Step 1: Um, How do I get a product made?
I left the fashion party on a kind of high -- I was going to get a product made! Maybe I could be like that woman who thought of those little flower things you stick in the holes of Crocs and make a gazillion dollars!
QVC/HSN visions swirled through my brain, along with a dozen other things I wanted to create and what the brand would be about. My mission: double duty beauty. Everything would have to have multiple benefits. Products for the multi-tasking mavens!
I had dreams of creams, potions, and lotions from head to toe. And it would all start with Huge Lips Skinny Hips!
One problem: I had NO clue what to do first!
First step: Frantic phone calls and emails. I reached out to everyone I could think of in the beauty industry -- PR girls, my former editors, writers, marketing peeps, consultants, friends of friends, friends of friends of friends, Facebook shout outs. My head was spinning as they said things like "you need to go into R&D" (R&D? Road and driver? Oh, research and development). How the hell do I "go into" R&D? In my kitchen?
Apparently, I needed a lab.
Not the kind with four legs.
Chemists, white coats, test tubes, the whole thing. The more I dug, the more the same few names popped up. I started Googling, researching, dialing, and suffering from severe anxiety. It was beyond overwhelming.
A fateful lunch meeting with someone from Steve & Barry's (R.I.P.!) -- I was pitching him for a totally different project (marketing oriented) -- lead to the ultimate hook up -- an innovative lab that has developed some of my favorite things -- stuff for Bliss and Freeze 24/7.
I got on the phone with the head mad scientist, a Russian guy with a pension for slick Prada glasses, and the minute I started talking about my idea, he started spewing out names of ingredients to make it work. "I will make you a lipgloss that will blow your mind," he said.
I wanted my mind blown!
"I don't want the plumper to sting," I told him. I cannot stand the feeling of burning lips. I have some friends who like it because it makes them feel like it's working but it makes me want to tear my mouth off.
He mentioned something about vasodilator technology and micro circulatory stimulation to promote blood flow to the lips.
???????????
My thoughts exactly.
In layman's terms, this meant the active ingredients (or "actives," according to lab speak) would not irritate.
My other requests: silky, moisturizing, and not too sticky, heavy, or tacky. Nothing is worse than the wind blowing your hair into your lipgloss and having it stick there like Crazy Glue.
The longer we spoke, the more I felt like he "got" my idea.
For appetite suppressant, I wanted to use Hoodia. It's all-natural, from a cactus-like plant indigenous to S. Africa and Namibia (a.k.a. birthplace of Shiloh!) and it has been used for centuries for its appetite suppressing qualities.
In my excitement, I emailed my brother, a lawyer, to tell him what was happening and five minutes later, he sent me an "all caps" email yelling -- GET AN NDA, YOU IDIOT! NDA = nondisclosure agreement. He attached one.
The lab signed while we were on the phone. Phew!
Sidebar: I think you should know my theory on both appetite suppressants and this gloss.
I don't really believe any appetite suppressant works unless you really want it to. I mean, how many times have you been completely full and found yourself double fisting dessert (don't tell me I'm alone in that!). And every time I tell myself, "no carbs, no sugar, no white flour," I inexplicably wind up with a bagel in hand.
So to me, this gloss -- with Hoodia -- was about creating an intention-setting, something to keep us girls mindful about our eating so that we don't have to leave a party with ring-around-the-waist or beat ourselves up for eating things that don't make us feel good. It's NOT about starving. It's NOT about being skinny. It's about being who you are and having a fun, sexy, glamorous lipgloss that makes you feel good and aware.
Tune in next time and I'll take you through the step-by-step of how the product goes from idea to reality...
Until then...
Mwah!
Karen
Purple Lab Creatrix