02.01.19
When it comes to formulating products, esthetician Alana Mitchell follows the Golden Rule—and that’s served her eponymous skin care start-up well so far. Now her Dana Point, CA-based brand is embarking on its third year in the marketplace with recent accolades from Amazon. She shares her story:
What makes my company special is: I try everything on myself several times before I even consider trying it on friends, family or clients. Trends can be positive or negative, so I follow The Golden Rule: “Do unto others as I would do unto myself.” If a trending ingredient is not something that I would use or feel safe using, then I do not recommend it to my clients or formulate a product that incorporates it. However, incorporating trending ingredients that are legitimately good for the skin into my line of products is a big part of the brand! My MCT Facial Oil and CBD Collection are good examples of this.
The hero SKU is: The Clear Collagen Peel-Off Masque. The technology behind the packaging is truly innovative. It’s one use and easy to bring with you if you’re traveling, or if you just need a quick pick-me-up before a night out. I like to say it’s like getting a facial at home with its tightening, firming and smoothing effects. It’s gained a lot of traction on Amazon lately, and our customers really enjoy posting selfies with the masque on Instagram! The products in my CBD collection are unlike anything else currently on the market. Although CBD is trending, it truly does have skin care benefits, such as moisturizing and brightening. I can guarantee you’ll start seeing CBD in skin care products more this year!
As an indie brand that is very new to the market, what is the biggest issue facing your company right now? The biggest issue we’re facing right now is growth! My business has grown 10 times in size the last year…and Amazon just named my Clear Collagen Peel-Off Masque as its No. 1 recommended peel off mask in the entire US. Basically, keeping production up with demand is our current largest issue. It’s a fun, challenging, and good problem to have. I guess you could say we are a little different than your “typical” indie brand as I grew up in the beauty industry, and we have the experience of 10+ years with our own retail store. I think this gives us an edge over the typical indie brand that is completely new to market.
Karen Young (founder of Oui Shave) asks, “Beauty has always had a heavily trend driven component, potentially even more as social media has become a primary driver of brand exposure. How do you balance your brand’s most authentic positioning with the influx of trend driven ingredients or products? ” We try to be first to market regarding the trending ingredients that we have confidence in. For example, most of my new CBD products are virtually unavailable anywhere else in the world, as I am the first one to formulate the concept and introduce it to market. I anticipate a lot of changes within the industry and will respond accordingly. On my blog and ingredient dictionary, I frequently talk about trending ingredients and whether they are truly beneficial or not.
What can we expect from your brand in 2019? You’ll be hearing and seeing Alana Mitchell more in 2019! You can expect more CBD products, beauty devices and I am even working on developing a tinted foundation that is good for your skin. Currently, we get 15,000 visitors to my blog a day! I expect that number to double in 2019.
What makes my company special is: I try everything on myself several times before I even consider trying it on friends, family or clients. Trends can be positive or negative, so I follow The Golden Rule: “Do unto others as I would do unto myself.” If a trending ingredient is not something that I would use or feel safe using, then I do not recommend it to my clients or formulate a product that incorporates it. However, incorporating trending ingredients that are legitimately good for the skin into my line of products is a big part of the brand! My MCT Facial Oil and CBD Collection are good examples of this.
The hero SKU is: The Clear Collagen Peel-Off Masque. The technology behind the packaging is truly innovative. It’s one use and easy to bring with you if you’re traveling, or if you just need a quick pick-me-up before a night out. I like to say it’s like getting a facial at home with its tightening, firming and smoothing effects. It’s gained a lot of traction on Amazon lately, and our customers really enjoy posting selfies with the masque on Instagram! The products in my CBD collection are unlike anything else currently on the market. Although CBD is trending, it truly does have skin care benefits, such as moisturizing and brightening. I can guarantee you’ll start seeing CBD in skin care products more this year!
As an indie brand that is very new to the market, what is the biggest issue facing your company right now? The biggest issue we’re facing right now is growth! My business has grown 10 times in size the last year…and Amazon just named my Clear Collagen Peel-Off Masque as its No. 1 recommended peel off mask in the entire US. Basically, keeping production up with demand is our current largest issue. It’s a fun, challenging, and good problem to have. I guess you could say we are a little different than your “typical” indie brand as I grew up in the beauty industry, and we have the experience of 10+ years with our own retail store. I think this gives us an edge over the typical indie brand that is completely new to market.
Karen Young (founder of Oui Shave) asks, “Beauty has always had a heavily trend driven component, potentially even more as social media has become a primary driver of brand exposure. How do you balance your brand’s most authentic positioning with the influx of trend driven ingredients or products? ” We try to be first to market regarding the trending ingredients that we have confidence in. For example, most of my new CBD products are virtually unavailable anywhere else in the world, as I am the first one to formulate the concept and introduce it to market. I anticipate a lot of changes within the industry and will respond accordingly. On my blog and ingredient dictionary, I frequently talk about trending ingredients and whether they are truly beneficial or not.
What can we expect from your brand in 2019? You’ll be hearing and seeing Alana Mitchell more in 2019! You can expect more CBD products, beauty devices and I am even working on developing a tinted foundation that is good for your skin. Currently, we get 15,000 visitors to my blog a day! I expect that number to double in 2019.