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lushderma said:

@Perry provides a great answer. In essence, identify your market and their problems and provide them with a solution. A colleague of mine was involved in the launch of Carbon Theory - an acne focused line whose core product is a soap bar with activated charcoal and tea tree oil. Hardly rocket science. The guy made test batches in his kitchen before finding a contract manufacturer who could make it in volume. He then pitched it to the Boots pharmacy chain who liked it (and its low price - circa £6) and put it in its Beauty Finds category in around 180 stores. About 1 in 20 products will flourish after being tested like this. Carbon Theory did and they are now one of the best selling products in this acne category. They are also rolling out to the US via Ulta. Didn’t require masses of capital or fancy ingredients. Just a well thought out and targeted product and some luck (as with all things!) with initial distribution. 

@lushderma - I know this topic is over two weeks old now, but I’ve been meaning to come back and post a follow up question to your story:

How was this person able to bring this product to the market without it being classed as a “drug” by the FDA? Or was it? If so, the cost of passing all the testing and regulation to sell a drug would be well outside the $10k budget mentioned in the original post. What was the budget to originally launch this product?

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Belassi thanks for stating your success / failure rate. Sobering.

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Thank you Perry, very well thought out and balanced response.

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Thanks again for these replies, they really are helpful.

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Thank you Bob for your detailed reply.

So I have already distributed the product to a small test group and have some feedback that could be used for marketing purposes. The most cost effective choice would be to just use this data, but because it’s not “independent” I think consumers will be rightfully skeptical of anything that is claimed.

I suppose my next question then is, in your (or anyone else who replies) experience, do consumers really value independent lab results?

For my own information, it will be valuable for me to see on a lab analysis level how closely I’ve hit the mark on accomplishing my formulating goals, but right now just gaining that information just to have it is cost prohibitive. If there is real value in indie lab results, I’m willing to compromise to save on cost and just gather the anecdotal test results or just use the self-gathered data I already have on hand, and save the more involved tests for when budget is available.

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Thanks Perry!

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Thank you both for the replies.

I have a definite list of specific claims that I have formulated the product to perform, and Bob pertaining to your questions, it’s a part “me-too” product with at least 1 or 2 unique twists.

I guess a good lab for me is one that is known to have a good reputation in the hair care category. Because I’ve never submitted a product for claims testing (only safety and stability) I don’t know what would constitute a good lab vs a not so good one for claims. Any suggestions?

I’m also wondering if cost goes up per claim, for example, would I be able to get a discounted price for having several claims tested at once? Or is it more common to have each feature tested separately as an individual order?

Once again, thank you for your responses.