barrientez on May 14, 2015 at 8:39pm

One more thing, Shelley did you start making your products at home?

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Permalink Reply by Margaret LaPierre on May 15, 2015 at 8:13am

Shelly, you are correct.  I have known Donna Marie Coles Johnson for a long time and was a part of the Indie Business Network when she first created the network back in 1990's.  I manufactured my own skin care products in the 1990's and you do not need to be a chemist.  It would, however, be to your advantage to learn as much about product ingredients as possible and labeling your products correctly.  I worked with someone at the FDA when I created my product labels and packaging to make sure everything was to their specifications.  There is a e-book that you can purchase online called Cosmetic Chemistry written by Florence Barrett-Hill (ISBN 9-780-473-26279-2) that has helped me.

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Permalink Reply by Nandy B on May 20, 2015 at 5:21pm

Hi Shelley, what is the cost for the Joan Morais's classes?

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Permalink Reply by Marty Glenn on May 16, 2015 at 2:59pm

Maya,

When ever I educate, this question comes up. And how it goes is like this:

' A student will say something like, "I want my own line, how do I do that... ?"

The first thing I do is smile! ;)  Then I say this...

If your going to do private label, go to the Las Vegas show and take your pick of vendors who will give you many products to choose from and then create your marketing to match and hope you sell it before it goes bad.

Next I say this: "For each product plan on spending $3,000 - $8,000 developing it from scratch.  And I always add this to the statement:  "make sure that you check with the FDA and EU and Health Canada as far as ingredients that are not allowed in LEAVE ON skin care vs WASH OFF skin care vs NOT ALLOWED AT ALL. That is your responsibility and not that of your chemist or formulator and your formulator will only give you 2 or 3 revisions so you had better have your details in order or development costs are going to sky rocket."

Then I say: "The minimums for decorating are usually between 1,000 and 2,500 and for what I know it is toward the higher end of the numbers at 2,500.  So with that said your about $1,500 - $2,500 for decorating that one product.  These are not labels but actual printed on the bottle and that does not include the component.  That is just the decorated bottle"

Then I say: "You now have to get the liquid made and filled and that will run you between... $2.00 and $3.50 per piece. So the math on that is $2,000 - $3,500 up to $3,500 - $8,750.

Then I say: "With my line there are 31 products on the retail side not including Professional and Professional Sizes so the math is this:

So to make just the formulas 31 products on the low end is $93,000 and on the high end $248,000 or anything in between if you understand that not all products will cost the same to develop.  And plan on 6 - 9 months just to get to the final liquid stage and with 31 products the process could easily take more then one year.

Then for components: 31 products could run as much as $30,000 - $50,000 and that is just the bottles or jars depending on how fancy you go and that is based on 2,500 for each one and of course the vendors will push these minimums on you.

Then for decorating: To make this simple you have 31 products and at one or two colors on the basic side of decorating and that can run on the low end as much as $50,000 and on the high end to $75,000/$100,000.

Then for liquid and filling: You have 31 products and depending on how much each size is could run about $6,000 - $10,000.  So the math on that is $186,000 and up to $310,000.

These numbers are correct and even if you reduce by 25% the number is STILL a huge number.  I read all the posts on this thread and smiled the whole way through.  Not a single one described the process as it ACTUAL is and let me say that if you don't have $500,000 to invest don't even think about it and here is the KICKER....

The education material that I wrote and or co authored took close to 3 years to write and illustrate and the best part is this:

" When you spend all the time and invest all that money and now have it all in a warehouse sitting there....HOW ARE YOU GOING TO SELL IT ALL AND TO WHOM ARE YOU GOING TO SELL IT TO BEFORE IT GOES BAD.

:)

80% of all skin care lines are private label and here is one way to tell 100%...

If a single owner mom and pop type skin care line has more then one product with an SPF in it, I can guarantee you that it is private label. To bring an SPF product to market is a minimum 9 month to 1 year development time and over $50,000 just for the one product. This statement is a broad stroke but when I go to Las Vegas and visit the show, I just walk by about 80% of the lines since I know more then one line as the same liquid inside of it.  The marketing behind the line and the lack of industry understanding on the view from the professional allows this whole process to take place.

Way back when in the day of mining for gold it was the sellers of the picks and pans that made all the money and not those looking for gold.  It is the same here with skin care...the vendors make all the money and not the professionals who dream of making there own line.

Marty

SkinCareScience.com

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Permalink Reply by Katrina Matos on May 17, 2015 at 2:49pm

I'm loving hearing everyone's different responses; there's a lot of valuable information and perspective to use in making your decision, Maya! As Shelley was saying, knowing about best practices and FDA requirements is important. You can start educating yourself by checking out some of the resources on Essential Wholesale and New Directions Aromatics; they have online articles in their "libraries" that are very helpful. The Indie Network is definitely an excellent resource. Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Nandy B on May 20, 2015 at 5:36pm

Great job breaking it down. I make the products but often do not see everything else that goes into getting a skin care line to becoming viable and profitable.  So It's hard for me to break it down as well as you do. Everyone wants to make their own skincare line, because there is such glamour in the beauty industry. but what people often fail to see is how complex and expensive it is to have your own skincare line. I'm both a professional R&D chemist and an esthetician, and i don't know that i want to have my skincare line.

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Permalink Reply by Sara West on May 22, 2015 at 11:26pm

I have one word for you IMAGE! Image skin care is the best company to work with, the products are unbelievable and do what they say they do. Very classy, beautiful looking, great education, including follow ups and video. The products just work. There're easy to sale, the price is great, no minimums, Client love it, they can't get enough of it, I can't keep it on the shelves, not that I want to.... ha ha ha

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Permalink Reply by Marty Glenn on May 23, 2015 at 12:18am

Sara

Please search an article that I wrote about "Vector Technology" on this board and I am sure you might have a different opinion. One thing I will add is this:

Image is probably one of, if not, the best marketing company within the skin care industry. Nice plug for image! Do you have experience you can add to the thread about starting a skin care line? That's what this thread is about.

Marty
SkinCareScience.com

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Permalink Reply by Amy Sherman on May 26, 2015 at 5:42am

Don't listen to naysayers and dream crashers.  I started by making soap at home and took my Esthetic class to learn more about skin and skincare.  You need to just start making.  Janice cox was my first stop.  Learn the process first.

Aromotherapy and Herbology are great and there is an online class for making these things. 

The other thing I would say is, if you plan to use it in your business, get insurance. It's about 800$ a year. Worth every dime.

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