The Work Behind Beauty
"Being able to help people with their confidence, to help people with their skin, I think that's the most fun part," Princess Ann.
The beauty industry is constantly growing; new brands are emerging, and trends are a cycle that never ends. The fun in beauty is about trying new things and discovering new brands that you love, but what is it like behind the scenes?
The beauty industry is expected to be worth $590 billion by 2028. The beauty industry is not just vanity; it contributes to the US economy, generating sales. According to statistics, American women spend approximately $3,756, which generates jobs in areas such as marketing and manufacturing.
Small beauty brands are an important part of the beauty industry and made $30.5 billion in sales in 2023. Thanks to social media, small beauty brands are more visible in the beauty market.
Small beauty brands are often seen as more genuine than larger brands and generally try to connect with their target audience on social media, which makes them seem more interesting than larger brands.
The work behind a small beauty brand is more personal in the sense that the founder is often involved in everything, and the most significant work goes into collaborating with the lab.
Skincare has gained a lot of popularity in the US beauty market. People are looking for products that benefit their skin and also seek clean, cruelty-free ingredients.
The skincare industry generates significant sales, even though L'Oréal owns the majority of the beauty market. Small beauty brands, however, have a meaningful place in the market, especially now that people are increasingly interested in niche brands.
When people think about the beauty industry, they probably think about beauty influencers and the latest scandal in the beauty space. However, the beauty industry is more than just influencers and beauty gurus; they are essential, but there are also many people working to make the beauty industry a reality.
Cosmetics chemists and business owners are the ones who make the beauty industry; they are the ones working behind the scenes, ensuring that everything is as it should be. They are the ones working to make the ideas a reality, and we generally don't see their point of view.
Dr. Julian Sass is a cosmetic scientist. Most of his experience has been with small beauty brands. He prefers to work for small beauty brands because it lets him be more involved in the entire process.
"You kind of get your eyes on more things, versus when you're working for a large brand. You're kind of a cog in the system, essentially," said Dr. Julian Sass.
He says that the environment of working for a small brand, in general, is more exciting, but the cons are that with smaller brands, the process tends to happen a little bit slower, and the funding is in other aspects.
He specializes in skincare, haircare, and body care. His favorite products to develop are serums, and he explained that he enjoys the process of seeing how different ingredients from different chemical companies can work together and trying to balance all of the actives and ingredients.
Dr. Julian explains how some makeup brands can dupe another makeup brand; is very different for example to have to develop a new foundation from scratch that takes two years to develop because of the base of the formulation, the shades, etc, but if a brand already knows how much is going to cost, and what's on the formula they can make something very close to the original formula and price it more affordable and this sometimes can make the dupe popular.
"…so not every formula can be duped super easily," said Dr. Julian Sass, but with marketing and packaging a product can seem very similar to another, On the other hand, he also says that some brands are expensive because of the name, and this type of formulas are much easier to dupe.
He talked about one ingredient that is likely to be popular in skincare over the next couple of years, which he has seen a lot of recently: exosomes. "Little vehicles that are derived from other plants or humans, but most of the lower-risk skin care is derived from plants. And what that's able to do, it basically delivers messages to cells in the skin," said Dr. Julain Sass. Exosomes help with hyperpigmentation and fine lines, and they are also friendly to people with sensitive skin. He has seen from the product development that exosomes are becoming more popular in regular skincare products, because before they were only sold by aestheticians, but now one brand is selling this ingredient at Sephora. He said that he expects to see more brands launching this ingredient in the next couple of years.
One ingredient he thinks is starting to be overrated is niacinamide because it does a lot for the skin, but is not the only ingredient that can do all of those things.
"It is not this amazing game-changing ingredient," said Dr. Julian Sass. He says that it is time for something new to come to the market.
Samantha Moadel, the founder and CEO of Future Beauty, launched her makeup brand a month ago; Her line is a skincare-makeup at the same time, the brand that is perfect for those who care about their skin but also want to look their best.
"I started Future Beauty because I felt like there was this huge gap—so many girls were using intense, active skincare while wearing makeup that didn't support their skin. I wanted something that worked with your skin, not against it," said Samantha Moadel.
The process of developing a skincare and makeup line took her almost two years to complete, from formulating the formulas to packaging. It took over a year only to perfect all of the formulas. it was a long process of formulation, reformulation, and also testing.
The process began with the skincare part, addressing the skin's needs. Every ingredient had to be dual-purpose so it could both perform as makeup and act as skincare, and this process required a lot of testing.
The Future Beauty website is a reflection of the brand itself, which is not only futuristic but also clean and intuitive. Future Beauty is about next-gen beauty.
The regulation and testing part was the most challenging part for Samantha, balancing FDA compliance and clean ingredients that perform aesthetically, but it was necessary.
Samantha describes being the owner of a skincare and makeup brand as the best feeling ever—the satisfaction of creating something innovative and seeing people enjoy her products is one of her favorite parts of being a beauty brand owner.
The hardest part of running a beauty brand is keeping the vision while simultaneously managing everything behind the scenes, including creative concepts, operations, compliance, and marketing.
Samantha explained how TikTok creates a space that is like a community for Future Beauty because it lets them have a two-way conversation in real time. "TikTok is wild—in the best way. It's fast, it's direct, and it's the most honest feedback loop," said Samantha Moadel.
One of the must-haves of Future Beauty is their Caffeine Eye Brightener is a skincare and coverage at the same time. "It's like 8 hours of sleep in a tube," said Samantha Moadel.
Princess-Ann is a formulation chemist. She started working in a pharmaceutical company. She earned her undergraduate degree in chemistry, then worked as an analytical chemist for four years, and later earned her master's in cosmetic science.
Her first job in the beauty industry was at L'Oreal. She was an analytical chemist for L'Oréal, and while working there, she conducted tests on raw materials while also completing her master's. Once she graduated, she started applying for formulation experience.
She is now working for a chemical distributor; she makes products based on the ingredients that they carry. She does makeup, skincare, and hair care for them.
She explains that makeup is the most difficult to do, and she prefers to do skincare. She says that developing makeup is messier than doing skincare.
Her favorite product to develop is cleansers. She has enjoyed developing cleansers since school, even though making them is not easy.
"So back in school, we had this project in my formulation course where we had to reverse engineer our product on the market. And basically, that just means copying a product from the market," said Princess Ann.
The process of doing a cleanser takes time to figure out the ratio of surfactants that are the cleansing agents, to fit the formula you want for the product, for example, some cleansers don't do foam, and others do and that's because some surfactants foam more than others and also depends on the lather.
The most difficult product to develop in skincare is sunscreen because it is both water-based and oil-based, and contains other ingredients, as well as preservatives. She also explained why many mineral sunscreens leave a white cast. Some zinc oxides don't leave a white cast, but many do, and other raw materials in mineral sunscreen can also cause a white cast.
Sunscreens are also the most expensive product to develop in a skincare line because they are FDA-regulated, and they are a lot of testing behind sunscreen, Some UV filters are expensive for a sunscreen that uses zinc oxide that naturally doesn't leave a white cast; this is going to cost more than regular zinc oxide.
She mentioned that the US market has not approved some UV filters that are approved in other countries, so in that sense, many sunscreens in the US market have this disadvantage. According to Princess Ann, one of the biggest challenges for small beauty brands right now is obtaining the raw materials, especially if they are sourced from outside the country, due to laws and regulations. Now, they probably also have to consider tariffs.
Many people work in the beauty industry, from cosmetic chemists and small brands to retail workers, factory workers, and marketers. Together, they create and innovate. Each person making the industry more inclusive, Future Beauty was born because Samantha saw a gap in the skincare and makeup market. Julian and Princess Ann enjoy doing different things in the lab; each person has their own way of doing beauty and being beautiful.