Explorers of Beauty, Business and Sustainability issues from the inside.

Let’s talk in house formulation

On S2EP2 of the podcast we dived deep into 'In house formulation'

Read - Clean Beauty Insiders Back

In house formulation

For BYBI we chose not to work with a third party manufacturer so that we could have complete control over our manufacturing process, in order to ensure sustainability and innovation. Working with third party manufacturers often results in lack of transparency in where ingredients are sourced, how they are sourced and the actual manufacturing process. 

Working with large scale manufacturers can mean that there are a number of brands using that service and that usually results in each brand being fed the same information and using the same basic formulas, but with changes per client.

We also saw cost benefits to in house formulation. When using a manufacturer for a ‘full service’ option, this is not usually broken down and you cannot see where the cost is coming from. As we formulate in house we are able to have direct contact with raw ingredient suppliers and negotiate prices and also have full visibility. 

When we started our brand we first hired a chemist and sourced our own lab space (Open Cell). Our NPD Manager, Chloe, and our Chemist, Anthonia, work from there to create all the BYBI goodies. They will create formulas to a perfect standard and then they are sent out for testing. We do this by testing different efficacies and performance using a range of panels. After the new products pass those stages, we will then hand it over to our manufacturer. 

Another benefit to in house formulation is that we can listen to what you as the customer want! We have definitely taken on all your lovely suggestions, so keep an eye on BYBI.com. When we brief our NPD Team we are able to share all the feedback that we have from our customers.

As we mentioned before, customer feedback is a very important part of the NPD process. We conducted some research into what people liked and wanted to see.

Here are the results:

Would you prefer an oil based or water based serum? 58% opted for water based and 42% opted for oil based. We think this is because the general consumer may not yet be comfortable with applying oil to their face.

Would you prefer a face mask that is targeted towards breakouts or plumping? 55% opted for breakouts and 45% opted for plumping. It would be amazing if there was a product that could do both! As expected more people opted for a breakout focused mask, this is likely due to the resurfacing properties of breakout masks. 

This one was quite interesting. We found that 37% would opt for a physical exfoliant and 63% for a chemical exfoliant. We expected chemical to be much higher, but this can often be down to people being scared of chemicals.

We are not saying that these two are mutually exclusive but; when we asked our customers if they would rather have glow or protection in the morning it was a 50/50 split. Hopefully we will have something to make 100% of you happy!

Understanding our customer’s skincare concerns is probably the most important thing. We found that 58% of people were dealing with breakouts and 42% dealt with sensitive skin. This is likely why it was so close between having a cleanser that addresses nourishment (52%) and clarifying (48%).

The most important thing as a brand and also as a consumer is understanding the NPD process. We have chosen to bring our formulations in house but it is important to do what best suits you as a business owner/brand. 

 

Find us below!

Instagram: @cleanbeautyinsiders / @bybibeauty 

Twitter: @bybibeauty

Pinterest: Bybibeauty

 

Remember to use the code ‘CBI15’ at Bybi.com for 15% off your order!

In house formulation