Everyone wants to look and feel good, and this makes the skin care products and cosmetics a very profitable business. Even when the economy is not performing, women, in particular, are willing to spend money on a lipstick or an effective skin care treatment.

Like everything else in life, if you want to start your own cosmetic business, you need to get yourself prepared, as this is the key to success. There are several steps that you need to follow if you want to start your own cosmetic brand.

Before kickstarting, make sure you understand how makeup works. You need to understand the chemistry behind makeup products, and for this you may want to consider getting a college degree in Cosmetology, learning about alternative ingredients and which ones are the best options, etc. The bottom line is, it helps to know which ingredients go into different types of cosmetics.

A great way to learn about how to make your own cosmetics is reading books and experimenting at home. This will certainly give you a feel of how the ingredients work together. Once your homemade ‘products’ are ready, try them on yourself and ask family and friends to try them too.

Once the products have the ability to deliver the things you hope they will you can start producing them. Remember, you are responsible for the safety of your products.

Now that you know how makeup and cosmetic products work, you need to decide your niche.

Why?

In fact, cosmetics covers a wide variety of products, including:

• Hair
• Skin
• Facial

Concentrate on just one area, especially at the beginning, as you can always expand to offer other products later. Our suggestion will be concentrate on the area that interests you most, this way you will be more passionate about your product. It could be, only lipsticks or eyeshadows, or night cream or day cream whatever you chose to be the best you can be in before add on new products.

With this, your business will gain credibility and respect in the long term.

Next, it’s time to consider where to produce your cosmetics: at home or find an OEM cosmetic manufacturer.

At Home

If you wish to start from home, you may need to rent space in an industrial kitchen or a laboratory to make your products, which also provide a place to store your products in a cool, dry place before shipping.

OEM Cosmetic Manufacturer

Another way to start your own cosmetic brand is to find an OEM cosmetic manufacturer. This is a better option because you can produce larger quantities and it is less expensive in the end.

An Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) is a company that produces parts and equipment that may be marketed by another manufacturer.

For example, you want to create a night cream. You can look for a cosmetic OEM, tell them the type of product you want, the ingredients to use, and the OEM will manufacture the cosmetic products for you based on your request. Once the cosmetic OEM products are ready, you can request for them to print your label name on the products.

Once you have your own private label product, it’s recommended to talk to your financial and legal advisors, to cover insurance, patents and trademarks. Remember you need to register your cosmetic business/brand in order to promote and sell your private label product.

Before creating your private label product, make sure you have developed a coherent brand for your cosmetic line. Usually can take time. Things you shall need are:

• Company´s logos
• Mission Statements
• Marketing Strategies
• Distribution Channels
• Containers
• Design label

Have all these in place before you launch your business.

Promoting your Product

1. Reach out to all beauty salons you can find and tell them about your cosmetic line. One way to start is selling online in your own shop, such as Shopify, Amazon, eBay, etc. Moreover, you can also start a Facebook page to promote your product.
2. Create a catalogue and offer them to your family, friends and neighbours, or organize a party at which you launch/demonstrate the cosmetics.
3. Know your product. Have at least five reasons ready as to why people have to use your cosmetics.
4. Give free samples. One way for people to get to know your new cosmetic line is by giving away some free samples. This way people can try your products and feel how awesome they are.

Now you have all you need to know about creating your own cosmetic business.

Have fun, experiment and start creating.

Good luck!