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When I started out as a solo esthetician renting a room in a small studio, I didn’t know that one day I would have my own product line. My clients achieved incredible before-and-after results with the products I recommended, but at the end of their treatment, they’d always ask me, “When can I start using nice products again?” My clients wanted skin products that were not only effective but also elegant. They wanted to get their acne care not in the drugstore but in places where they bought their other beauty products, like Sephora. They wanted the packaging to look pretty in their bathroom cabinets. They wanted what I couldn’t give them.
That’s when I started thinking about what an elegantly formulated line would look like. And in 2023, I launched Sofie Pavitt Face, which is now available through, yes, Sephora, among other places.
So, you could say my product line was born in the studio. Now, anyone can take a little slice of my studio home with you, no matter where you live.
The importance of having an established brand before starting a beauty product line is key. Here are five other lessons I’ve learned the hard way about how to succeed in a crowded product space.
1. Know your customers’ problems deeply, and make it your mission to solve them
You can’t succeed in skincare without understanding your customers. And as I’ve suggested, much of the market research for our products happened organically through my studio.
Before using any product in the studio, I would research the ingredients and study any available clinicals. Then I’d test the product on myself and on trusted friends and clients. Slowly I’d expand use among our clientele to gauge results and customer reactions.
Understanding your customers means learning their skincare needs and struggles. It means understanding the areas where they wish they had more and better options. It also means having detailed customer information during treatments so you can track issues over time. And it means finding out how much they spend on beauty products each month, where they like to shop, and what separates must-haves from splurges.
For example, I saw how many clients struggled with overly complicated skincare routines. We designed our product line to eliminate unnecessary steps and maximize results.
2. Stake out your territory
Many skincare brands try to do it all: anti-aging, moisturizing, cleansing, and more. That approach might work if you’re an established brand, but it’s harder to pull off when you’re starting out.
Sofie Pavitt Face specializes in the acne space because this positioning builds on our studio’s established brand. The studio has become so well known for helping people with problematic skin that the media refer to me as the Acne Whisperer.
Plus, I saw gaps in the acne market, as I mentioned. The issue wasn’t simply that acne products targeted teenagers shopping at drugstores. Beyond issues of packaging and marketing, many acne products rely on outdated ingredients. I knew customers needed other, better options.
My advice: Find your niche and clearly brand yourself as helping people in that area.
3. Focus on the ways you stand out from competitors
In a saturated market, you need to differentiate your brand.
With Sofie Pavitt Face, staking out the acne space has helped a lot. Our product line, just like our studio, has that specialty, and we make sure it comes through in all our messaging. If we tried to do everything for everyone, we’d sound like a thousand other companies.
I also wanted our products to stand out on shelves. I went to art school and spent 15 years designing handbags, so product design was something I knew well. When we launched Sofie Pavitt Face, most other skincare products went for this look of quiet luxury — all creams and beiges and matte finishes. I wanted something different, something that felt nostalgic but really elevated at the same time. So we embraced bright, glossy packaging and color-coordinated our whole line.
4. Be ready for surprises
Every business journey is full of surprises. For us, one pleasant surprise has been the popularity of our micellar pads. These pads, pre-soaked with a makeup-removing cleansing solution, are convenient and portable, unlike the big bottles that micellar typically comes in.
But you’ll encounter unpleasant surprises, too. I thought I knew the retail market from all my years as a fashion designer. But I underestimated the regulatory complexities involved in rolling out a skincare line. For instance, I knew what I wanted in a UV skincare product in terms of how efficacious it should be. But what surprised me was how different each market’s regulatory landscape is. Each country has its own rules, which created unique hurdles.
No matter what, you will have to deal with the unexpected. The key is to be nimble and adaptable.
5. Take a little bite every day
I love that expanding into retail is allowing me to help more customers achieve beautiful, clear skin. Of course, I often joke that I wouldn’t have opened a skincare line if I had known how much work it would take to get here. I think everyone who starts a brand has some level of naivety to them — otherwise, they wouldn’t do it.
Whenever I feel overwhelmed, I remember the advice my friend told me: “You can’t solve everything at once. Every day you just take a little bite. Over time, you end up finishing the whole cake.” Looking back, I realize that’s how we built the studio and now our product line too — one bite at a time, always keeping momentum. And the next thing you know, your product is in bright lights on a shelf in Sephora — for even more customers to see.
