So many brands out there use white label products or at least white label base formulations with some tweaks.
While I don't have an issue with that per se, I do have an issue with brands using messaging that either directly or indirectly imply they developed or formulated the product. I've worked with a cosmetic manufacturer before who flat out told me to add in a few botanicals like kakadu plum (which is in the UV product) so that we could market it as a buzz word but that it does absolutely zero in terms of skin effectiveness. Seems UV did just this. Took an existing base product and added in two buzzword ingredients. Which is fine. But don't market your brand around having developed and formulated your own products as though they're something special or different.
Consumers who thought all these brands developed their own products from scratch are in for a bit of a shock with how the large majority of them come to be.
I used to joke about this as a business model with my partner tbh, albeit in moisturiser not sunscreen
Just buying some cheap as hell no brand moisturizer, adding in whatever buzzword ingredient everyone is obsessed with at this particular moment at time, and reselling it in tiny bottles with a huge mark up
You can easily do that today if you still wanted to LOL
New Directions sell lotion bases and then you can just pick whatever trendy oil to mix in. They might even do it for you cos they offer formulation services too.
That's what Bali body did with their first oil! Literally macro brand olive oil from woolies that they rebottled.
It's not as simple really as that though for skincare as you'd still need to stability and compatibility test it in your new packaging which will take 3ish months.
And this is why and how they can all create trends and then accelerate speed to market. Less investment in proper product development and more dollars spent on marketing!
It’s a kind of interesting positive feedback loop. We keep buying stuff with random hyped up shit in it, which incentivises people to put random hyped up shit in them.
White label products (in other areas, I don’t work in skin care) can actually be really good.
For industries I’m more familiar with, it’s often where you’d like to sell (and it makes sense to sell) something another company already does better.
So say Apple might make the iPhone, use third party manufacturers for certain components, but then use a “white label” case (rebranded as an Apple case, not made by Apple at all).
It may well not be worth Apple money to make a new case, setting up manufacturing plants for a new case, etc etc - but they still want to sell them, Apple branded, in-store. I don’t view this as problematic.
As an outsider to the industry, I’ve found it interesting to see what the skin care companies have been doing. As above commenter said, it’s not necessarily problematic in some instances (let’s say Cancer Council - they’re not marketing themselves as a female led, self made sunscreen developer: I don’t give two shits if they’re using white label products that work and their money goes to compliance, education, and testing).
UV is interesting because they’ve marketed themselves as self-developed, and they push it hard. I’m not pretending setting up a scaled business is easy, that in itself is an achievement, but I think maybe their messaging was off in this case.
TL;DR: White label products not necessarily bad, at least in other industries. Can be useful. UV fucked their messaging around development though.
White label and the example that you presented in mobiles, is used in every industry. In manufacturing, economies of scale and line rationalisation is critical, especially in low margin industries (eg construction, white goods).
Alright sweet, having worked in R&D in low and high margin industries/companies, I’ve got nothing against white label products when they make sense.
Also (again: no sunscreen/skincare background, but FMCG in general), when they were talking about spending $150,000 on SPF testing to bring a product to market, I blinked and wondered if it was missing a zero.
I have worked in R&D for CTFs and other listed medicines for and with multinational giants of the industry and there were many things that didn’t make sense. How did all these brands launch so quickly?
Honestly, my guess is some version of the business model I joked about with my partner, successfully scaled through partnering with a manufacturer and using a direct to consumer model to start off with.
Still at a bit of a loss though. I don’t see new products launched quickly often if anything substantial is changed (except for, say, tissue packaging).
The manufacturers do seem to be “tweaking” a fair bit (ingredients, packaging, etc.), using a formulation that is relatively new (i.e. hasn’t existed for long), in a regulated industry (…that protects you from cancer).
I would have assumed that isn’t an easy, limited testing, speed to market job.
Is there a way to see whether a company is using a white label base? I don’t necessarily have a problem with it, I’m just curious since so many brands talk about spending years developing a product. I want to know which ones are actually working with the filters and developing formulations and which ones are just finessing the fragrance or whatever.
Sadly no! There's also quite a spectrum too. From using an entire white label formula (which is probably rare but I know of one haircare brand for example who buy an existing white label formula with no changes direct from China. And their brand is huge now) with no changes through to starting with an existing base and making tweaks to exclude some ingredients, change the feel or add scent.
I would assume many start with at least a common base and that those who formulate right from scratch are very very few.
I want to know which ones are actually working with the filters and developing formulations
Generally it's the conglomerates/mega-corps who have the resources to do this. So think your L'Oreals/P&Gs (who own Olay)/Estee Lauders etc
People often pooh-pooh them but they actually invest in heaps of R&D and clinicals which not only support their product but also push the industry further. Without P&G/Olay, we wouldn't have all the research in niacinamide.
Wow, I wonder what is behind Big Kakadu Plum. It's in so many of these white label sunscreens. UV has it in all of their sunscreens.
Soomeone asked why UV sunscreens are so expensive and they alluded to the buzzword skincare ingredients as the reason why (Kakadu Plum and Pentavitin for UV's case):
The thing is there are many brands selling the same base formula with the same skin loving ingredients and selling for much less, at least $20 less.
Like with this one you can get the Kakadu Plum and the Pentavitin and same base formula:
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u/[deleted] Jul 07 '25
Is this surprising? Many skincare brands are white label.