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Private Vs. White Label Cosmetics: What Is Better And Why?

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When choosing between private label and white label for cosmetic products, several factors play an important role. To choose the perfect cosmetics supplier for you, start by answering these questions: Are you the owner of an ambitious startup that has to pay close attention to the budget in the beginning? Or can you create and launch a product line at your leisure? Or should you perhaps get your product to the market quickly? Answering these questions will be much easier when you know what private and white labels are all about. Thus, in this article, we have compiled the most essential key points for you so that you can make the right decision from the start.

What is the Diffe­rence between Private and White Label?

To highlight the small yet crucial diffe­rences, we must first define the two variants of cosmetics production in more detail. In another guide post, we provided a detailed explanation of how private label comsetics is defined and also its pros & cons. Please read this post first to under­stand the diffe­rence. And now, let’s take a look at what white label cosmetics means.

Shot of woman hand with dark green shiny painted nails holding open golden shiny lipstick with red color.
Close up of closed mouth of freu with subtle skin colored lipstick.
Four differently extended lipsticks, sorted from small to large in lighter red tones, against a white background.

What is white label cosmetics?

White label cosmetics is referred to as an empty label or off-the-shelf brand. This means that you can purchase an already finished product from a white label cosmetics provider and customize it as you wish. For example, if your company wants to include a range of special lipstick colors in your assortment and you have found the perfect product range at one of the white label cosmetics companies, you can buy these lipsticks from them and then add your design to them. This way, you can choose from a variety of products, all of which have already been tested and some of which were proven successful on the market for a long time. You don’t have to bear any costs for the develo­pment of the cosmetic entails. In addition, you can react quickly to trends, since the goods are already waiting for you on the shelves of the suppliers.

7 Advan­tages of private label cosmetics

  1. You have options from a wide range of products.
  2. You can add your label to products that have already been tested and proven on the inter­na­tional market and sell them under your own name.
  3. Short delivery times because the goods are already available from the manufac­turer of white label cosmetics.
  4. Small minimum order quantity and there are even no limits to the order quantity.
  5. You can determine the delivery quantities yourself and thus keep the costs under control.
  6. The design, branding, and packaging will be custo­mized according to your wishes. This way, the former white label cosmetics quickly becomes part of the corporate identity of your company.
  7. Your product range can be adapted quickly since the goods have already been produced.

Brush over a glass with skin colored makeup powder photographed from above on white background.

Disad­van­tages of White Label Cosmetics

White label cosmetics is charac­te­rized primarily by the fact that these are usually not unique creations because you do not have a compre­hensive influence on the product. Let’s take an eyeshadow series as an example, you want a shimmery and creamy finish, a lot of metallic and the colors should be trendy. You typically won’t find what you’re looking for in white label cosmetics suppliers, as they mostly focus on pastels and predo­mi­nantly matte finishes. In this case, it’s best to go with private label cosmetics since you can explain what you want to the producers, which ingre­dients should be used, and how the finished eyeshadow should be packaged. From this infor­mation, the line of eyeshadows produced will definitely implement your ideas and visions one-to-one.

5 disad­van­tages of white label cosmetics

  1. Once you have decided on a supplier for white label cosmetics, it will be compa­ra­tively difficult to change later.
  2. The choice is limited in the field of white label cosmetics.
  3. Without changing the makeup, changing the white label cosmetics supplier is almost impos­sible.
  4. The price per unit of goods is relatively high if the purchased quantity is small.
  5. The offer of your supplier may turn out to be too low, as you do not influence the develo­pment and compo­sition of cosmetics.

Song shadow palette with bright colorful colors in green, blue, violet and red orange tones, photographed from above on black background
portrait of a woman with fancy makeup, red eyeshadow, brown hair and blue eyes. the left half of the face is covered by a black rectangle.

White Label vs. Private Label Cosmetics

You will always have to choose between one of the two options, and for that, it’s best to weigh all pros and cons. For some, the added cost of the private label production may be a big factor due to a severely limited budget, and for others, the uniqueness of the shade of their blush may be an important unique selling point of their brand.

When to choose private label cosmetics

While you can’t change the texture and colors of the white label product to fit your exact needs, private label cosmetics makes it possible to tailor the texture, pigmen­tation, and ingre­dients of the cosmetic product to your prefe­rences. Do you want to create cosmetics that primarily empha­sizes natural ingre­dients? Do you love the texture of a foundation, but want to offer a different color range? Do you find the range of nail polishes colorful, but lack the wow effect of glitter? All these wishes will not go unful­filled with a private label supplier. From the ingre­dients to the design of the packaging, only what you have in mind counts. Lazy compro­mises are not made here. However, this great freedom also has its price. That’s why private label cosmetics are more cost-intensive because you usually intervene in the manufac­turing process and the fine-tuning of the cosmetics causes considerable costs.

Top shot of a nude color foundation palette

When to choose white label cosmetics

With private label cosmetics, there may also be some disad­van­tages, which we have discussed in detail in another guide post. The develo­pment and production cost a lot of time. In fact, you should plan for at least 2–3 months – depending on the product. To produce compe­titive cosmetics, you need a lot of experience, expertise, and, above all, the right network. In addition, there are usually higher costs than with white labeling at the beginning, since the cosmetics must be created speci­fi­cally and is not already in stock on the shelves of the middleman. Another danger could be that you deviate too far from tried-and-tested standard formulas and encounter resis­tance when marketing. This is because you typically have to create your own clientele for innovative cosmetic products & create your own market.

What should i do now?

We have given some points to help you decide between private and white label cosmetics. As already mentioned, this decision has widespread conse­quences and is of great importance for your business. Together, we can find out if you urgently need the freedom of private label cosmetics, or if the speed of delivery and constant availa­bility of white label cosmetics outweighs it. We have a unique network of market-leading cosmetics manufac­turers around the world, and can therefore quickly contact the best possible company for any request – whether you choose private or white label cosmetics.

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Charlotte Wagner

"After my Bachelor & Master's degree in Beauty Management at the mAHS (media Akademie Hochschule Stuttgart), I work full-time in consulting for start-ups and medium-sized companies in the cosmetics industry.
I discovered my passion for writing at an early age, so that I pursue it as a as a hobby author."

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