Founder story
What I saw behind the label
Dani, our co-founder and cosmetic chemist, on the factory visits that changed how she sees the skincare industry — and why Trademark costs what it does.
When Pam and I created Trademark, we always knew where it was heading: onto pharmacy shelves, in front of real people looking for skincare that actually works. To make that happen at scale, we needed a manufacturing partner to produce our formulas with us.
So I did what any formulator would do. I took one of my formulas to a handful of different factories to get costings. What happened next is something I still think about.
“Your raw materials are very expensive”
At the first factory, I was told — quite seriously — that my raw-material costings were very high, and that the product was going to cost a lot of money to make.
I wasn't surprised. Being in the industry, I already knew. I told them, “Yes, I know. My actives are expensive because I'm using them correctly, at the right percentages.” Then I asked the question that stayed with me: “Doesn't anybody else do this?”
The answer was no.
“Doesn't anybody else do this?” I asked. The answer was no.
The walk that changed everything
Later that day I walked through the factory floor. I saw brands I recognised — brands sold in department stores, beauty retailers and pharmacies right across the country. And I was genuinely blown away by how many of them simply weren't making their formulas great for the people who buy them.
Because I'm a chemist, the factories I spoke with were quite open with me. I asked a few more. I heard the same thing again and again. I will never name the brands I saw — that's not who we are, and it's not the point. The point is what it told me about the industry as a whole.
Fairy-dusting: the label trick
Here's how it works. A brand chooses a hero ingredient that sounds impressive. It goes into the formula at a tiny amount — sometimes as little as 0.01% — just enough to legally list it on the label and build a campaign around it. The ingredient is there. It just isn't there in any amount that can do what the marketing promises.
The same can happen in the natural space. Products are presented as natural when the formula tells a different story underneath. Customers trust the front of the pack, and that trust isn't always earned.
Why this matters to you
I found it alarming. People are spending their hard-earned money on products that sound like the real thing but aren't. Much of what's out there is built on marketing first and formulation second — and the customer is the one who pays for it.
That's the opposite of why I became a cosmetic chemist. I had severe acne as a teenager. I didn't need a beautiful promise on a jar. I needed something that worked.
Skincare should work for the person using it — not just for the profit margin.
Doing it the right way comes at a cost
So we made a decision: every Trademark formula uses its actives at the percentages the evidence supports. Plant stem cells, plant-derived PDRN, peptides — properly dosed, not sprinkled in for show.
That's why we can't be priced as low as brands that only pretend to have the good stuff inside. Their formulas are cheap to make for a reason. Ours aren't. But we also refuse to charge a fortune, because doing the right thing shouldn't put great skin out of reach.
What I hope you take from this
Ask questions. Look past the hero ingredient on the front and think about how much of it is really there. Choose brands that are open about how they formulate.
We started Trademark to be the brand I wished existed — honest, effective and made by chemists who care about your skin. Those factory visits only made us more certain we were doing the right thing.
— Dani
