What does it take to launch a probiotic skin care range?
The BeBe & Bella line started as a probiotic supplement, but has now evolved into one of the most stand out skin care brand ranges in this small but fast paced and highly innovative niche category.
Born out of the family’s pharmaceuticals-focused business that was started in the 1950s, Krebs-Bensch says that her own personal interest in probiotic skin care was fostered out of a family culture that placed a great deal of value on natural nutrition.
Good nutrition as the brand foundation
“It was always stressed to us that nutrition had a direct impact on our overall wellness,” said Krebs-Bensch.
“Now, in my role as CEO, uncovering the benefits of natural elements and finding new uses and applications that will greater enhance a person’s well-being is my passion. I am excited to carry forward the company’s tradition in this regard.”
Krebs-Bensch, who is a part of the panel for the Skincare Ingredients probiotic skincare panel discussion, a webinar that will be broadcast today, says that it was her pursuit of natural ingredients and solutions that led her to probiotics.
“I came across studies that were uncovering the benefits of “good bacteria” in balancing one’s microbiome. As we know, microbiome is a community of microorganisms that inhabit a particular environment in or on the body. After researching this further, this concept seemed like a no-brainer,” she said.
Krebs-Bensch and her development team then set about seeing how these microorganisms could be applied as alternatives to traditional medications, and the first step to the inception of the brand were taken.
Educating consumers is the big challenge
The result is an ever-expanding line of nine products that is garnering significant attention in the US domestic market, with interest also growing in Europe, and in particular the UK market, Krebs-Bensch says.
But the path towards carving out a new niche is never straight forward and in the case of probiotic skin care, the emphasis is on how to get the message out to consumers about the benefits and how it actually works.
“Trying to educate the public that this is not “fake” science. Also, bringing awareness of the benefits of these microorganisms relating to skincare, particularly the importance of combining oral supplementation with topical applications,” she said.
Roundtable discussion on probiotics in skincare
Today Cosmetics Design is broadcasting a dedicated webinar who is already involved in this area, or thinking of taking the first tentative steps into this fast evolving, highly innovative area.
The webinar will be the final presentation as part of our Skincare Ingredients 2017 conference programme and the important time to note is that it will be taking place from 10:15am through to 11:15am New York time.
This roundtable will be hosted by myself, Simon Pitman, and will include an esteemed panel of diverse expertise including Gay Timmons, founder of ingredients distribution company Oh Oh Organic, David Tyrrell, global skincare analyst at market research company Mintel and Allison Krebs-Bensch, founder of probiotic skin care line BeBe and Bella.
For more information on the full programme for Skincare Ingredients 2017, please click here.
