Taking a product from idea to shelf
I quite often get asked ‘so, how do you come up with the ideas for your products?’
Quite simply it normally starts with a flitting thought, normally whilst walking the dog being surrounded by nature. For example, the Sea Salt range was developed when I was visiting Folkestone in Kent, looking out to sea and thought ‘why do skincare products always use Himalayan salt, surely we produce something similar or better in the UK whilst surrounded by all this sea….!’ And so, off I went, researching all the tiny, artisan salt makers dotted up and down the country and found a supplier that had strong sustainability commitments and was making a really superior product.
Because I only use British grown oils, botanicals and waxes, I am quite limited to what ingredients I can use, so often this is a starting point too. When I find out about a specific oil for example, that has really amazing skincare properties, I wonder how I could build a product around it. This was the case for starflower oil (borage), which is AMAZING for dry, damaged skin and is grown commercially in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire amongst others. It now forms part of the base for our Soothing Balm, Baby Balm and Beauty Balm!
Once I am set on a product, I will go away and research; is there a need for this product? Do my customers want this product? You will often see me doing polls on Instagram; that’s when i’m in idea mode! Concurrent to this I will be tinkering in the lab - getting the formulation right and working out costs. Not too hard, not too greasy, does it smell right, does it DO what i’m intending it to do, can I get it in to a sensible price bracket? Once I am happy with the formula, or maybe undecided on 2 or 3, I will send small samples out to my merry band of product testers (although I call them my Guinea pigs, no furry animals are ever tested on for our ingredients or products!) and I will decide on the final formulation with their feedback.
Once decided, the product is safety tested by cosmetic chemists. All cosmetic products must have a ‘cosmetic product safety report (CPSR)’ to ensure that it is safe for consumers to use on their skin and that the levels of ingredients used (for example essential oils) will not cause harm. The product also has to be registered on a UK portal for cosmetic products. These steps are total yawnsville (and expensive!) but completely necessary parts of the product development process.
Once the ingredients list and formulation have been ok’ed by the safety assessors, I then move on to thinking about what the products will go in to and work with my amazing graphic designer. She will take all my random ramblings and design them in to the most beautiful labels and packaging.
Once I have the proof of the labels, I can do mock up labelled products to see if the text can be read, see if they would look good sitting on a shelf and when satisfied, off to the printers they go. At this stage, wholesale amounts of jars/bottles can be ordered and I can start making the product for sale.
This isn’t quite the end of the journey however…Once I have the product I have to write about it for the website and for my wholesale customers. I work with a couple of amazing photographers to get incredible images for the website and my social media. I also work with my clever social media manager to come up with a launch strategy for the new product….
and that’s it…simple hey!?
But no, in seriousness, it is a LOT of work, and I often frustrate myself when I put things off which then has a knock on effect down the product development road. But it is all worth it; when I see the products on the website, someone buys them and I get amazing feedback. I can’t quite describe that feeling.
If you’ve got any questions on product development or indeed have a product you want to see developed, do pop a comment below or send me a message, I love to receive them!
Kitty xx
