Olaplex Is Definitely Not Alone: 10 Beauty Brand Founders And Execs Reflect On Reformulating Products

It’s not often a reformulation makes headlines, but that’s just what happened to Olaplex last week after concerns about the haircare brand’s usage of the fragrance additive butylphenyl methylpropional or lilial in its hit product No. 3 Hair Perfector spread on social media. This month, a ban on the ingredient went into effect in United Kingdom and European Union.

Lilial has been phased out due to a link to infertility, although Michelle Wong, the science educator and cosmetic chemist behind content platform Lab Muffin, points out that the link was identified in a study of rats. “There’s no evidence lilial has ever caused infertility in humans,” she wrote in a post.

No. 3 Hair Perfector included a small amount of lilial in its formula—it accounted for .011% of the formula to be exact, according to Olaplex—and the brand stressed the product has “undergone a rigorous safety assessment” to ensure it’s safe for people. However, it revealed in a statement to Fashionista that, “Out of an abundance of caution, Olaplex proactively removed lillial from our No. 3 Hair Perfector globally.”

In light of the controversy over Olaplex, for the latest edition of our series posing questions relevant to indie beauty, we decided to ask ten beauty entrepreneurs and executives the following questions: What prompted you to reformulate products in the past, and what lessons did you learn from the process?

Isaac A. Doustar Founder, Doucce

Reformulating a product, even to take out one specific ingredient or to replace it, can cause the formulation to become unstable or underperform. More so, it takes quite a long time to reformulate an item. In the past, we have only reformulated high-performing products that needed to be tweaked to either be sold in a specific market or to a remove a recently banned ingredient specifically for the EU.

We did a lot of reformulations several years back during the “paraben” craze. We removed parabens from essentially almost every item expect for a select few. Each formulation must be redone, replacing the parabens with other preservatives and ran through a series of stability tests that ran about three months each.

The new formulations were tested in ovens ranging from very hot to very cold temperatures to the test the stability of each formula and then retested in the correct packaging to make sure full compatibility. Sometimes, these formulas would fail the stability testing and would need to be reworked adding to the base cost of reformulating.

As the industry moves to clean beauty, I expect a lot of reformulating for high-performing products. However, for items not worth the time and cost, I expect them to be phased out and replaced with new formulations entirely. The process of going from a standard formulation to a clean beauty one is certainly difficult and will be reserved for very specific hero products.

Janel Luu Founder and CEO, Le Mieux

The very first serum I created for the brand almost 20 years ago contains a growth factor protein known for boosting skin renewal. The proteins in the original formula gave off a slight, but distinctive smell. Two years ago, I decided to reformulate this serum because I wanted to implement more advanced technology that would result in much higher activity for even greater skin benefits.

The new technology allowed for a growth factor in a peptide form as well as a new encapsulated delivery system. These changes increased the activity of the serum and also prevented the smell from being noticeable. However, we received a lot of feedback from our customers, who wondered if the new formula would be as effective as the old one because the new serum didn’t have the same smell or texture as the old formula. As a result, our lab had to work on another revision of the formula, this time thickening the texture. The reformulation was more than $50,000 over the course of a year due to costs incurred by testing, ingredients, lab hours, etc.

The lesson was twofold: One, when consumers are already satisfied with a product, change can be difficult for some to accept, even if the change is for the better. Two, consumers put a lot of focus on the immediate experience of the texture and smell of a product, sometimes more than the visible effects of the product on the skin.

Shuting Hu Founder and Cosmetic Chemist, Acaderma

We’ve had two significant reformulations to our Lunar Glow Illuminate Serum and Oasis Barrier Booster Serum. However, we also make small adjustments to our formulations all throughout the year, depending on the feedback we are receiving from our customers. At Acaderma, we’re always looking for ways that we can improve and provide more efficient, high-performance products for our customers.

While we do make small changes for things like improving the texture or feeling it leaves on the skin, most of our reformulation efforts focus on ingredients. As technology continues to improve, we’re able to source better ingredients to use in our products. While the cost of reformulating might be significantly higher, we accept this cost as we value the quality of our products over the cost of production.

Laura Burget Co-Founder, Three Ships

We haven't done a full reformulation, but have changed ingredient suppliers. We had a supplier change for one of our toners around two years ago that severely changed the scent once we went to mass production. We learned from that process to re-sample every time a supplier change is made, even if it's the same INCI name.

We clearly communicated the change to our customers and acknowledged the change in scent by offering to send a replacement from the new batch to customers who didn't like the scent they had received. It ended up improving the relationship that we have with our customer base by showing them the level of transparency that we have with them.

Marta Cros Founder and CEO, APTO Skincare

We reformulated all of our products in 2019 to stop using phenoxyethanol as a preservative. To this day, it is still not 100% clear to me if this ingredient is toxic in the amounts traditionally used in cosmetic formulations. However, once an ingredient gets on the "black list,” it's really hard to counter any misinformation, even if scientific evidence may not support the popular belief.

In our case, since we formulate and manufacture everything in-house, the cost was mostly related to transitioning existing inventory. One of the best tools I've discovered to keep up with ingredient trends and specific retailer demands is Novi. Once you upload all your ingredients, it's super easy to automatically check against their own lists.

Niye Aniekan-Attang Founder, Ace Beauté

We recently reformulated our core eyeshadow palettes. The formula we were using was from 2016 when we formulated our first eyeshadow palette and, five years later, we determined it was time to give our customers a more updated formula with easier blending matte colors and higher impact shimmer finishes.

The process of reformulation was a lengthy one since we had to consider customer feedback to understand what they wanted to see in an updated formula. We went through various formulas, each time sending the samples to various customers to test and provide feedback until we finally settled on an updated formula that we knew our customers would love.

The lesson learned from this is to always make sure to keep up with innovations/advancements in whatever industry you are in to be able to continue to offer customers the very best. While reformulating past products might seem tasking, customers recognize the effort and appreciate it.

Anna Brightman Co-Founder, UpCircle Beauty

We’ve reformulated a fair few products in our time. As a brand that prioritizes organic and ethically sourced ingredients, we’re used to having to constantly refine formulations based on availability of ingredients.

For example, when it became unsustainable to use vanilla pods, we had to reformulate and rethink. We completely switched the scent of one of our existing products from vanilla to cacao. Cacao is actually more expensive to source than vanilla. Despite this, we maintained the same RRP because it’s our firm belief that sustainable skincare should be accessible to everyone, not just an elite few.

When we told our community the reasons for making the change, they were completely on board and understood why one of their favorite products would no longer be produced. It’s so important to let your customers in on internal decision making because it allows them to be brought on the journey with you.

Similar to vanilla, any natural ingredient can become unavailable (e.g., failed crops) and the recent roadblocks caused by COVID-19 are just the same. Each week brings a new challenge when it comes to the use of natural ingredients, you just have to be willing to constantly refine and adapt your formulations. We’re a brand that depends on the functioning of other industries. So, having coffee shops shut for months in the first lockdown presented supply chain issues for us. We got creative and added lots of mobile coffee trucks to our supplier's list, and managed to come out the other side standing strong!

Billy Gallagher Founder, RealSleep

Our biggest adjustments have been prompted by efforts to streamline our supply chain. When creating custom formulas, the supply chain and production can become very complicated given the large product offering. However, we have a slight advantage in that our formulations now all start with the same base or “core formula.”

In the past, this wasn’t the case, but making this adjustment only enhanced our custom formulas by including ingredients from the core formula that are universally beneficial to those looking to improve sleep.

The largest cost associated with this process is time. Between research, outside consultation and testing, a lot of time is spent looking at potential ingredient interactions, meetings, sourcing and ultimately testing. This requires strong teamwork and constant communication, especially if it is to be done efficiently, and sticking to a well-thought-out plan is essential to successfully releasing a new formulation on time.

In terms of lessons learned, there are plenty. First, and most importantly: Plan your formulation, and formulate your plan. Often, the former is the more time-consuming, but having a solid roadmap for your new formulation is key.

Second: Be as efficient as possible across the supply chain. In our case, having a consistent foundation for our custom formulas has made ingredient sourcing and product manufacturing much easier and more cost-effective.

In the early days of a business, your supply chain may be a little fragmented, but taking the time to collect data on your products, identifying the gaps and fine-tuning your processes is an investment that can pay large dividends in the long run.

Gabriela Trujillo Founder and CEO, Alamar Cosmetics

Reformulating a fan favorite product is always tricky because you run the risk of your customer feeling like their go-to product has changed. On the other hand, as a company grows and becomes more profitable, they are able to greatly improve the quality of their ingredients and provide their customers with a much better, cleaner, more sustainable product.

In our case, we reformulated our iconic bronzer, brightener and blush formulas to include skincare ingredients such as hyaluronic acid. We knew this would elevate our customers' experience and make for a more blendable application. Although we were anticipating a mixed reaction to our decision to reformulate, we were actually met with lots of excitement and gratitude from our mamis and papis. They were happy to see us using our resources to keep improving our line.

David Klar Founder, Fortify+ Natural Germ-Fighting Skincare

When we first came up with the idea for Fortify+, it was in the early days of the pandemic and the No. 1 concern for people was how to protect ourselves from getting ill. This led us to the key point about the face being the entry point of pathogens into the body, the realization that zeolite can be a solution in cleansing the face like alcohol—naturally, gently and without harmful chemicals and substances—and can be formulated with high-quality facial skincare products to fight germs and bacteria on the face.

When we launched to the market a while later, though the products were incredibly well-received, the one bit of feedback that we kept hearing was, what about good bacteria? Does zeolite fight the good bacteria too while it’s fighting the bad and, if so, what can be done about that? Everyone agreed that fighting the bad was a vital priority but what if we could accomplish that without the downside of fighting the good?

The reformulation introduces two key probiotic ingredients (momordica charantia fruit extract and lactobacillus ferment) that help support the growth of the good bacteria that the body is constantly generating. The result is a much more balanced barrier care solution that fights the bad bacteria while helping the good.

This involved an extensive amount of research and development to figure out how to accomplish the above in a formulation while still having the same skincare benefits and quality, ensuring that the zeolite is equally effective and that we have the precise amounts of each key ingredient to have the results we aimed for. Fortunately, our chemists and lab are experts, and we are proud of our enhanced product line.

Not only did our costs of raw materials and ingredients increase, but we also needed to redo all of the packaging and marketing material to reflect the changes. This is a significant undertaking, but we appreciate how important this is, and we did what was necessary, while not adding to the price of the products to retailers or the end consumer.

There are many lessons. One is to try to be better next time at looking beyond the most apparent concerns and goals of a project to ensure that we aren't overlooking any important needs and wants of our customers. It's not always possible, but, when it is, it makes things so much better for all.

We're constantly adapting, learning and improving our offering across the board, and we think that's a good thing and an important process to go through. However, taking a step back to see things from a bird's eye view, speaking to more customers to get initial feedback, etc., is something we will be emphasizing as standard practice in our business.

If you have a question you’d like Beauty Independent to ask beauty entrepreneurs and executives, please send it to editor@beautyindependent.com.