Behind the scenes: how private label beauty and wellness products work

There’s a long-standing myth that private label beauty products are low quality, mass-produced overseas, and lack innovation. 

This couldn’t be further from the truth. In reality, private labeling has evolved into a powerful and highly efficient way to create premium beauty brands with minimal risk and cost.

The truth is, private label beauty and wellness products can meet the highest industry standards if sourced from the right manufacturers. Some of the world's best beauty products come from private label cosmetic manufacturers in North America and Europe, ensuring strict compliance, premium ingredients, and top-tier formulations.

Blanka, for example, sources North American-made private label beauty products that rival luxury brands, offering seamless customization, fast turnaround times, and a streamlined approach to bringing products to market.

If you’ve ever dreamed of launching your own beauty and wellness brand, private label is the modern solution that eliminates the need for costly R&D, testing, and formulation guesswork. 

Let’s take a look at how it works.

What is private label?

Let’s take a step back and answer: what is private label? 

Private labeling allows businesses to sell high-quality, pre-formulated beauty products under their own brand. Instead of spending years developing formulations from scratch, brands can partner with a private label supplier to customize packaging, labels, and product selections—bringing their vision to life quickly and cost-effectively. 

This streamlined approach makes it easier than ever to launch a beauty line while focusing on branding, marketing, and customer experience.

What is a private label brand? 

Now, you might also be wondering, what is a private label brand? 

A private label brand is typically a third party manufacturer that manages most of the private labeling process such as product formulation, packaging, bottling, and distribution. The private label brand allows customers to white label cosmetic products under their own branding. 

How private label beauty & wellness works

Traditionally, launching a beauty brand requires years of product development, clinical trials, and expensive production runs. 

The old way was slow, high-risk, and required massive capital upfront. But now, the modern way, led by platforms like Blanka, offers a faster, cost-effective, and hassle-free approach to beauty entrepreneurship.

Step 1: Choose your product line

One of the biggest advantages of private label beauty and wellness is the variety of products available. You can create a full skincare, haircare, or makeup line without spending years in development.

Some popular private label beauty and wellness categories include:

• Skincare: Serums, cleansers, moisturizers, etc.
• Makeup: Lipsticks, foundations, blushes, eyeshadows, etc. 
• Haircare: Shampoos, conditioners, styling products, etc. 
• Men’s grooming: Beard oils, shaving creams, hair pomades, etc. 
• Wellness products: Bath soaks, body scrubs, aromatherapy oils, etc. 

Step 2: Find the right supplier

Selecting the right white label cosmetics partner is critical. This partnership can truly make or break your beauty brand so ensure you conduct the necessary research to understand which suppliers align with your needs. 

Consider the following when researching private label suppliers: 

• Quality of ingredients: Of course, you want the highest quality possible for your beauty products. Ensure the supplier uses top-tier and safe ingredients. 
• Minimum order quantities: Depending on your distribution process or business stage, you may want to start with lower MOQs (minimum order quantities) for flexibility. For example, Blanka has no minimum order quantities to make it easy for businesses of all sizes to use us. 
• Product compliance: This is a non-negotiable, you need your supplier to comply with industry regulations. 
• Turnaround times: Again, depending on your distribution process, it might be helpful to find a partner with fast production turnaround times. 
• Communication & support: Is there an easy support contact or dedicated account manager to get in touch with if you have questions or concerns?

Blanka partners with top-tier private label cosmetic manufacturers in North America, ensuring premium quality, strict compliance, and zero risk for all customers and clients. We also ensure you’re pleased with your product creations by sending samples straight to your door. 

Step 3: Customize your branding & packaging

Your brand identity sets your products apart. It covers everything from your brand’s personality to your website, color palette, typography, and, of course, product package design. 

With private labeling, you have the flexibility to customize:

• Packaging: Choose packaging that aligns with your brand's personality and tone. For example, Merit is all about elegant, clean design, aligning with the brand’s ethos around simplicity. Whereas Tower 28 has bright and bold packaging, aligning with the brand’s ethos around having fun with makeup. 

• Labels & printing: Add your logo, product name, and any relevant messaging to the labels of your products before they enter printing.
• Personalization: Some suppliers allow tweaks to formulas or scents through custom formulation. This is typically a bit pricier and a larger lift but if you want custom products, it’s the route to take. 

A great product is just one piece of the puzzle. High-end packaging and branding can transform white label cosmetics into a premium beauty line that stands out against competitors.

Step 4: Production & manufacturing

Once you’ve chosen your products and customized branding, the manufacturing process begins.

Here’s a simplified version of what the production process may look like: 

• Product filling: Products are filled into your branded packaging that you developed or selected in the step prior.
• Labeling: Your custom-designed labels are applied to the products. Ensure you meet label requirements in the location you’re selling. For example, Blanka will help create compliant labels by adding the following information: product identity, net quantity, directions for safe use, warnings, ingredient list, and period after opening (PAO).

Step 5: Compliance & testing 

As we briefly mentioned above, ensuring your private label partner conducts thorough beauty product testing to meet industry regulations is crucial for the safety of your customers and your business. 

• Regulatory standards: Every product should be formulated to meet the requirements of the country it’s being sold in.
• Safety & quality assurance: Ensure your manufacturer follows proper guidelines for safe and high-quality production. If you can’t find information on their manufacturing process, ask them!
• Blanka’s compliance: All Blanka products go through rigorous beauty product testing and are FDA-compliant, giving brands peace of mind when entering the market.
  

Step 6: Distribution & fulfillment

Now it’s time to get your products into customers’ hands! An exciting step in the journey of any beauty brand. And to make it as smooth and error-free as possible, ensure you have the right workflow established. 

There are multiple ways to handle distribution and shipping with private label beauty products and at the end of the day, it comes down to what aligns best with your workflow:

• Dropshipping: This model lets you sell your products without keeping inventory on hand. Once a customer places an order, your private label supplier handles the packaging and shipping. This option is ideal for brands that want a hands-off approach to logistics, reducing upfront costs and allowing you to focus on marketing and growth.

• Third-party logistics (3PL) or warehousing: Store and ship inventory from a fulfillment center. This is a great option for brands expecting high order volumes and wanting to outsource storage and shipping to a logistics expert.

• In-house shipping: Manage orders from your own storage or warehouse. This option requires the most effort and time from you, so consider it when resourcing your beauty business. While it offers more control, it also involves handling packing, labeling, and carrier coordination.

For example, Blanka uses the dropshipping model. We drop ship products from our warehouses to your customers, so you can avoid worrying about shipping logistics and holding inventory. This option also makes it easy to scale at your own pace.

Step 7: Market your brand

And finally, marketing. 

You can create a great brand but if you don’t put yourself in front of the right target audience then you’ll lack growth. 

And because of this, a well-crafted marketing strategy is key. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to marketing but here are a few channels we’ve seen work for other white label cosmetic brands: 

• Social media content creators: Work with influencers to quickly get your brand and products in front of a dedicated audience. Influencer marketing builds brand awareness, reach, and loyalty. 
• Email marketing: Use strategic campaigns to nurture and eventually convert customers. Email marketing is a great channel to promote discounts, giveaways, and promotions to your customer base. 
• Customer reviews & UGC: Social proof drives trust and sales. Showcase user generated content (UGC) on your social channels, website, newsletters, etc. to highlight trust signals for new customers. 

Blanka tip: If you’re looking for some more guidance on your marketing strategies, explore our 30 day social media calendar, a guide for effective email marketing campaigns, and a breakdown of how reviews support SEO. 

Who is private label beauty & wellness for?

Private label beauty products are a great solution for many brands at various stages. 

Here are just a few of our recommendations on businesses that can tap into private label partners: 

• New entrepreneurs: Get to market quickly with minimal investment.
• Existing brands: Expand product offerings without R&D costs.
• Salons & spas: Launch branded skincare or haircare lines.
• Retailers & boutiques: Offer exclusive, branded beauty products.

If you want to build a beauty business without the hassle of formulation and testing, white label cosmetics are the way to go. 

Pros & cons of private label beauty & wellness

But of course, everything has its pros and cons, private labeled products included. 

Pros of private label: 

• Fast turnaround time: Launch products in weeks instead of years.
• Low upfront costs: Avoid expensive R&D, testing, or formulation fees.
• Easy to scale: Start small with limited products and grow as demand increases.
• Minimal risk: Use proven and compliant formulations from trusted manufacturers.
• Dropshipping capabilities: No need for warehousing or inventory management.

Cons of private label: 

• Limited control over formulas: Customization is typically restricted to branding.
• Not 100% unique: Other brands may use similar base formulas.
• Brand differentiation depends on marketing: Strong branding is key to standing out when using private label products.

However, with solutions like Blanka Labs, even custom formulation is becoming easier and more accessible. By offering customizable beauty product testing and branding solutions to help create a truly unique line, you’re able to achieve many of the benefits above with increased customization.

The future of private label beauty & wellness products

Private label beauty and wellness has come a long way. What was once considered a low-cost, generic alternative to custom formulations has transformed into a sophisticated, high-quality solution that meets the demands of today’s beauty consumers.

Thanks to innovations in formulation, beauty product testing, packaging, and supply chain efficiency, private label brands can now offer the same level of luxury and performance as established beauty giants. With high-quality manufacturing, fast production times, and flexibility, private label brands are no longer just an entry point—they’re a competitive force in the industry.

Whether you’re launching a new business or expanding your existing brand, white label cosmetics offer a cost-effective, risk-free way to break into the beauty space.

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