Growth Factors Skin Care 101: A Guide For Small Brands
Thinking about launching a growth factors skin care line, but not sure where to start?
Growth factors are one of the most exciting innovations in modern skin care, with huge market potential. However, they also come with challenges - they’re pricey, difficult to formulate with, and big brands already dominate this niche.
So, how do you know if adding a growth factor product is the right move for your brand?
Innacos is here to help!
Our in-depth guide below outlines everything a small skin care brand owner like you needs to know about growth factors in skin care.
We discuss what they are, real results from studies, the pros and cons, and the three different paths to create growth factor skin care.
What Are Growth Factors?
As defined by Dr. Draelos in Dermatology Times, growth factors are “regulatory proteins that mediate signaling pathways inside and outside cells. They are necessary for human life but have been harnessed to induce activities that decline with advancing age.”
Put more simply, The Cut describes growth factors as “proteins in the human body that act as messengers, telling cells to do their thing (whatever that particular thing is).”
In the case of skin care, for example, if a cell produces collagen, growth factors will tell the cell to produce more collagen (or even a different type of collagen).
Growth factors commonly found in skin care include epidermal growth factor (EGF), fibroblast growth factor (FGF), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).
As outlined by a 2023 study, scientists discovered growth factors when they noticed that fetal skin cells have special healing abilities.
After recreating womb conditions for skin cells in the lab, they examined the skin cells and noticed they had higher levels of specific proteins like keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and produced more collagen type III and IV (instead of collagen I, which is more common in adults), all of which are linked to skin healing and regeneration.
The impact of growth factors on the skin doesn’t just work in theory, it’s also proven in practice.
In the same 2023 study, a skin care serum formulated with fibroblast growth factor (FGF) as its star active ingredient significantly reduced coarse and fine lines/wrinkles, photodamage, overall hyperpigmentation, and sagging over time.
Why Add Growth Factors To Your Skin Care Formula?
Thanks to the rise of skinfluencers on YouTube and TikTok, and knowledge-sharing forums like Reddit, today’s skin care market is one of the most informed and ingredient-savvy consumer demographics.
Most recognize three key ingredients - retinoids, SPF, and vitamin C - as gold standard staples in any effective, science-backed routine.
Now, growth factors have the potential to join this elite group as the fourth key must-have in modern skin care regimens.
While fad ingredients come and go, growth factors present a rare opportunity to introduce something new, exciting, and highly effective to your target demographic’s routine - a skin care category with real staying power.
Backed by science, growth factors are proven to stimulate collagen types III and IV and help regenerate the skin, delivering real and transformative results over time.
Formulating with growth factors is an opportunity for small beauty brands like yours to make one of your products a routine staple, earning loyal repeat customers and generating steady, recurring revenue month after month.
The Downsides Of Developing Growth Factor Skin Care Products
While the effects of growth factors can be impressive, they don’t come cheap.
As outlined in The Cut, growth factor ingredients are highly expensive to create, often requiring advanced biotechnology, which significantly bumps up the cost of production for small skin care brands like yours.
That’s why you need to carefully consider if a growth factor product is the right option for your brand. You need to budget correctly, create an impressive formula, and market it well to justify the cost of production.
It’s worth noting that not all growth factor serums are created equal.
As Dr. Amin explains to Allure, “Some might have low concentrations of active ingredients or poorly formulated bases that interfere with effective absorption.” Simply adding growth factors is not enough; you need to develop your formula carefully.
Plus, budget-friendly brands like The Ordinary and The Inkey List recently released serums containing growth factors as a star ingredient (as discussed in The Independent and Elle).
As a smaller brand that cannot compete on price, your formula needs to be even more impressive to justify your price tag.
What if your brand is vegan? Dr. Bucay explains to The Cut that many growth factors are created from human-donated cells (though the proteins they produce for the ingredient no longer have human cells in them).
Some companies have been able to produce growth factor compounds in the lab using bio-engineered plants, making the entire process vegan. However, these plant-based versions are not quite as well-researched as traditional growth factor ingredients.
There’s a lot to consider to get growth factor skin care right, and that’s why it’s important to partner with a professional lab to create high-quality, highly effective formulas that keep your customers coming back for more.
At Innacos, we only formulate high-quality, effective, clean, and sustainable formulas that deliver impressive results for your customers. To learn more about formulating with growth factors at Innacos, take our manufacturing path quiz here.
How To Create Growth Factor Skin Care Products For Your Brand
There are three different manufacturing paths to create growth factor skin care products for your brand:
1. Preformulated Skin Care: Private Label & Bulk
Although formulas containing growth factors are generally expensive to produce, some are more expensive than others.
One of the most affordable ways to launch growth factor skin care is by choosing a private label/bulk product. This process involves adding your own customized branding to a manufacturer’s pre-formulated growth factor formula.
Although the same formula may be used by multiple other brands, it’s the most inexpensive and quickest way to bring growth factor products to market.
Keep in mind that it’s difficult to find high-quality growth factor formulas on a pre-formulated basis. It’s important to test samples thoroughly to ensure the product delivers real results and matches your expectations.
At Innacos, we offer over 60+ high-quality, clean, cruelty-free, sustainable, and vegan formulas on a bulk/private label basis.
Although we currently do not offer a growth factor private label formula, we are constantly innovating and updating our product catalog. Order samples directly from our website here.
2. Highly Customized Formulas: Custom Formulating
This is where the exciting innovation in growth factor skin care takes place.
Custom formulating involves working with a team of expert chemists to develop brand-new products from scratch, completely tailored to your brand’s vision, goals, and target market.
Although it’s a lengthy and costly process, it’s an opportunity to engage in extensive R&D to create a truly special growth factor serum that your consumer base won’t be able to find anywhere else.
At Innacos, we’re experts at formulating novel chemical research (including growth factors), new-to-market concepts and formats, hybrid products, and clean skin care.
Plus, we offer up to 200% of your fees back as manufacturing credits. Learn more about custom formulating at Innacos here.
3. Semi-Customized Products: Custom Product Creation
What if you don’t have the budget to custom-formulate a growth factor product from scratch, but you can’t find a private label formula that lives up to your expectations?
Try custom product creation (CPC)! It’s the happy medium between private label and custom formulating.
This process involves adding a limited number of ingredients (in this case, growth factors) to a manufacturer’s base formula.
Keep in mind that this process is more complex than, for example, adding a fragrance or a botanical extract to a preformulated product.
Active ingredients like growth factors can impact the stability of the formula. That’s why it’s essential to partner with a skilled lab that employs a highly trained team of chemists to create your semi-customized formula.
At Innacos, we offer a hands-on CPC package that includes up to 150% manufacturing credit if you choose to manufacture your formula with us. Learn more about our CPC package on our website here.
In sum, creating high-quality skin care that contains growth factors involves the following steps:
Understanding the different types of growth factors and how they help to rejuvenate and heal the skin
Recognising the benefits of formulating with growth factors: it’s a trending category with scientific evidence to back up its effectiveness. Well-formulated growth factor serums can foster strong customer loyalty
Understanding the downsides of formulating growth factor skin care: it’s expensive, quality varies widely, and larger brands are already effectively innovating in this space
Choosing the best manufacturing path for your brand: preformulated, semi-customized, or highly customized products
Looking to develop your own range of skin care containing growth factors? Innacos is here to help! Learn more about how we can help you formulate with growth factors by calling: (812) 329-1105 or emailing: customerservice@innacos.com
