4 Troubles No One Tells You About When Starting Up Your Own Cosmetic Business

Needless to say, everyone wants to have a business that they can take to elite levels, and that totally makes sense, too! Some businesses, such as fashion or cosmetics, seem way more glamorous and exciting than others. 

Photo by Bee Naturalles on Unsplash

After all, who wouldn’t want to dive into an industry where creativity meets beauty and the potential for profit is as shiny as the highlighter you're hoping to sell? But here’s the deal: it’s not as simple as buying a bunch of products wholesale, slapping your brand name on them, and watching the cash roll in.

Sure, you could do wholesale, but good luck standing out, especially since all the formulas are the same. But where it’s really as it actually getting something new and original. But at the same time, there are hidden challenges that nobody really talks about, and if you’re serious about making it big in this competitive world, you need to be prepared for the realities that lie beneath the surface.

Wholesale Just Doesn’t Cut It

On the outside, looking in, it seems as if it’s easy to start a cosmetic business. Plenty of people on TikTok and influencers do it, so why not you? You think, “I’ll just source some products, maybe a few lipsticks and foundations, rebrand them, and boom—I’m in business!” But the truth is that the majority of successful cosmetic brands have their own labs, teams of chemists, and rigorous testing processes that ensure their products are not just safe but also effective.

The Reality of Product Development

So as you see from above, not too many people buy wholesale and rebrand (some do, but a lot don’t). So it’s great you want to do something different but this is where it can get tricky too. First off, creating a product from scratch involves more than just mixing ingredients. While sure, you can shop powder solutions at Science.bio to make things far easier, it’s not exactly as simple as just buying these, combining them, and that be that.

If only it were that easy, but it’s not. You need to ensure that your formula is stable, which means it won’t separate, change color, or lose its effectiveness over time. You also need to test for things like skin irritation and allergic reactions. Oh, and don’t forget that your products meet regulatory standards, which vary by country and are often more complex than they appear at first glance. Seriosuly, it’s a whole lot of work.

You’ll be Marketing in a Saturated Market

Even once you have a product (made and tested or bought from wholesale), you must face the next challenge of standing out in this market. You have to compete with big, established brands, influencers, K-beauty, and so much more. It’s going to be a massive challenge.

The Cost of Compliance

Another hurdle that’s often overlooked is the cost of compliance. It was slightly mentioned before, but needs more details. So, the beauty industry is heavily regulated, and for a good reason. 

You’re dealing with products that people are putting on their skin, their faces—their most visible asset. Ensuring your products are safe isn’t just good business; it’s a legal requirement. This means you’ll need to conduct extensive testing, sometimes even involving third-party labs, which isn’t cheap.