Hayley (Hoffman) Peri, Founder/CEO at Dandi Day LLC, who is also an ingredient expert and sustainability educator, offers us her unique perspective to the business growth of formula category based on her experience of almost 20 years in Beauty as well as her rich professional knowledge.
You have a strong background on cosmetic formulation. What do you foresee as next best trends and tools that will help in formulating the performance that consumer groups “need right now”
“what I see is going to happen based on next biggest trend will be consumers really asking questions about the processing of ingredients,-says Peri- because the more information they know researching on the internet they find, like, the particular ingredient has different hazards, however, if that's made in a different way, it's not as hazardous… or it's more gentle.” And brands are using alternative, or greener manufacturing practices to make the same chemicals.
There're some different tools that are used helping formulate to what these scripts are looking for. We're seeing an increase in different software and apps, which can tell you about ingredients. Peri says she actually have 4 apps on her phone. And she mentions one of the fastest growing called the ‘good face project’. They do ingredients scoring, and they use an artificial intelligence to collect data on ingredients and that informs the consumer if the particular ingredient has a hazard or how it scores are rates based on the collected information that's available on ingredients. That's really helping and pushing some of these trends. As the consumer has so much information and access, they're going to start asking more and more questions, which then comes back to the research and development like, how do we find ingredients that answer these specific questions for the consumer?
We all know that having a fantastic formula that fits within a budget is only half the story. How can we create a product that has a story that is eye catching to the public?
Peri admits it's quite a regular question she has got asked in various ways from brands. Generally, she asks the brand founders: "what is your story? What is something that really resonates with you? What was the inspiration behind the brand? What is it that you want to say to the public with this brand, and what it represents to you?" It's actually where you and all your consumers to connect through brands and your story. Having a great product is part of it, and also integrating the founder or the company's mission into that product and being able to clear a communication will really support the sale of that product.
Peri mentions a word 'soul searching'. In fact, if we looked upon strategic planning more like soul searching and less like a numbers game, robust and more creative marketing would be built. With this mindset, strong, sincere voices will take shape and clear point of views with brand culture will emerge. It's really an important point that beauty players need to think deeply.
How can we stay ahead of trends when development, the minimum level of testing and manufacturing take at least nine months (if everything goes to plan) and not get left behind?
Linkedin is a good place to learn the new trends and knowledge of the industry. For sure there're so many ways to the acquisition of that knowledge, such as the news and different scientific forums, or just simply having a team to pull together information and understanding. And then comes the question-how can I incorporate that in the future? “Have a good research team and a plan to acquire knowledge and put it in a consolidated place within your organization, so you can always pull from that and come up with your planning schedule.” Says Peri.
A lot of companies plan at least 2 years, maybe 3 years out when they're creating new products. The key points are getting the acquisition of that knowledge, organizing it, studying clear goals, and working towards those goals.
Please also share your one stop solution to help beauty brands source and develop their product?
"I saw a lot of new people coming into the industry, (like) new brand founders ,(who have) no experience in beauty manufacturing, (are to ) creating a brand. " Peri says. So she pulls together about 30 to 35 different service providers and companies who all do something different in the industry with an idea. Peri is very focused on formulations, manufacturing and ingredients sourcing, sustainability education. Other companies might deal with finance and operation sells and marketing. The brands have access to a whole support system and network that can help support their brand for success.
The community idea is very inspiring as it is to connect all the platforms out and integrating all the latest information. People can share their insights and to help each other, being able to support as brands grow. BeautySourcing’s Community is a continually improving collection of questions and answers created, edited, and organized by beauty industry players. Register now to share your insights or get inspired!
