5 Essential Steps to Take While Your Skincare Product is in Production

Your product is in production. Here is exactly what to do with the time so your launch does not stall the moment your order ships. 

Production time feels like a pause. It isn't. It's the window where launches are won or lost, and most first-time brand owners don't find that out until their pallet is sitting in a warehouse and nothing on the other side is ready to receive it.

Some founders use that window well. Others arrive at their ship date with finished goods in hand and nothing ready to receive them: no retail accounts confirmed, no e-commerce site live, no compliance review done, no reorder conversation started. The product sat in a warehouse while they scrambled to catch up to their own launch.

At Skincare by Marpac, we have seen both outcomes enough times to know exactly what separates them. This blog covers the five things you should be doing right now. If your product is currently in production with us, these are the decisions that determine whether it hits the market with momentum or sits waiting for it.

Step 1: Get Your Labeling and Compliance Reviewed Before Your Order Ships

This is the step most new brands underestimate, and it is the one most likely to delay a launch by weeks. The FDA regulates cosmetic product labeling under 21 CFR Part 701, which governs what must appear on the label, in what format, and in what order. For products making drug claims ("treats," "prevents," "cures"), the regulatory framework shifts entirely, and the compliance requirements go with it.

Required elements for a cosmetic label include the identity of the product, the net quantity of contents, the ingredient declaration in INCI format listed in descending order of predominance, and the name and address of the responsible party. Each has specific formatting requirements. The ingredient declaration alone trips up more first-time brands than any other single element, because the order is not optional and the INCI names are not the same as the marketing names your formulator used.

During production is the right time to have a cosmetic compliance attorney or regulatory consultant review your label artwork. The cost of a label review is a fraction of the cost of relabeling an entire production run, or of pulling product from retail because a claim failed to meet regulatory standards.

If you are manufacturing with us and pursuing our USDA Organic certification for your product, that certification carries its own labeling requirements through Quality Assurance International. The organic seal, the certifier name, and the percentage of organic content must all appear in accordance with USDA National Organic Program rules. Confirm those details are in your artwork before the label goes to press.

Step 2: Build Your Sales Channel Before You Have Product to Put in It

A production run that finishes on time and ships to a brand with nowhere to sell is not a successful launch. It is inventory holding cost. The manufacturing window is the right time to have the retail and e-commerce conversations that most brands defer until the product is physically in hand.

For e-commerce brands, your product pages, photography plan, and checkout flow should be ready before your order ships. Product photography requires samples in advance of your main run. If you need photography-ready units before the full production batch, raise that with us early. We can often accommodate samples during the production process, but that conversation needs to happen before your run completes.

For brands pursuing retail accounts, buyers at independent boutiques, natural food co-ops, and specialty retailers typically need to see a line sheet, samples, and pricing well before a purchase order conversation. Major retailers have review cycles that run months in advance of a shelf date. If retail is your goal for this product, the outreach should be starting now. Arriving at a buyer meeting with finished goods in hand is always stronger than arriving with a rendering of what the product will look like.

Step 3: Arrange Your Fulfillment and Storage Before Your Pallet Leaves Albuquerque

We can ship pallets to 3PLs, warehouses, and distribution centers. We do not drop ship to individual customers. That means the logistics handoff after production is yours to plan, and it takes longer to arrange than most first-time brand owners expect.

A third-party logistics provider needs to know your expected inbound volume, your SKU count, your product dimensions and weights, your storage requirements, and your expected outbound order frequency before they can quote you accurately or assign you a receiving date. That onboarding process typically takes one to three weeks for established 3PLs, and longer for providers with constrained capacity. Starting that conversation the week before your order ships means your pallet may arrive before your 3PL is ready to receive it.

If you need temporary warehousing while you work through those arrangements, we do have warehouse space available. Contact us to discuss rates and availability. Even if you use our warehousing as a bridge, you still need a longer-term plan for where the product goes next, and that plan should be in place before production closes.

Step 4: Build Your Brand Presence While the Product Still Has a Story in Progress

One of the things that surprises new brand owners is how much content you can create about a product before that product is physically available to sell. Behind-the-scenes content from the development process, educational posts about the ingredients and why they were chosen, the story of why you started the brand: none of that requires a finished product in frame. Posted and accumulating an audience during the production window, that content means your launch reaches people who are already warm to the brand rather than a list that has never heard of you.

If your product is USDA Organic certified through our facility, or carries our Leaping Bunny approval, those certifications are stories worth telling before launch day. They represent commitments that have real meaning to a specific customer. Explaining what they mean and why you pursued them is more compelling than a launch-day announcement. The certifications build credibility; the content makes sure your customer knows about them.

This is also the right time to build your email list. A pre-launch waitlist, even a small one, gives your launch day a structure that a cold audience does not provide. If 200 people have said they want to know when your product is available, your first day of sales will look different than if you are starting from zero at ship date.

Step 5: Start Your Reorder Conversation Before You Know You Need One

After your order ships, we will ask for your forecast so we can begin scheduling your reorder. That is a standing part of how we work. We have seen what happens when it is skipped: a brand sells through its first production run faster than expected, contacts us for an immediate reorder, and then waits through a full lead time for product they needed last week. Going out of stock is one of the fastest ways to lose a customer you worked hard to acquire.

While your current order is still in production, think through your reorder trigger. At what inventory level do you need to place a reorder to avoid going out of stock, given our lead time? That number depends on your expected velocity, your storage costs, and how much capital you want tied up in inventory. Calculating it before you need it is easier than calculating it while watching your stock levels drop.

If this is your first run and you genuinely cannot estimate your velocity yet, talk to us. We are supply chain experts and can help you think through a reorder strategy based on the product category, your channel, and what we have seen from similar brands. That conversation is easier to have before your first run sells out than after.

The Manufacturing Window Is a Gift. Use It.

Most of the work that determines whether a product launch succeeds happens before the product ships. The compliance review, the channel relationships, the logistics setup, the audience you build, the reorder plan you put in place: all of it can run in parallel with our production process. None of it requires waiting.

We are a Six Sigma-certified, lean manufacturing team, operating out of Albuquerque, New Mexico, a division of Marpac Medical with over fifty years of experience in product manufacturing. Our job is to make your product correctly, consistently, and on time. Your job, during that window, is to build the business that is ready to receive it.

Questions during production? Reach our team here!