Find The Best Wholesale Skincare Suppliers In 5 Easy Steps
Identifying the best wholesale skincare suppliers is key to sourcing high-quality skincare that fits within your budget.
At Genie Supply, we recognize that separating the high-quality beauty labs from the duds is not easy for new skincare businesses. That’s why we’ve created this easy-to-follow step-by-step guide to finding the best wholesale skincare suppliers for your exact needs.
From ordering samples to contract negotiations, if you want to learn valuable tips on how to select the best skincare manufacturers - just keep reading!
Clarify Your Brand’s Strategy and Product Needs
Although no two cosmetics companies are the exact same, makeup and skincare brands usually sell similar products. As such, you must develop a clear strategy to differentiate your skincare range from all the competition.
How can you make your brand stand out?
Taking the time to develop an effective branding strategy is often the difference between a mediocre business and one with the potential for real long-term success. To stay competitive in the skincare market, craft a solid brand message starting with your brand’s values, carrying through to the product selection process, with consistency right down to your marketing strategy.
Identifying Your Specific Niche
What type of brand do you envision and what is your target market? Before you start the wholesale skincare suppliers selection process, it’s important to narrow down your business’ specific niche.
Will your products cater to an older demographic?
This will require skincare developed specifically for menopausal skin. In this case, look for wholesale skincare suppliers with experience formulating for older skin types.
Maybe you want to develop a range targeted toward teenagers?
This niche typically demands anti-acne products rather than anti-aging skincare. It’s also important to note that teenagers generally have more stringent budget constraints compared to older demographics. Note that your target demographic can influence the ultimate retail price of your products and your budget while finding a suitable beauty lab.
Targeting by age isn’t the only strategy available for your business. For example, you could create skincare for market segments focused on particular ethical issues instead.
If this is your goal, it’s important to keep in mind that not every manufacturer will offer vegan, clean, cruelty-free, and environmentally-conscious skincare.
Once you have identified your specific niche, it’s time to consider the types of products that you will sell. At this stage, it’s also a good idea to think about where you want to sell your skincare. These initial business decisions will heavily influence the wholesale skincare supplier selection process in the next step.
Thoroughly Research & Shortlist Potential Suppliers
Now that you have a clear brand strategy in place, it’s time to research and shortlist potential suppliers.
The most obvious place to look for beauty labs is through search engines online. But don’t discount other methods! It’s possible to find a great fit at trade shows, through supplier directories, or even recommendations from your fellow skincare business owners. Learn more about the best places to find potential suppliers in our full blog post.
A quick Google search for ‘wholesale skincare suppliers’ returns many millions of results. Before you get overwhelmed by all of the options, try adding extra terms to your search query that relate to your preferences to narrow down the results. For example “wholesale skincare suppliers USA” or “wholesale skincare suppliers near me” if a nearby supplier is your priority.
Once you have a list of search results that look promising, prioritize the first 5 - 10 pages of results. Quickly scan through each website for red flags. Once you notice any deal breakers, immediately remove that lab from your potential supplier list.
Where a wholesale skincare supplier has no immediate red flags, add them to a list for more in-depth research to narrow down the best candidates.
Selecting The Best Wholesale Skincare Suppliers From Your Shortlist
First, ensure each beauty lab on your shortlist is both credible and reliable. Green flags include quality testimonials, a professional and detailed website, and a blog section.
Next, carefully examine the products and services each supplier has on offer. Important questions to ask yourself include:
Do they sell preformulated skincare on a private label or bulk basis?
How many preformulated products do they offer in total?
What types of ingredients do they use? Are they high quality and clean?
Do they offer any customizations on their preformulated range?
Does this beauty lab provide custom formulating and custom product creation services?
Is contract manufacturing possible for small home-to-lab skincare brands with a preexisting formula recipe?
The more high-quality products and services on offer - the better.
At Genie Supply, we provide over 60 preformulated high-quality, clean skin care products on a (turnkey) private label or bulk basis. We also offer custom product creation and custom formulation, in addition to contract manufacturing services. Learn more about which path is right for your business in our quiz.
Does The Beauty Lab Prioritize Clean and Ethical Beauty?
While searching for the best wholesale skincare suppliers, take note of each lab’s commitment to ethical standards. Ethical standards are not a feature, but a requirement for today’s savvy consumers.
Look for references to ‘vegan’ ‘clean’ ‘cruelty-free’ or ‘environmentally-conscious’ values on each website. This is non-negotiable if you are developing a clean or ethical beauty brand. For example, if you want to create a vegan skincare line, the entire process is much easier if you choose a beauty supplier that only produces 100% vegan cosmetics from the start.
If safe ingredients are important for your brand, look for a skincare manufacturer that markets itself as a ‘clean beauty’ provider. As a new brand, it’s not always clear which ingredients fit the ‘clean’ bill. Working with a clean beauty supplier helps ensure that you create skincare that is as clean as possible, including the most up-to-date high-performing alternatives to popular ‘dirty’ ingredients on the market.
Selecting an environmentally conscious manufacturer is particularly important if you plan to source your skincare on a total turnkey basis from your wholesale skincare supplier. These ethical labs will consider their carbon footprint from the ingredients stage right through to the shipping stage and often offer sustainable packaging choices.
At Genie Supply, high-quality clean, cruelty-free, vegan, and sustainable skincare is at the heart of our business. Learn more about our commitment to clean beauty here.
Ordering Samples From Wholesale Skincare Suppliers
Once you have a short list of the most promising wholesale skincare suppliers, it’s time to evaluate the quality of each lab’s products by ordering samples. Think beyond just credibility and reliability at this stage - one of the most important elements of the selection process is finding a producer that provides great quality skincare within your budget.
Take your time with this process and try as many samples as possible. One application is not enough - you need to test out the most promising products to ensure they feel good on the skin and produce genuine skin improvements over time.
At Genie Supply, our samples are super affordable (at just 1 dollar each) and it couldn’t be easier to order from our website. Simply click on the product you want, select ‘sample’ in the size menu, click add to cart, and check out as normal.
Compare Pricing and Terms of Agreement
Once a wholesale skincare supplier has passed the samples test, it’s time to narrow down your shortlist further by considering how each lab would impact your bottom line. The best beauty lab for your brand will fit within your budget and allow you to earn a strong profit margin while providing quality products to the market at the same time.
First, you need to ask each supplier on your list for an estimated total cost to create your skincare line from beginning to end. Some manufacturers will offer more flexibility to small home-to-lab brands like yours by setting no or low minimum order quantities (MOQs).
Before you place an order, ask if it’s possible to benefit from economies of scale if you order a larger amount at a later date.
Don’t forget that contract negotiation is a key part of business. You’ll notice that some businesses are more willing to negotiate terms than others. If you are working on a tight budget or need to take out a loan, be sure to clarify when the first payment is due and ensure you will have the cash flow to pay on time.
At Genie Supply, we have carefully structured our services to accommodate as many small businesses as possible.
Not only do we have no set Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ) (opting instead for a small fee on smaller orders under 5,000 units), we also offer bulk, Bring Your Own Packaging (BYOP), and total turnkey services to suit a range of different budget constraints. Plus, our preformulated range features four separate tiers to suit different price points. Learn more in our latest product catalog.
In sum, here are 5 easy steps to find the best wholesale skincare suppliers for your brand:
Clarify your brand’s strategy and product needs
Thoroughly research & shortlist potential suppliers
Investigate if the beauty lab prioritizes clean and ethical beauty
Ordering samples from wholesale skincare suppliers
Compare pricing and terms of agreement
Ready to source skincare for your beauty brand? Genie Supply’s clean and high-quality preformulated and custom-formulated formulas can help make your brand a success! Learn more through a phone call: (812) 329 1105 or via email: customerservice@geniesupply.com
