Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating Formulating a cleansing oil for the very first time

  • Ghita37

    Member
    December 26, 2022 at 3:55 pm

    .Hello @jemolian, awesome much appreciated!!
    I just want to comment the last answer you provided as i didnt understand very well. You said:

    This is up to you. The price point of those products you referred shouldn’t be that expensive, so fighting a price war by being more price competitive is not your best choice if you are starting out. I’ll recommend standing out and differentiating your product in another way. You have to think about it yourself. As mentioned the surveying helps if you know what people have issues with when using similar products

    So ill answer here
    the price point of these products i mentioned is as follows: 
    Toleriane by Laroche Posay dermo Nettoyant 400ML at 13.73 USD and three pharma sell it at that price.It is now on sales; original price was 21 USD.
    Cetaphil sells at 14.30 usd was originally at 21.64 usd for 500ML 
    Cerave 473 ML at 12.39 usd and before was at 18.59 USD
    Avene 
    Uriage 

    Im noticing they all come in big sizes.But as a new brand can i go with smaller size to test? 

    Also what do you mean when you said that being more price competitive is not your best choice/Are you saying my price should be a slightly higher than the prices i just gave above? Well i that case people will say: you are not Laroche Posey and you are more expensive than Laroche, who are you? 

    So by standing out and differentiating myself- can this be through an ingredient that is not present in the laroche for example or avene or cerave or cetaphil? how else can i be different? 

  • jemolian

    Member
    December 26, 2022 at 5:05 pm
    Im noticing they all come in big sizes.But as a new brand can i go with smaller size to test? 

    Sure

    what do you mean when you said that being more price competitive is not your best choice/Are you saying my price should be a slightly higher than the prices i just gave above?

    You should ask yourself, what is the point of duplicating a similar product compared to those products? Can you out compete in costing / profit margin / marketing? 

    As you mentioned, why should people buy your product over the name brand products? So what is your diffentiating factor? Why chooses your products compared to your competitors even if they don’t choose the name brand products? 

     by standing out and differentiating myself- can this be through an ingredient that is not present in the laroche for example or avene or cerave or cetaphil? how else can i be different? 

    This is up to you to decide. I believe I had given some references in my previous comments. There are many ways to differentiate yourself. You need to decide what that is and how you can translate that into your products to let customers understand your brand and product value. 

  • Dr Catherine Pratt

    Member
    December 26, 2022 at 6:17 pm

    Hey there, I am Dr Cath Pratt, I just finished one of those oil cleansers. I can help you out with it? There are some very new methods and ingredients to make them now, but I embraced the old way.
    You can choose any price point you like and any target market.
    If you would like to email me:
    catherine@drprattscosmeticformulating.com

    Kindest Catherine

  • Ghita37

    Member
    December 27, 2022 at 10:17 am

    Hello @jemolian im super grateful for your reply here. 
    Can you please explain what you mean whether i can compete in costing/profit marging/marketing.I dont undestqnd how can i compete in profit margin and in marketing, can you give an example to make it clear? 

    You said there are many ways to differentiate myself, can you kindly guide me here with some hints. I really dont know. 

    Thank you once more 🙂

  • Ghita37

    Member
    December 27, 2022 at 10:19 am

    Hello @”Dr Catherine Pratt” thank you so much for your message. I just emailed you few minutes ago. I look forward to hearing from you. 
    Many thanks :smiley:

  • Ghita37

    Member
    December 27, 2022 at 11:05 am

    @jemolian your point is so important and i cant stop thibking about it.

    I’ll recommend standing out and differentiating your product in another way. You have to think about it yourself. As mentioned the surveying helps if you know what people have issues with when using similar products. 

    Just to be more active on my end can i still formulate the gentle cleanser for dry skin something similar to LaRoche Posay and give 50 ml samples for people to try; give to 30 people and give them surveys as well and also give 50 ml of the cleansing oil to 30 pople either the same people or other people. So at least they can answer the survey and also give feedback in regards to my two cleansers: the oil and the gentle water based cleanser like Laroche.So with their feedback ill know what works more oil or the other and ill know what to improve/ do you think this is a good plan? 

  • Ghita37

    Member
    December 27, 2022 at 11:07 am

    @jemolian kindly guide me some more because its a first time for me and i just want to have the basics nailed down. 

  • Ghita37

    Member
    December 27, 2022 at 9:46 pm

    Hello everyone.Im still thinking about your advices @Jemolian :Why would people buy from me if i merely duplicate Laroche Posay so try to differentiate myself in costing; marketing or margin. I dont know what the last two ones mean

    Also in terms of suggestions; @MarkBroussard said look at what sells the most in Morocco in terms of cleansers and go do that ; So as per my research of the top selling cleansers i saw gels, foam, gentle lotion like that of cerave.Ok so if i want to SELL not EDUCATE and offer a product like that is on the market i can do a gentle cleansing lotion but id i want to differentiate can i add to it mandelic acid so it would cleanse and gentley exfoliate; because this is how i understand when you ask me to differentiate? But if i put mandelic acid can people use it everyday? Can you please help as i want to be different but not sure what i should do? Thank you so much 

    Also @Pattsi said :My little humble advice - don’t decide based on what you have read on internet or what you thought. Correct data and information, why your target don’t like to use micellar, why some don’t like cleansing oil, why some like balm and you will see what you should sell, micellar or balm or oil or both or neither. So I will know this info from the survey right? 

    And you should be looking into makeup remover category rather than facial cleanser. why is thta? 

  • jemolian

    Member
    December 28, 2022 at 1:33 am
    Can you please explain what you mean whether i can compete in costing/profit marging/marketing.I dont undestqnd how can i compete in profit margin and in marketing, can you give an example to make it clear? 

    Why would people buy from me if i merely duplicate Laroche Posay so try to differentiate myself in costing; marketing or margin. 

    I’m not asking you to differentiate your brand by costing, marketing or margin. You seem to have misunderstood. 

    Previously mentioned, when formulating a product or for development, ingredients can be chosen for different factors such as marketing, performance, compatibility, etc. It’s already quite straight forward in what i had mentioned here. 

    Have you already calculated the cost of ingredients, other costs such as production, overheads, misc / marketing fees, and your profit margin of your product? With the profit margin, can your business be sustained? This are business basics, so i’m not sure why you are not clear about it assuming you already had calculated those? 

    You might want to discuss with your mentor or get a business consultant on this part. Business sustainability is important, also you don’t want to make the mistake of having to adjusting the price of your products upwards after making the mistake of not having a sufficient profile margin. Will your products still be competitive to those benchmark brands that you said you want to compete with?   

    Just to be more active on my end can i still formulate the gentle cleanser for dry skin something similar to LaRoche Posay and give 50 ml samples for people to try; give to 30 people and give them surveys as well and also give 50 ml of the cleansing oil to 30 pople either the same people or other people. So at least they can answer the survey and also give feedback in regards to my two cleansers: the oil and the gentle water based cleanser like Laroche.So with their feedback ill know what works more oil or the other and ill know what to improve/ do you think this is a good plan?  

    It’s up to you if you want to do that. However keep in mind for the below that you have mentioned before and not make the mistake when surveying. 

    I watched one day a video on Youtube on what is a product market fit and they said that product market fit is found when people buy your prodiuct not when they fill in a survey or when they say they will buy through your survey; 

    They also said survey are used when you already have a target audience and and want to create a new product. Not when you’re starting out and have a product you want to test.

    Searching, asking question to people whether they will buy or not will never show you the real picture.  You’ll learn more by going out there (on- or offline), sharing your product with others and talking with them.

    Who your target is, you’ll learn by doing. Why they will (or will not) purchase, you’ll learn by doing. What you need to do next, you’ll learn by doing.

  • jemolian

    Member
    December 28, 2022 at 1:59 am
    so if i want to SELL not EDUCATE and offer a product like that is on the market i can do a gentle cleansing lotion but id i want to differentiate can i add to it mandelic acid so it would cleanse and gentley exfoliate; because this is how i understand when you ask me to differentiate? But if i put mandelic acid can people use it everyday? Can you please help as i want to be different but not sure what i should do? 

    You can decide on the Sell:Educate ratio later. Normally you will still need to educate to a certain extent depending on the product since people will still not know about everything your product does, it just varies depend on how educated your demographic is about skincare and ingredients. 

    If you want to make an exfoliating cleanser that is fine. This will still be up to you. Depending on the pH and percentage of the acid, the user may not use it daily since you don’t need daily exfoliation. 

    The differentiating factor still depends on your brand concept, not just the products. We don’t know what that is, but it’s something you need to decide for yourself. Personally i’d recommend not to overthink the cleanser. A cleanser mainly does 1 or 2 things, cleansing and sometimes is a treatment for skin issues. Most of the time people are just want an effective cleanse and sufficiently mild. The goal is to meet those needs besides from managing the cost to maintain a sufficient margin for marketing and profit for a sustainable business. 

    You might want to put more effect into your leave on products. People can purchase another cleanser for reasons such as them finding the price of the current product is not of the value they hoped for, or the performance of the product doesn’t meet your satisfaction due to various reasons. People may also chose to purchase a product from the same brand as they like the brand. 

    Assuming you have your products ready, you can choose to market your leave on product to them and get them to try your cleanser. If they are fine with the value and performance, they may try choose to purchase your cleanser. This is more about giving out samples and other methods of marketing. 

    If you need a differentiating example: There’s a Chinese brand that seem to have an obsession with cleansing oils. Supposedly they tested a lot of oils / esters / surfactants, and also gotten a factory to specially produce a surfactant for them for their cleaning oil for better efficacy. This would be an obvious differentiating factor. https://youtu.be/KJWaa0kf7vc?t=557 

    don’t decide based on what you have read on internet or what you thought. Correct data and information, why your target don’t like to use micellar, why some don’t like cleansing oil, why some like balm and you will see what you should sell, micellar or balm or oil or both or neither. So I will know this info from the survey right? 

    Yes, if you have surveyed enough people you think can determine the trend of your demographic. 

    And you should be looking into makeup remover category rather than facial cleanser. why is thta? 

    This is up to you. There’s no should or shouldn’t. You are the business owner, every decision should make sense for your business.

  • Ghita37

    Member
    December 28, 2022 at 11:48 am

    Hi @Jemolian. I tend to read your messages twice to dissect every idea you suggest. First off i dont have a mentor or a business consultant.Im working on my own and i took a vow that i will procastinate less and DO MORE; 
    sECOND ok lets make things clear, my INTENTION is to SELL not EDUCATE. So for this as per Mark i did a quick research into the top selling cleansers in the Moroccan market cleansing oil are not too common though certain brands do them like cerave and uriage so you find them. 
    Now with regards to differentiation since my purpose is to SELL well there is no point in duplicating what the competito is doing if im not offering something different. ok i get that now 🙂 Im just confused now a lot.You said the diff factor depends on the brand concept but i dont have that yet/So does that mean i should test my prodeucts yet only when i have a brand concept? 
    Also you said: personally dont overthink the cleanser, so are you saying dont focus on a cleanser focus on a leave on product? ( im just trying to underdstand so when i implement i implement based on what i understood) So what i get is : strike a balance between your cleanser ( oil or gel or whateevr) and keeping a good margin to sustain my business.So if for example a cleanwer sells at 13 usd and mine costs _ to make and i sell at 20 BUT NO ONE buys then im at loss or if they sell but the price is low compared to competition and then i decide to move it upwards then its a mistake as you said. so the price should help my business be sustainable and yet the product is in demand and doesnt cost much to produce; that is the main idea right? 

  • Ghita37

    Member
    December 28, 2022 at 12:01 pm

    @jemolian i have been procrastinating a lot because im scared to be frank because i still think i must get some work done before i can test; ok if i want to take ACTIONS IS IT OKAY IF I MAKE the small batch and test even with no brand concept/Lets say i make 30 units per sku and go to a pharmacy or drugstore but i dont have a concept/All im armed with are my products; their feqtures; what kind of skin type they suit; what each ingredeint does and why i put this and this ingredeint and how am different from Laroche and Cerave etc and this is my price point/This is all i have/ For the cleanser Please Jemolian if you can explain what you mean when you said dont overthink the oil cleanser; does that mean pick another cleanser; cus me personally i dont have a personaly story wiht cleansers lolol the reason why inpicked it even without doing survey or anything is because whenever i go to pharcmacies here i only see the sqme cleanser types: micellar water; gel; foam, milk, cream never saw oil cleansers so i said UMMM LETS INNOVATE Ghita; u can introduce sthg new:But this has a flip side which is that it qill require me or soeone else toe ducate people on what is an oil clenaser and my purpse at this stag is not to educate bit to sell; MZAKE MONEY because this is what i need now. So i said ok lets do a product like laroche Posay a gentle milk or cream cleanser and have that sell fast:Then you told me whats the pint and i agree 1000000 percent and this is what i need help with/Why x person would buy my milk or cream cleanser; how is mine different and this is WHERE IM STUCK and need SERIOUS HELP. Could you please accompany me in this because im trying to find out and dont see:Would it be a good starting point to check what the local competiton meaning indie bvrand like me are doing in terms of cleansers? because my add was to simply check the negative revuews on anamzon of Laroche posay and improve on that or like you said DO A SURVEY and see what people care aboiut 

  • Ghita37

    Member
    December 28, 2022 at 1:11 pm

    I apologise as i didnt mean to send this post above before checking for errors. I typed fast and now i wanted to edit and delete to make a new one but the editing option is not there. So I apologize again :) 

  • jemolian

    Member
    December 28, 2022 at 1:42 pm
     i have been procrastinating a lot because im scared to be frank because i still think i must get some work done before i can test

    If you know that there are quite some work to be done, I’ll recommend creating any action plan and get it done with. I’m not sure about your country but in certain countries, for example the ones like mine that follows the EU regulations, the products needs to be registered with the government before selling. If you are doing sampling, you might want to look for the testers yourself instead of approaching a store since they will likely not want to take any risk in your activities. 

    if you can explain what you mean when you said dont overthink the oil cleanser

    If you can’t decide on what type of cleanser to make, just make a general gel cleanser that markets to all skin types. You can add whatever else ingredients as part of your story later if you want. You normally can’t go wrong with a generic cleanse type. 

    Could you please accompany me in this because im trying to find out and dont see

    Actually we (the people that have commented in this thread) had been going quite some suggestions already, so you don’t particularly need us or me to accompany for that long. You will just need to write up your action plans and commit to them. What we have suggested and what you have researched will add to the list of actions to be taken. Also we won’t be able to here forever since we are providing free advice and just in a general form, you should really look for your mentor or a consultant so you can discuss in specifics with a legal NDA signed for confidentiality purposes. 

    Would it be a good starting point to check what the local competiton meaning indie bvrand like me are doing in terms of cleansers? 

    Yes, that would also be part of competition research. 

    because my add was to simply check the negative revuews on anamzon of Laroche posay and improve on that or like you said DO A SURVEY and see what people care aboiut

    If you have no clue, it’s best you do all of the above. 

  • Ghita37

    Member
    December 28, 2022 at 1:44 pm

    By the way @ Jemolian in regards to my brand concept or the main idea behind my brand is: take care of yourself; dont neglect yourself yet dont look for perfection.Infuse or feed your skin the ingredients it needs to attain your goals but accept aging.Our products are made with safe ingredients and when used on a regular basis give results over the long term. My concept also is that we make our product with YOU THE CUSTOMER in our mind; we want you to know that we care about you and about the safety of your skin. We want to make your life easier.We want you to know that though our products are not rocket science i mean a cleanser or face scrub are products that are common yet we want you to know that we invest a lot of time behind every decision we make from choosing the right active ingredients to the right surfactant because want want your skin to be safe and breath . µ
     By the way im reading now about brand concept and i feel like it is more or less the philosophy of the brand; what does the brand stand for overall, is this correct? 

  • jemolian

    Member
    December 28, 2022 at 1:56 pm
    So what i get is : strike a balance between your cleanser ( oil or gel or whateevr) and keeping a good margin to sustain my business.So if for example a cleanwer sells at 13 usd and mine costs _ to make and i sell at 20 BUT NO ONE buys then im at loss or if they sell but the price is low compared to competition and then i decide to move it upwards then its a mistake as you said. so the price should help my business be sustainable and yet the product is in demand and doesnt cost much to produce; that is the main idea right? 

    Some small crafter do make this mistake which is why I had mention to do your costing for margin calculation. 

    Let me give you a reverse example. You remember that I mention that my company imports and distributes skincare? Distribution prices can range from 25% to 45% of the recommended retail price / MSRP. 

    Would your product still profitable at an average of 30% of the retail price? If your product is 10 USD, it should still be profitable at your distribution price, let’s say for example 35%, which is 3.5 USD. 

    It’s best to minimise price increases due to price setting mistakes, example if you are only profitable at 5 USD, then to adjust for distribution at 35%, then your retail price will be adjusted to 14+ USD. Are customers still willing to accept at this price point? 

  • jemolian

    Member
    December 28, 2022 at 2:09 pm
     By the way im reading now about brand concept and i feel like it is more or less the philosophy of the brand; what does the brand stand for overall, is this correct? 

    Yes that should be fine for that. You can see what the others say. 

    Based on what you had mentioned, you can tag along some of the trends which you can look into: 
    - the term “wellaging” instead of anti aging. 
    - “you the customer”, which is where surveying and customer feedback comes in
    - “skin to be safe”, this is more for marketing but you can get your product tested for allergic reactions if you have the budget. This can work against you since no product is fully allergy free but Korean companies have been doing this for their product and uses it as part of marketing. 
    - “right active ingredients”, this can be quite flexible but it depends on what you mean by “right” and to what point. 

  • Ghita37

    Member
    December 28, 2022 at 7:50 pm

    Dear @jemolian, thanks a lot and i mean those words. Please excuse my behavior cus whatever you write I immediately have other questions to ask :smiley: Ok let me jump to your last message then ill come back to the first one;

    1- is what i wrote considered a brand concept?
    2-I dont understand what you mean that based on what i wrote i can tag along some of the trends which i can look into. And how would looking at trends serve me or benefit me, i dont get it? I mean is it still part fo the brand concept to understand more brand concept and expound on what i wrote when i speak to B2C and B2B clients; is this the reasoning behind you suggesting me to look into trends? 
    3-skin to be safe by that i mean if im making a product for a person with senstive skin then i wont put in that product essential oil. So my idea is that YOU are on my mind when i make a product for you.Its not just the ingreeints that are safe but the formulation that is for YOUR SPECIFIC skin concern. 
    4-The right active ingredents means again the RIGHT CHOICE for you;so again if you have SENSITIVE SKIN we know that the right chemical exfoliator would be something like mandelic acid or a PHA.Again since i want to not make things worse for people with senstive skin; i intend to create a face scrub with mandelic acid. So i have YOU and your concerns in my mind when i develop a product.This is what i i meant when i said the RIGHT ACTIVE meaning the RIGHT CHOICE based on your CONCERN; 

    5-so can this brand cocnept I wrote above  be a diff factor Jemolian?( if yes it should be backed by actions not just words and the actions are  Or its not strong enough to entice people to want to be curious and try? I was doing some research into Brand Concept and found examples of BRAND CONCEPTS for different brands spanning different industries; cosmetics, food; technology and ill share some here. 
    brand concept of Shiseido: 
    encouraging diversity through inclusive campaigns and offering products that are as equally grounded in nature as they are in science

    6-the other idea part of my concept is that you dont need to follow a lenghty routine but just listen to your own needs YET adopt a preventative approach to your routine

    Btw what i understand is that there must be a cohesion between the rband concept and the products of the brand right? by cohesion i mean consistency. 
    So can my brand concept be a diff factor and how to highlight it? Is my story enough to encourage people to say pick my cleanser over that of Laroche? 
    Thank you all 

  • jemolian

    Member
    December 29, 2022 at 3:03 am
    And how would looking at trends serve me or benefit me, i dont get it? I mean is it still part fo the brand concept to understand more brand concept and expound on what i wrote when i speak to B2C and B2B clients; is this the reasoning behind you suggesting me to look into trends? 

    It’s mainly the further refine the concept. The trends I have mentioned may help with that but its up to you to determine if it does since those are marketed by other brands. 

    if you have SENSITIVE SKIN we know that the right chemical exfoliator would be something like mandelic acid or a PHA.Again since i want to not make things worse for people with senstive skin; i intend to create a face scrub with mandelic acid. So i have YOU and your concerns in my mind when i develop a product

    So how would you know it would work well on people with the specific skin type? A test would be required. Like what I had mentioned for the trends, the brands may send the product for a sensitivity / irritation / allergy reaction test for the results to show something as part of the marketing to the customers. A test can kind of claim the choosing the right active, if not you can just stick to essential oil free or free from some common allergen ingredients. This is up to you to what level you want to prove your concept. 

    if yes it should be backed by actions not just words and the actions are  Or its not strong enough to entice people to want to be curious and try?

    Normally if you are backed by reasonable proof, people will be willing to test the products out, even if they are curious about the brand / products but ultimately what keeps the customer is the product performance and the value (for money). 

    Is my story enough to encourage people to say pick my cleanser over that of Laroche? 

    what i understand is that there must be a cohesion between the rband concept and the products of the brand right? by cohesion i mean consistency. So can my brand concept be a diff factor and how to highlight it?

    No. So you need to incorporate the ideas and actions to proof or validate your concept as mentioned above for example. Alternatively using ingredients or active suitable to maintain or improve specific skin types. This depends on the product planning and development based on your concept, skin type, product type, product performance requirements, etc. 

  • Ghita37

    Member
    December 29, 2022 at 12:28 pm

    Hello @Jemolian. Im trying to understand the business aspect of what you mentioned.Could you please make it simpler if you dont mind 🙂

    1-some small crafter do make this mistake which is why I had mention to do your costing for margin calculation. So here you say that some small crafters charge a low price and then when they see they dont make enough profit they increase that price correct? So what do you suggest here? To me what they should do is to account for all the costs involved in the manufacturing of their products : ingredients, primary and seconday packaging; stickers; filling and advertising.This is the TOTAL COST. To this total cost i will add MY MARGIN to get the RETAIL/SELLING PRICE correct? so this means i dont charge low to attract i charge i ” fair price” meaning a reasonable price that covers my expenses and a margin ill add to it. 

    2-Let me give you a reverse example. You remember that I mention that my company imports and distributes skincare? Distribution prices can range from 25% to 45% of the recommended retail price / MSRP. So here you mean if the retailer of a brand you import sets the MSRP at 100 usd; your selling/distribution price is between 25 and 45 dollars? 

    3-Would your product still profitable at an average of 30% of the retail price? If your product is 10 USD, it should still be profitable at your distribution price, let’s say for example 35%, which is 3.5 USD. 
    I dont understand what you say here if my product would still be profitable at an average of 30% of the retail price. Ok lets say it costs me 10 dollars to produce 1 cleansing oil and i decide to sell ( decision made on the basis of a copetitve analysis and my positionning) then what about that? I dont understand your idea. Also when you ask if my product would still be profitable at an average of 30% of the retail price so this means that the retail price is set by the pharmacy so i sell it at the pharmacy at 20 usd and they sell at 30% more is this what you say OR lets say pharmacy sells at at say 100usd so you are asking me if i sell it at 30usd to them would i still be profitable, is this what you mean? Can you please explain again cus im not sure i get it here. 

    4-It’s best to minimise price increases due to price setting mistakes, example if you are only profitable at 5 USD, then to adjust for distribution at 35%, then your retail price will be adjusted to 14+ USD. Are customers still willing to accept at this price point? I dont understand here again the numbers and the concept. Ok so lets say my retail price is 5usd, what is the distribution at 35% that you are talking about? Wait distribution price is applied only in the case of B2B right? Im confused a lot now. 
    Could you clarify this cus i know this is actually one of the most important aspec of my business- THE BUSINESS SIDE then comes MARKETING then comes PROMOTION and BRAND AWARENESS.

  • Pattsi

    Member
    December 29, 2022 at 3:44 pm

    Dear @Ghita37

    With no bad intention, please allow me a bit

    Ghita37 said:

    By the way @ Jemolian in regards to my brand concept or the main idea behind my brand is: take care of yourself(good start); dont neglect yourself (good)yet dont look for perfection(why can’t I).Infuse or feed your skin the ingredients it needs to attain your goals but accept aging(so which is it, can your brand help me or not).Our products are made with safe ingredients(?) and when used on a regular basis give results(what result?) over the long term(how long, 10 years?). My concept also is that we make our product with YOU THE CUSTOMER in our mind; we want you to know that we care about you and about the safety of your skin(good but too generic). We want to make your life easier.We want you to know that though our products are not rocket science(don’t put on statement that devalue your own brand, and what is wrong with old science, soap bar has been around for ages and it is still perfectly fine) i mean a cleanser or face scrub are products that are common yet we want you to know that we invest a lot of time behind every decision we make from choosing the right active ingredients to the right surfactant because want want your skin to be safe and breath(again good but too generic)
     . µ
     By the way im reading now about brand concept and i feel like it is more or less the philosophy of the brand; what does the brand stand for overall, is this correct? 

    I didn’t say it is wrong or bad, it’s yours to decide. but iIf I skim read your brand concept - My understanding might be, your product is very common and somewhat won’t give me result from using it over 10 years?

    From what you wrote, my understanding is you are targeting sensitive skin, what about people with normal skin, can’t they use your brand? 

    Let’s see Shiseido’s: 
    encouraging diversity through inclusive campaigns and offering products that are as equally grounded in nature as they are in science

    Even if yu don’t understand the whole but yuo can still see the message.

    Ghita37 said:

    @Pattsi I watched one day a video on Youtube on what is a product market fit and they said that product market fit is found when people buy your prodiuct not when they fill in a survey or when they say they will buy through your survey; 

    They also said survey are used when you already have a target audience and and want to create a new product. Not when you’re starting out and have a product you want to test.

    Searching, asking question to people whether they will buy or not will never show you the real picture.  You’ll learn more by going out there (on- or offline), sharing your product with others and talking with them.
    Who your target is, you’ll learn by doing.
    Why they will (or will not) purchase, you’ll learn by doing.
    What you need to do next, you’ll learn by doing.

    Thank you for sharing.
    But what about you, do you have your product ready or do you have your target ready or neither?

    And as @jemolian mentioned price point is very important.

    I have a little question.
    From what you wrote, you mentioned 
    Laroche Posay 
    Cetaphil 
    Cerave 
    Avene 
    Uriage
    I don’t see any Moroccan local brand, are you competing with international brand?

    your references, reviews from amazon.com, are you doing US market? only mentioned online pharmacies what about local products in local souq? Have you walked and seen around your area?

    If your target is Moroccan first, you have an advantage being a local and understanding your audiences better than those brands.

    Example, an answer I got, balm vs oil - I like balm because it is easier to apply and control when rub it in, oil is spreadier and it make my hair style messy. 
    and then arose new question why is hair style important? and so on.. bit by bit, the more data helps me understand more.

  • Ghita37

    Member
    December 29, 2022 at 10:23 pm

    Dear @Pattsi thank you so much for sharing your thoughts here. 
    Ill dissect your message point by point 

    1-In the message im saying to the audience dont look for perfection and you said WHY CANT THEY? Well simple- perfection can never be achueved! Perfection is boring, perfection requires stress and too much effort! Is perfection for you or to be accepted or to impress others? So to me the best solution is to seek the middle and that is ACCEPT YOURSELF THE WAY YOU ARE YET TREAT AREAS OF IMPROVMENT. Meaning you have pimples in your skin and are not happy then check your diet; apply a cleanser that has salicylic acid; use a face mask made with clay that absorbs excell oil; use a cleanser after using makeup; dont sleep with your makeup on; all these gestures are what am talking about: By doing this on a regular basis you will reach your skin objectives but PERFECTION you will never achieve; we are not going to lie here.Is there one skincare product that helps achieve perfection skin; maybe a foundation but no serum does that; no moisturizer; no sunscreen; no face scrub; no cleanser; no mask; no ampoule; ,o essence.Skin condition depends on many factors: hormones; stress; environment; weather condition; genes.No product can alter that but they can treat; correct; improve the appearence. 

    2-My brand is about prevention; my brand is about regular slow progress made possible by regular use of product. 
    So what my cleansing oil promises is it will remove your skin gunk and dirt without drying out your skin, without blurring your vision all the while keeping your skin soft and hydrated. This is what i want/I want when people use the clenaser to say: wow it cleanses very well my makeup and leaves the skin supple and well nourished and my skin is not tense. I want to innovate and offer something and im trying to be creative whence me seeking your advices all 🙂 But i know innovation will be obtained through the survey/like Elon Musk said: if you want to be innovative ASK YOUR CUSTOMERS.To be frank 

    3-safe ingredients means ok i know who im targeting and because i know then i also know what will suit their skin and what will not/If im targeting someone with sensitive skin i wont offer a face scrub with salycilic acid cus it can be irritating fr them. If someone want a mild scrub ill offer something like PHA or mandelic acid or quartz granules.thats what i mean by safe.If im targeting the person who is looking for a glass skin and minimise the appearence of wrinkles then a good active ingredient can be retinaldehyde.So this is what i meant by safe.safe for your concern and yoru concern is MY TARGET AUDIENCE.So if i know who im yargeting then of course i know what they need and what i shouldnt give them

    4-It gives result over the long term. How will i know how long it will take? Is it from giving to people and asking them to tell me when they start seeing results? 

    5- Here you said : 
    I didn’t say it is wrong or bad, it’s yours to decide. but iIf I skim read your brand concept - My understanding might be, your product is very common and somewhat won’t give me result from using it over 10 years?
    So are you saying that its my prieyct that are common or my wording that makes my brand and the product sound common cus i know words have a power to make things either sound wow or mehhh lol… so are you saying that i should improve my brand concept? Ill improve it again and will share with you if you dont mind please Pattsi/ 

    6- You said you understood im tagreting people wtih senstitive skin and what about normal skin§Well thats what i want to avoid;  )i want to tagrte one skin type and i dont want someone who is not the person i target to complian about my product/lets say i target ppl wiht dry and senstive skin and one who has oily skin comes and write on social media i hate this brand; i used their cleanser and it caused my skin to break out and now i have three zits because of them! To these people ill say: thank you for using our products and thank you for your review.We would like to friendly remind you this product is for senstive an d*ry skin

    7- my products are beign developped cus we just ordered ingredients and we will receive them in January 2023. Thank you so much for asking that dear Pattsi.

    8-so for the target audience i determined a target for each product i will develop but only the market will validate thta.so the products are cleanser/face scrub/sunscreen 

    9-no for now im not targeting the US market though im tempted cus i want to create a long of Moroccan products for the US market

    10-im also checking Moroccan brands not just international brands but im ttying to do a 360 degree competitive analysis cus people would buy both. 

    11-I loved that you shared this example of your real case.

    Example, an answer I got, balm vs oil - I like balm because it is easier to apply and control when rub it in, oil is spreadier and it make my hair style messy. 
    and then arose new question why is hair style important? and so on.. bit by bit, the more data helps me understand more. Did you give this survey before giving samples or after? 
     So you got this feedback after givcing surveys right? So my plan is the same i give people samples of my three products and then surveys and then adjust the prpduct based on the survey feedback. 

    Pattsi i was wondering if it would be possible to have a zoom call with you if you dont mind.i think uts always easier talking versus typing and so i can clear mu doubts easier with no back and forth please if your time permits of course

  • jemolian

    Member
    December 30, 2022 at 12:56 am
    So here you say that some small crafters charge a low price and then when they see they dont make enough profit they increase that price correct? So what do you suggest here? To me what they should do is to account for all the costs involved in the manufacturing of their products : ingredients, primary and seconday packaging; stickers; filling and advertising.This is the TOTAL COST. To this total cost i will add MY MARGIN to get the RETAIL/SELLING PRICE correct? so this means i dont charge low to attract i charge i ” fair price” meaning a reasonable price that covers my expenses and a margin ill add to it. 

    Yes.  However, “low price” is relative to spending and how you determine your margin or brand concept to be. Some brand prefer selling at the lower price, some at a higher price, it depends on the brand position. 

    So here you mean if the retailer of a brand you import sets the MSRP at 100 usd; your selling/distribution price is between 25 and 45 dollars? 

    Supply / distribution price between 25 - 45. 

    lets say pharmacy sells at at say 100usd so you are asking me if i sell it at 30usd to them would i still be profitable, is this what you mean?

    Mainly this. It’s already very straight forward in terms of what i was mentioning. 

    I dont understand here again the numbers and the concept. Ok so lets say my retail price is 5usd, what is the distribution at 35% that you are talking about? Wait distribution price is applied only in the case of B2B right? Im confused a lot now. 

    I’m not sure why you are confused. Putting your products in a store is a B2B move, whether it is by consignment or selling them your products, depending on the terms & conditions, there will be a required amount of profit / commission on their end, which will be directly or indirectly cost of the product. This is also applicable for other distribution routes like you are expanding your products to other regions via distribution, unless you are planning to open a company in those region yourself. 

  • Ghita37

    Member
    December 31, 2022 at 10:58 pm

    Hello everyone;

    I was doing some research online reading articles and i came across the brand from Japanse called Cle de Peau and read about their cleanser and then i recalled all yiur advices as to why should we put lots of actives into a rinse off products.So i gather those who do 1- target a high end audience 2- use those actives as stories to sell their products right? 
    Please if you dont mind have a quick look at this cleanser from Cle de Peau; it is full of actives.Are they necessary anyway cus they will be washed off? So i guess they are using them only for their promotion mpurpose so as to entice their audience to buy so the audience thinks: oh wow im buying something luxurious right. 

    https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/cleansing-cream-oil

  • Ghita37

    Member
    December 31, 2022 at 11:37 pm

    Another cleanser infused with actives ; so is this for marketing purpose?I mean why adding probiotics to a rinse off product? 

    https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/superlumine

    I was checking this other product by Shiseido; a gel to oil cleanser? Is this type new? Uusually its either gel or oil or milk,i find this interesting. So can a gel to oil be used also by dry skins? 
    https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/geltooil-cleanser
    Also they say its a hybrid product  cus it acts as a mlakeup remover and a cleanser; so this means not all CLEANSERS remove makeup?????!!! So this can be my diff factor; cleansing and removing makeup while formulating a gel since we saw that gels are the most pppular cleanser types in morocco; so is it possible to formulate a gel that removes makeup as well as cleanse? ( this is the benefit of cleansing oil; so can gels do both work?; this Shiseido does; so can this be my diff factor when introducing it at pahrmacies? )

Page 6 of 7

Log in to reply.