As the natural and organic skincare, body care, and hair care markets get more competitive being a natural, vegan, and sustainably sourced company will not differentiate you enough. You will be vulnerable and your customers will choose based on price, rather than your unique benefits. Discovering your brand identity can be one of the most exciting and daunting steps that you as an owner may need to do. Your brand identity is the keystone to developing customer product lines and the treatment protocols that can delight you and your spa/salon clients.

I remember when I started selling with Beauty Kitchen I started with sugar scrubs. I did that because I loved sugar scrubs, but often other brands left me feeling greasy after use. After formulating my own, effective yet non-greasy version, I went full force with that. Figuring out your niche is hard enough in life, let alone when branding. Sometimes I have to sit back and think and let the ideas flow, which I do with my Build Your Brand clients weekly. For more information on that click here to book a private consultation call with me or message me through my Instagram link here.

Today’s post is all about sparking creativity when planning, or adding to, your skincare brand. Wherever you are in that process, these will surely get your creative juices flowing.

For aestheticians or others who want to create a skincare line, what do you feel, see, smell and taste as you enter your future treatment space? Is it inspiring? Envisioning your treatment space is a delightful and exciting first step. Do you want to educate and share with your clients the active ingredients available from nature? Do you want to plan to have 2-5 certain ingredients for a certain benefit at your salon or spa?

Activity #1 – Take a moment and journal some thoughts about what inspires you or what you want to inspire in your customers?
• Who do you see in your treatment space?
• Can you identify the qualities of your ideal customer? Their age and lifestyle preferences? Are they elegantly dressed or casually chic? How old are they? Are they concerned about sustainable ingredients and the environment?

Understanding your target client is important to understanding the type(s) of skincare lines, product ingredients and packaging presentation that reflects their needs and desires. Packaging is key once you identify your target market.

Activity #2 -Find three blogs you want to follow. Peruse websites like Beauty Kitchen, Day Spa, Marianna Naturals, and of course Instagram spa pages to identify trends that resonate with you. Bookmark these sites and sign up for their newsletters.
• What benefits do you want from ingredients in your product line?
• Once you start to understand who your customer will be and what they want, it’s time to begin thinking about the benefits ingredients in your products will provide. Try to think about outcomes rather than specific ingredients at this point. Do you want to smooth skin? To refresh and rejuvenate skin? Help your customers relax?
• By knowing the outcome you want, I can guide you (as part of my Build Your Brand program) to suggest ingredients, and help you select the finished products you want to offer your customers. We really do it all. From packaging selections to labeling, you name it!

Knowing the benefits, you want your products to offer will help you in creating your packaging, marketing your products through services (via the back bar), and in the retail section of your spa/salon. We also always recommend our clients carry 1 ounce tester samples and 0.5 ounce samples as a take away product!

Activity #3 – Reflect on your brand
• What does it promise? Is it high-end? Down to earth?
• Are you concerned about certain chemicals/ingredients?
• Are there ingredients that you want to include or exclude?
• Are there other products in the market like yours?
• Who do you admire?
• Will you have a unique product serve your customer?

Now I hope you can you start to visualize the products that will support your vision! What are your price points? What is the customer experience? What is your niche? Once you start to get a feel for your space, your customer, your final products, and the benefits of your skin care line(s), you can determine if you will create branded product for your business. If so, your next step is to decide if you want to private label an existing product from Beauty Kitchen, or if you’d like to have a unique formula created for you. You’ll want to know the direction before you contact a contract manufacturer. As a trusted manufacturer, I always say that private labeling is the easiest way to go. The products are already formulated, and you can throw your own spin on them and then just focus on BUILDING YOUR BRAND. There is so much more to selling skincare than just slapping a label on something. You have to be focused and diligent on every level from social media, website creation, wholesaling, to you name it.

Activity #4 – Research products that offer similar benefits. What are the common ingredients? Do you know what they all do? Are there ingredients you don’t want?
• And too, think about the time that you have to develop your line(s). Do you need to be in the market quickly? Or can you take a year and develop unique products? How will you put it all together?
• Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. How do you experience the products? As part of a treatment? Through samples? Do you have team members offer free hand massages to showcase your custom hand crème while customers are waiting for the color to set?
• And how will you get to market? Do you have an existing spa and need a ready-to-market product line for your existing customers?
• Do you already have formulas and products that you love and want to add something new?
• Do you want to take an existing base and semi-customize? Or do you want to work with a formulator to create something brand new and exciting?
• What type of packaging do you want?

Think about when you need to be in the market, the resources you can apply, and how you will launch your new products. This will help you decide what to offer at launch, and how to expand your offering.

Activity #5 – Think about where you are and the resources you have.
• Are you brand new to the skincare game?
• Think about where you are in your process and what the unifying concept is for your you, your customer, your product, and your spa.
• Map out the next six months and determine what you need to launch and how you will serve your niche market!

If you really want to fast track your entry into the skincare world or lash world, then I’m your Go-To! Be sure to reach out to find out more. Check out some of the brands I’ve worked with below!

XOXO,
Heather