Product development

NOTHING HAPPENS BY CHANCE

Hair cosmetics are created in a continuous process that begins with marketing and ends with ongoing quality control. Depending on the product in question, development can take several years. Perseverance is therefore no bad thing if you have discovered a passion for developing hair cosmetics.

What usually comes quite unspectacularly out of a nice dispenser has generally had a rather exciting journey behind it. It all started with an idea, until it ended up in hair salons as a solution via the hands of many people. Many demands are placed on it. Thus, the idea that eventually became a product must first produce the effect that corresponds to the respective definition. At the same time, the product should be as gentle on the skin as possible and, of course, smell nice. It must be consistent in itself so that there are no undesirable interactions between the packaging and its contents. Ecological and health aspects are becoming increasingly important. Once an idea has become a product, it has to deliver on many fronts.

To enable this,

many people rack their brains. One of them is Zdenka Koren. She is Head of Research and Development: „Bringing simpler products to market readiness can certainly be managed in a year. With complex and chemically more demanding cosmetics, such as hair dyes with over 100 shades, the development time is significantly longer. That can take up to five years.“ This is also partly because every single colour is tested multiple times on voluntary test subjects before the colour products can find their way into hair salons.

Alongside the perseverance, creativity and experience of the product developers, other cornerstones are crucial for market-ready products. Ongoing quality control, for example, enjoys enormous importance. It not only offers hairdressers the assurance that they are working with quality-assured products, but also provides valuable insights for further developments.

„We store reference samples of every single batch. In the event of a product complaint, we can check the reference sample with the specific batch number. The coding system is implemented throughout the entire process to ensure traceability at every stage,“ says Koren.

The safety and tolerability

of hair cosmetics is also supported by regular physico-chemical checks of various parameters. Starting with the raw materials, everything is inspected and monitored at fixed intervals – right through to the filling lines.

In development work, microbiological analyses are also carried out using stress tests, for example to determine the effectiveness of product preservation.

What sounds very technical is also very technical in reality. Just like the test series, which are designed according to a clear plan and carried out accordingly. Because nothing is left to chance, and every conceivable difficulty is taken into account.

Failure is factored right in,

because, according to Zdenka Koren, this is a completely normal fact of life in product development. „In the development of new products, there are practically no mistakes. You can take every result as a kind of positive outcome, because you can find a lot of useful information in every version of a product formulation. It often takes dozens of versions before we discover the final one. And even if we sometimes cannot realise a product as we had planned, a good developer can learn a lot from the entire process. Every so-called mistake is a new opportunity to find solutions.“

Alongside research, market observation is another essential factor in development work. On the one hand, one needs to be informed about changes in legal requirements in order to integrate them compliantly into new formulations. No less important is the early identification of trends or changing needs of hairdressers who carry out their services daily with a wide variety of products. Because a hair salon also moves with the times.

SO IT IS MORE

than just pure laboratory work, which is what happens in development. It is a diverse field of tasks, for which being more broadly talented certainly doesn't hurt. Or what does Ms Koren say to that? She says: „You have to be willing to learn constantly in order to advance in your knowledge and skills. Alongside technical qualifications, good communication skills are particularly advantageous. Because you need to be able to discuss development results with hairdressers at a high professional level.“