Trying new brands?

[Ankaroo]

Hi

I am hoping you can help me. I am looking to distribute a brand new brand of nail lacquer and cosmetics in the UK. Many nail experts seem to have found something that works and are reluctant to try anything new even if its slightly cheaper or gives better profit margins.

What would tempt you to try a new brand?

The company in question has been making nail lacquer for over 40 years and are the best selling brand in their own country but looking to expand worldwide. I am not touting for business, just advice from the experts!

Many thanks for any help.

 

[Doorie]

well, honestly, I try anything new. well, better said, I try anything that I haven't tried already. and then I decide. keep or trash.

 

[collin]

Nails aside...

getting any new brand or product into a territory where there are already existing strong brands is a long hard road to travel and is both time consuming and very expensive.

That said if you have the desire and funding available then..good luck :hug:

 

[Zingara]

The thing for me is I like to be able to trial something without it costing me a lot. I'd be happy to pay for the product, as long as it was a competitve price, but, if someone were to introduce a new product, yet I needed to place a minimum order value of £25 or £30, it would put me off.

Same with postage. I don't mind paying postage on goods I need and use for my business regularly, but would not pay £5 or £6 postage to try one bottle of polish that I don't know if I like it or not. One of the reasons I like exhibitions....you can pick and choose a bit at new products to try without the delivery cost implications.

One thing worth noting, with some items, I perfer to purchase a trial size....but only if the pot/bottle/container isn't part of the application process, so mini nail polishes wouldn't tempt me to try a new polish, as I would want to know what the brush is like in the full size bottle, as thats a pretty important part of application.

On a personal note, I'm highly allergic to TFR and also have a couple of clients that are allergic to formadehyde, so fully formaldehyde-free would be a big bonus to me....

 

[Ankaroo]

Thanks for your replies.

Out of interest do most companies have a minimum order value, if so what is it and do they charge postage?

 

[geeg]

Hi

I am hoping you can help me. I am looking to distribute a brand new brand of nail lacquer and cosmetics in the UK. Many nail experts seem to have found something that works and are reluctant to try anything new even if its slightly cheaper or gives better profit margins.

What would tempt you to try a new brand?

The company in question has been making nail lacquer for over 40 years and are the best selling brand in their own country but looking to expand worldwide. I am not touting for business, just advice from the experts!

Many thanks for any help.

1. A bottle that is perfect for the professional and appealing to the end consumer
2. A reasonable price that gives me a good profit margin on the RRP
3. A first class professional brush that fans out to fit the cuticle line.
4. A polish that is richly pigmented and always covers in 2 thin coats
5. A fast drying time
6. A branded line that my clients will recognise
7. A range of treatments that WORK and that go along with the line
8. A choice of fashion colours that is large but not too extensive.
9. A Formaldehyde/Formalin free formula
10. No animal by products

I have written all the things I love about the Creative/CND enamels I use. I have not included one thing that I do not already have in the Creative
Brand. You tell me what you have got that would top that list. Plus it is all available to me from the ONE/SAME supplier I use for all my nail products.

Oh ... one more thing :lol: .. a TRUE colour guide that actually shows you the TRUE colour of the enamels you are buying. No one has got that right yet. CND used to do a hand dipped chart which was a true colour guide but sadly it got too expensive to produce. You'd think in this day and age that someone could do a colour chart that actually reflects the true colours.

 

[Ankaroo]

1. A bottle that is perfect for the professional and appealing to the end consumer - I am a consumer and I like it , what would be perfect for you?
2. A reasonable price that gives me a good profit margin on the RRP - RRP = trade price x 2.35 (100% mark-up + VAT)
3. A first class professional brush that fans out to fit the cuticle line. - yes
4. A polish that is richly pigmented and always covers in 2 thin coats - yes
5. A fast drying time - yes
6. A branded line that my clients will recognise - no as brand new to the UK, but it will be (hopefully!)
7. A range of treatments that WORK and that go along with the line - not tested by me or a local nail technician yet
8. A choice of fashion colours that is large but not too extensive. - about 100? But no need for everyone to have all of them
9. A Formaldehyde/Formalin free formula - no
10. No animal by products - don't know, I'll have to check but I don't think so after the response I got when I asked about animal testing!

I have written all the things I love about the Creative/CND enamels I use. I have not included one thing that I do not already have in the Creative
Brand. You tell me what you have got that would top that list. Plus it is all available to me from the ONE/SAME supplier I use for all my nail products. I was planning on wholesaling them directly, a layer of middlemen would put the price up or bring the profit down.

Oh ... one more thing :lol: .. a TRUE colour guide that actually shows you the TRUE colour of the enamels you are buying. No one has got that right yet. CND used to do a hand dipped chart which was a true colour guide but sadly it got too expensive to produce. You'd think in this day and age that someone could do a colour chart that actually reflects the true colours. I have a dipped colour chart that was sent to me, I can enquire about the cost for having them for stockists

I am not a nail expert so am unsure what is wanted from a nail lacquer so I take it that a high shine and strength against chipping are taken as read as you haven't mentioned them ? How many suppliers do people normally have? I am currently a craft retailer and I deal with 40+ suppliers so I've made the assumption that is the norm for most businesses? (I'm looking to go in a completely new direction with this, a step into the relatively unknown )

 

[GLAMOUR BEAUTY]

I am not a nail expert so am unsure what is wanted from a nail lacquer so I take it that a high shine and strength against chipping are taken as read as you haven't mentioned them ? How many suppliers do people normally have? I am currently a craft retailer and I deal with 40+ suppliers so I've made the assumption that is the norm for most businesses? (I'm looking to go in a completely new direction with this, a step into the relatively unknown )

Please do not take this the wrong way but, how did a craft retailer get involved in the beauty industry.

 

[Ankaroo]

:lol: My husband works abroad a lot in the dental trade. He was visiting Lebanon and the dealers he visits usually send back a pressie for the wife. This time it was some make-up and nail polish as the dealers wife there is a distributor for it. I tried and and loved it and discovered they were looking for a UK distributor, I contacted the manufacturer and started negotiations and that was three weeks ago. Since then I have been trying to learn as much as possible very quickly! I've got a meeting with Ideal World (TV shopping channel) next Tuesday to see if I can get it on there to launch it in the UK in the new year hopefully. I still have the craft shop and I've been accosting customers for their opinions on the samples, the nail polish wearers love it especially and so I thought I would try to see what the professionals want.

 

[geeg]

I am not a nail expert so am unsure what is wanted from a nail lacquer so I take it that a high shine and strength against chipping are taken as read as you haven't mentioned them ? How many suppliers do people normally have? I am currently a craft retailer and I deal with 40+ suppliers so I've made the assumption that is the norm for most businesses? (I'm looking to go in a completely new direction with this, a step into the relatively unknown )

I expect for me things like a high shine would be taken for granted in a pro enamel, so I neglected to mention the obvious.

Most pro brands will last without chipping ONLY IF the natural nails are prepared correctly before the polish is applied.

Strength ??? Polish doesn't have strength, it needs to s-t-r-e-t-c-h-!!

Ask if they have any pearlised polishes ... most of these contain fish scales and may have some other animal by products. I would not use any products that were tested on animals either.

There are tonnes of pro polish brands in the UK (well known ones). Can't imagine why anyone would even consider taking on the likes of OPI, CND, Essie, etc. I would not change my product brand on what I have read so far. Loads of competition. Not trying to put you off, but why??? It is such a struggle and ALL uphill.

There is also a great movement against polish that contains formaldehyde at the moment .. TSF Resin is another thing.

 

[Ankaroo]

Many thanks for all of your help, it's given me plenty to think on!

 

[nailzoo]

I would not use any products that were tested on animals either.

Not bitching here, or picking, but most base chemicals have been tested on animals at one stage or another (not by the original company), but by someone else, on many MSDS sheets you can find chemical reaction as to rats mice etc LD50 (lethal dose) and LC50 (lethal concentration)....... (in regard to a particular chemical) not a particular product .... even the ones you use ....... shocking huh ?

http://www.eznails.com/msdsPDF/cnd/RetentionLiquid.pdf

look at section 11.1 (the product hasn't been tested on animals) but the chemicals have, but are not included in the MSDS
section 11.5 (Mutagenicity) .... it's the same for nearly all products, none in particular.

look at the section about TOXICOLOGICAL INFORMATION.... down the bottom (after quite a boring blank space)

Just because a particular product has not been tested on animals, doesn't mean the separate chemicals in that product have not been tested on animals.
Here's another one http://www.eznails.com/msdsPDF/ezflow/QMonomer.PDF
check out section X1- toxicological information, it mentions dermal/rabbit, inhalation/rabbit .

and another http://www.eznails.com/msdsPDF/opi/MSDS-034.pdf scroll right down to the bottom after a large boring blank bit and check out TOXICOLOGICAL INFORMATION to see how much kills exposed animals


Now i'm gonna go and watch Watership Down and think about it.