RAW HARVEST: AN INTRIGUING PRODUCT STORY

 

Creating new ideas and concepts around promotional materials for beauty products can be daunting.


 The challenges? 

•   Creating a story different from competitive products
•   Aligning with trends
•   Telling an appealing ingredient story  
•   Engaging the consumer  
•   Translating high-end technology to an understandable consumer      level

One way to get away from the mundane of creating an intriguing ingredient story is to literally step outside and examine your environment.

It’s October.  Apple picking season is in full swing.  Colorful pumpkins are adorning manicured gardens.  Fragrant smoky notes from backyard fire pits fill the cool, crisp nights with a familiar and cozy aroma that welcomes a chillier season.  If you’re reading closely, there are at least 5 ingredient concept ideas in this last paragraph…did you notice them?  

What better way to create a marketing ingredient story than around fall harvest-inspired ingredients that are familiar, comforting, and healthful? You can count on Fall coming back again next year - seasonal materials will always be on trend – no room for mistakes here!

To help tell the story of promotional materials to incorporate within beauty formulas, I reached out to a few industry raw material experts keen on trends and healthy ingredients.   


Janice Hart of Bell Flavors and Fragrances, which sources botanicals from all over the world, states, “As we are now in the Fall Season the following botanicals come to mind - Cranberry, Pomegranate, Yam and Pear. Mostly these extracts are known for their high anti-oxidant  or moisturizing properties. Each of these extracts have been launched in unique skin and body care products in the last year. So this season, you don’t have to source the globe for exotic materials in order to keep up with skincare trends. Instead, simply step outside and find fresh ideas in the familiar ingredients of your local harvest!” 


While focusing on the ingredients of the fall season, also consider today’s lifestyle. Health and wellness are prominent lifestyles that have moved from trends to ways of living. Products that protect the skin from the aggressors of urban living, pollution, and the environment continue to be desirable performance attributes for the consumer. 


Need ideas for healthy fall materials? Consider walnuts! Yes, Grenoble walnuts - green walnuts, sourced from the French Alps.  The walnut tree, is able to live up to 400 years, and is an example of a real challenge to aging. Over the centuries, it has protected the secret of its long life.  According to Lauren DelDotto, Marketing Manager at Gattefosse,  “Gatuline® Age Defense 2 is an active extract of Grenoble walnuts.”

And, how can we forget pumpkin this time of year?  The powerful orange fruit is, above all, rich in nutrients and is one of the fruits with the highest anti-oxidizing carotene content to which it owes its fine orange color. 

Using fresh pumpkin cells, not extracts, can be a unique way to talk about this powerful active.  “Fresh Cells™ are cellular suspensions of whole, fresh plant cells resulting from a mild and selective extraction process.”    According to DelDotto, “when Fresh Cells™ come in contact with the skin, they will degrade due to enzymes in the epidermis and physical application, and will sparingly pour out their precious content – protected, until that point, in a sort of natural microcapsule.”

Creating new concepts can be fun and challenging at the same time. But a simple walk around the block can help open your creative eyes to what’s possible.  

Need help creating product concepts using high-level technologies or familiar ingredients?  Contact info@beautyedgeinc.com   We can schedule a conference call to discuss some starting point ideas for your next beauty product launch.

Missed the last update? Check out what we’re up to at www.beautyedgeinc.com - click on the InnerEdge tab.

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT - FIRST TO MARKET

Product Development – How a Setback Became a First to Market Product

first to market concealer
first to market concealer

Speed to market, first to market … to market, to market, to market … how fast can we get there, and can we get there first?! 

A number of years ago, I was working with a third party lab on an under eye concealer project - one texture and five shades. While this type of out-of house development was unusual for my employing company at that time, the brand I worked on opened doors to collaboration with outside manufacturers. 

Mid-development, a financial issue arose between the vendor and the corporate company. Long story short, I was blocked from doing any further development work with the vendor.  My dilemma: I still needed to deliver a product to meet the calendar dates for Marketing - five skus for 4th quarter.  The products were scheduled in the calendar, they were in the budget, and development started—there was no time to rework the product calendar at this point. What to do?

And then—that aha! moment.  I thought outside of the normal color cosmetic development process and re-evaluated an anti-aging skin care formula that I helped develop a few years earlier.  It contained an encapsulated retinol release technology.  

My questions were:

 1.)  Can I use the skin care bulk as a concealer base? 
2.)  The bulk was white.  Will it hold enough pigment/color without drastically changing the texture?  
3.) Would the retinol technology in the skin care bulk still perform if pigment was added to the bulk? 
 4.) Could the product maintain anti-aging skin care claims and deliver color performance? 
 5.) Could this be first to market???  

With time tight and preliminary stability testing on its way, the R&D team bought into the idea immediately and started testing the product with pigment. And voilà!  We had a remarkable product to deliver that was better than the first concealer concept originally slated on the calendar! 

The final product was innovative, with skin care performance claims and color payoff.  The legal team confirmed that there was no other product on the market at that time with this type of performance.  You could say it was a CC under eye concealer way before its time!  

Are you looking for innovation?  Think about ways you can turn your current product development projects around to make them something even greater than your original concepts!

If you liked this post, keep an eye out for future posts on first to market product development. 

Missed the last update?  Check out what we’re up to at www.beautyedgeinc.com - click on the InnerEdge tab.   

The Edge On: Living Joyfully

Which lifestyle has elevated into a higher quest of being?  Joy.

Joy...living, sharing, being, and loving joyfully within our homes, and living well there.

BeautyEdge stumbled upon a newly launched East Coast lifestyle store named PIRCH.  We won’t share everything that we saw there here in this post - we’ll let that experience be a mystery to be discovered by you.  We will share that this model/presentation of a lifestyle store offers an inspirational think-tank for product development, retail, branding, marketing and living joyfully.

What are the expressions of joy that we seek?

Stimulating the senses … touching … feeling … dreaming … connecting…experiencing … hoping … engaging …. off-lining.  In escaping our lack of joy and break free from anxieties, we seek to relax in our own space, to entertain in our homes, the hub of our lives, with neighbors, family, and friends.

We delight in story telling about our lives, creating memories and events within our own “at home supper club” or "spa-connection," and being comforted in the joy of it all with an element of surprise.

What is Living Joyfully?
·       loving
·       connecting - sharing intimately
·       balancing self-comfort with community building
·       self-expressing/creating
·       experiencing life visually and texturally

Would you like to bring an experience of joy to your product development concepts or learn more about product development for your brand?  Contact me to schedule a 20 minute complimentary consultation to talk through your goals at Cherie@beautyedgeinc.com  Check out our site www.beautyedgeinc.com

   

 

   

The Edge on Tropical Trends

 

It’s mid-summer – that means adventure and travel! 

At BeautyEdge, we mixed in a little inspirational exploration to our travels of the shimmery white sands, and electric blue waters of the Caribbean!

Where did we land?  A Perfume Factory!  Check out our tropical journey in the video below.  

We were welcomed by a cozy porch upon arrival to this quaint, pink seashell colored building.  Greeting us were familiar names of raw materials, like English lavender, jasmine, coconut, amber and roses.

Once inside the inner workings of this island gem, beachy décor accented the retail displays as the guide explained what made their fragrance blends unique. A quick tour took us through laboratory spaces where oils are compounded and stainless steel mixing vats blended choice perfumery materials.

The finished juice is presented in decorative bottles with whimsical names drawn from the fragrant Bahamian life: Bahama Blue, Goomba, Island Promises and Pink Pearl to name a few.  Base notes of vanilla, light cream and amber in some of the creations offer a comforting Caribbean twist seasoned with peach, plum and coconut.    

We couldn’t walk away without purchasing a little something for ourselves, and, of course, a little treat for our newest canine addition, Checkers.  What was her treat?  Bahama Mama pet fragrance, fitting for a female Boston terrier!  A little spray on her sleeping pod lulls her into a dreamy wonderland and softens her fur at the same time.

How does a trip to a perfume factory in the Caribbean offer inspiration?  By offering insight into current trends.  According to Janice Hart, Sr. Manager, Bell Flavors & Fragrances, “We see a trend with our customers wanting to use more essential oils in their fragrances. - Customers are demanding purity and simplicity of pure essential oils.”

Cynthia Keeting, Global Account Executive at CosmoInternational Fragrances contends that  “ fragrance trends in personal care are exploding with scents centered around coconut - widely used in products positioned for moisturization, damage repair for hair,    adding luster, promoting scalp/skin health and stimulating hair growth. Other hot trends:  tropical/sunny island concept fragrances based on seaweed, hibiscus, passion fruit, guava and Brazilian citrus.”  

When thinking about your next product launch, what type of experience can you offer your customer? -  Need inspirational help creating that memorable product for your brand? Contact Cherie@beautyedgeinc.com  and check out our site at www.beautyedgeinc.com  view the “InnerEdge” tab to see what we’re up to!

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT - THE FIRST WIN!

Product Development – The First Win!

Winning a CEW (Cosmetic Executive Women) product award is like winning an Oscar in the beauty industry.  It’s a big deal!  One thing to understand about product development is that the win is the result of a team effort.  When the product wins, all teams win.

First Win Cream
First Win Cream

How to get a winning product? Easy question—not so easy to answer.

My best recommendation is that when starting with the concept, think of ways that might give the product an edge, that makes the product first to the market in its performance, something that no other product has addressed: a new technology, a new texture, a new way to fit into today’s lifestyle, a unique color, a new way of dispensing, a nuance that might be a slight change, prompting someone to say “Why didn’t I think of that?”

Luminosity (Avon) was one of those award winning products. I joined the marketing team at the mid-development point.  My contribution included working with teams to complete the aesthetic development and texture, product performance, claims development, training and copy development. 

The story doesn’t end here.  In an upcoming post, I’ll share my experience about attending a first production run on this product.

NY NOW, Let's Get Happy!

BeautyEdge visited the NY NOW show in New York City's Jacob Javits Center.

Some of you may be asking, “What is NY NOW?”  From our point of view, it is a tremendous collection of U.S. and global-based manufacturers, exhibitors, and distributors with commercialized products that range from personal care to baby clothes, stationary to home goods. The exhibitors provide “first look” exposure to new launches along with their full brand line-ups that are available for retail sales in various selling channels.

Key Trends:

>>Though living green and sustainability are becoming more of a lifestyle than a trend, we continue discovering new ways to use our resources wisely and safely.

>>Strong evidence in men’s luxury personal care was apparent, along with the need and clear message to love others and ourselves, to celebrate, to indulge in the little things and enjoy happiness.

While many trends themed throughout the show, we chose happiness as a grounding point.  We won’t claim to know the answer to everlasting happiness at BeautyEdge, but we do know that as humans we seek an experience, whether inside or outside of ourselves, to which we can say, ”That makes me happy!”

Take a look at what we saw at NY NOW!

 

TheHappyEdge: fun products

eco-kids®  launched 2008

Although they have been around since 2008, Kip and Cammie Weeks continue to bring fun, creativity, and a breath of fresh air to a lineup of 13 eco-kid products, including molding dough, crayons, finger paints, and egg-coloring kits. The company began with a recipe for molding dough that Cammie Weeks’ mom made for her as a child. After incorporating natural ingredients into the recipe, the dough was named eco-dough. With the slogan “creative play the natural way,” eco-kids’ products are developed with non-toxic natural ingredients and packaged with environmentally friendly supplies from around the United States.

Bead Bottle™ launching Spring 2014

Beach

Beach

Sentiment

Sentiment

Bead Bottle is a distinctive and creative product that was designed to honor important memories and milestones in life. From family vacations to special friendships to personal mantras, Peyote Bird has developed numerous stores that appeal to a wide range of customers. Each bead bottle contains various semi-precious stones, as well as metal charms, glass beads, and leather cording, accompanied by two lobster closures to make one necklace and one bracelet.  A story card with simple instructions is provided with each purchase and includes a QR-code to YouTube videos for additional information.

Buff-Her House of Exfoliation launched May 2013

The time spent with these three sisters and founders—Regina, Cheryl, and Stephanie—was delightful. They are all experts in natural skin remedies, and two of the sisters are aestheticians. We’re happy to hear that, because it is particularly important to understand how a product works on skin and what to look for performance-wise during and after use. Buff Her House of Exfoliation is a collection of exfoliating facial scrubs made from organic and naturally grown fruits and vegetables. According to the company, these gentle exfoliants will restore your skin’s natural and radiant beauty with nature’s help! Their goal is to provide women with a natural way to exfoliate by using all-natural and organic foods. Each shaker is claimed to provide two hundred exfoliating applications, and can be used mixed with water, or added to your favorite cleanser!

Final thoughts: As colleagues in marketing, product development, and trend seekers, explore with us these new ideas!  Let's use these infusions of inspiration as stepping stones creating happiness for our consumers while designing a better world of products.  

Need help creating a Happy or Experiential beauty care product or brand with an edge?  Connect with BeautyEdge LLC at Info@beautyedgeinc.com   We’re also available for category analysis to identify the white space for your new product or brand.

A day of Sensory Analysis with Gattefosse!

BeautyEdge spent the day with Gattefosse learning more about how our 5 senses work together to help create aesthetically pleasing cosmetic products. In the image below we are testing our textural evaluation skills.  

Are you looking for a unique cosmetic product texture?  BeautyEdge can help you develop a specialized “sensoround” ™ product experience customized for your brand.  Questions? Connect with us at info@beautyedgeinc.com

SENSORYPHOTO

SENSORYPHOTO

How does the sense of touch work?

Touch works by sending information to the spinal cord that then goes to the brain. Your somatic sensory system is responsible for your sense of touch. The somatic sensory system has nerve receptors that help you feel when something comes into contact with your skin. The most sensitive sensory receptors are found in the very top layers of the dermis and epidermis.

NYSCC - Presentation: The Science Behind Beauty, - Why We Spa!

TheEdgeOnPurple: Color Trend Walk, NYC

TheEdgeOnPurple When you think of “purple,” what comes to mind? Royalty? Passion? Romance? Its richness, its lushness?

BeautyEdge strolled the streets of New York City and vicinity, seeking shades of purple.

The color purple is not just on trend, in fact, it invades our world — our world of food, our art, our environment, our homes, our decor and adornments, our fashion, our beauty products.

Its tones and hues, its nuances, are everywhere. It’s almost as though the color shouts out to you, commanding your attention. The color captures every mood, with abstract applications, and lush textures in jewel-like, brilliant finishes and vibrant opulence. Plum,   lavender, amethyst, violaceous ... the variations in value offer endless options in our world.

Wander with us, and come, see what we saw ... 

The color purple is not just on trend, in fact, it invades our world - our world of food, our art, our environment, our homes, our decor and adornments, our fashion, our beauty products. BeautyEdge strolled the streets of New York City and vicinity, seeking shades of purple.

 

BeautyEdgeTip: click >>Purple Eye Shadow

THE EDGE ON PURPLE: A TREND WALK IN NYC

When you think of “purple,” what comes to mind? Royalty? Passion? Romance? Its richness, its lushness?  

BeautyEdge strolled the streets of New York City and vicinity, seeking shades of purple.

 

The color purple is not just on trend, in fact, it invades our world — our world of food, our art, our environment, our homes, our decor and adornments, our fashion, our beauty products.

 

Its tones and hues, its nuances, are everywhere. It’s almost as though the color shouts out to you, commanding your attention. The color captures every mood, with abstract applications, and lush textures in jewel-like, brilliant finishes and vibrant opulence. Plum,   lavender, amethyst, violaceous ... the variations in value offer endless options in our world.

 

Wander with us, and come, see what we saw ... click >>TheEdgeOnPurple

 

BeautyEdgeTip: click >>Purple Eye Shadow