Own Your Beauty IP!

Luciana Coutinho • Luluble Group

The most significant and persistent skincare issue I’ve observed since forming Luluble is the fundamental conflict between short-term market entry and long-term brand value. This conflict crystallizes around the question of formula ownership. When I started luluble, particularly around 2019, the “speed-at-all-costs” mentality dominated the indie beauty landscape.

Founders, often brilliant marketers but new to product development, were drawn to the turnkey solutions offered by contract manufacturers and private label “incubators.” This model offered a seemingly frictionless path to launch, but it established a dangerous precedent. Brands effectively “rented” their core products.

No Free NPD

The primary drawback of that incubator model, which has become much clearer to the market now, is the hidden cost and lack of control. The product development expenses aren’t truly “free;” they are absorbed into an inflated per-unit cost of the finished product, eating into the brand’s margins over time. More critically, the brand does not own its most crucial piece of intellectual property: the formula itself. This cripples a brand’s long-term potential. It prevents them from switching manufacturers for better pricing or quality. It makes them vulnerable to supply chain disruptions, and significantly devalues the company in the eyes of savvy investors or potential acquirers.

The Business of Beauty

Today, the conversation has matured dramatically. There has been an impactful shift as founders become more sophisticated and educated about the business of beauty. They now understand that owning their formula IP is non-negotiable for building a defensible, valuable brand.

This has led to the rise of what we do at Luluble, functioning as a “ghost laboratory” and advisory partner. Brands now actively seek us out to engage in a transparent, fee-for-service R&D advisory process. They invest upfront in the development work with the explicit understanding that they will hold complete ownership of the final formulation. It’s a move from being a tenant to being a homeowner. It’s the single most important change I’ve seen in how successful indie brands are built.

About the Author

Luluble Group Founder Luciana Coutinho has more than 25 years of experience in skin and hair science. More info: Luluble Group, www.luluble.com/