Finally, it’s March 2025! I was SO looking forward to this month; seriously, you have no idea! The reason is simple (the process, not so much): This month we’re finally launching our lip oil! FINALLY a new product from Sans-Façon! I think the last time we launched a new product was our hair mask in October 2023, and we were definitely due. I have to admit that I’m always a little bit torn between two things. The first is that I want SF to provide a range of classic beauty essentials that you add to your shopping carts year after year. My goal has never been to launch a bunch of beauty products just to follow trends. But on the other hand, there are so many products that I want to try and opportunities that I want to seize. Sometimes there’s a new product on the market that’s here to stay, or something that’s missing in my own beauty bag and, as a result, I often want to create new products. But the process is so, so complex, and also very expensive. To give you an idea of the challenges in creating a new product, I’ll go through the steps that we followed to bring you our lip oil.

1.     First, we choose our lab. A laboratory that makes mascara won’t necessarily be equipped to make a lip oil, but one that makes a foundation might be. We work with 5-6 different labs at SF, so our first step is to talk to each one and figure out which is best suited for the project.

2.     We provide the lab with as many specifications as possible. We include all the active ingredients we want and provide details about the product itself. Should the lip oil be moisturizing or plumping? Do we want it to provide a tint? What colour should it be? Is there a specific texture that we want to include or to avoid? We need to provide as much information as possible so that the lab can create the first samples.

3.     Then, we wait for the samples. Sometimes the process goes quickly and we have samples as quickly as within two weeks; other times it can take more than a month. It always depends on how busy the lab is and whether or not they have already created a similar product in the past.

4.     The long-awaited moment finally arrives: sampling the product! Although it’s definitely an exciting moment, we’ve learned that things don’t always go well on the first try. It’s not uncommon for us to be very far from the finished product we want upon trying the first sample, but in this case we were lucky enough to be pretty close to what we were hoping for in terms of texture. This was great news because we wanted a lip oil that did more than the typical options already available.

Any new Sans-Façon makeup product won’t just be a simple, boring alternative to other options that are already available. We always want to add a special component that elevates the product and has a significant impact on your skin. Makeup with a skincare vocation; you’ll go crazy for it!

 

We wanted to make a lip oil that could also be used as a mask, gloss and balm. While that was clear in our minds, we weren’t sure that the lab would understand our vision at the start. After 3-4 samples (a process that took around five months to complete), we arrived at the perfect texture with the desired ingredients in strong enough quantities to really make a difference.

5.     While the sample development process is going on, we start receiving and evaluating the actual container that will store the lip oil. We try several different kinds and consider the size, material, quality, applicator, etc.

6.     As soon as the formula is finalized and we have chosen the container, we begin stability tests. This process lasts from three to six months and involves testing our product in its container under a variety of conditions. We see how it performs in hot and cold temperatures or when exposed to UV or neon rays. We shake it up and let it sit still to see if it changes in different environments… everything we can think of to ensure that the product formula is compatible with the container we’ve chosen. Often, we discover that they are not compatible. There can sometimes be a change in texture, discolouration, separation of ingredients, etc. Obviously, these are effects that we don’t want, and to prevent them we take the time to do all the stability tests in our in-house lab while the lab that created the product does the same. Then, we compare and cross-validate our findings. When that happens – and it can happen quite frequently – we start by being disappointed (it’s very true haha!) but then we get over it and we start again. We find a brand new container and begin the stability tests all over again. It takes a lot of trial and error to figure out why things don’t work, especially since we now only work with recycled and recyclable plastics. These materials aren’t customarily used in the field yet, and they bring their own set of challenges. Using only eco-friendly containers and packaging can be difficult, but we’re committed to doing it, so we work hard to find a solution. The good news for the oil was that the formula was very stable, which is why we were able to release the product in about two years. That’s actually a very good average!

7.     Once the stability tests are completed, we begin the production of the oil containers and packaging boxes. The lab sources ingredients so that everything is ready at the same time. As soon as the containers arrive (which alone can take 4-5 months), the lab is ready to fill them with product. It takes 2-4 weeks to fill everything and have the product delivered to our warehouses.

8.     When we receive the packaged oil at our warehouses, we put it through a quality control process. Then we keep the oil quarantined until all our internal tests are complete and our in-house chemist confirms that the oil received from the lab complies with all the designations that we outlined throughout the process.

9.     Lastly, we are finally ready to sell it! It took a good two to two and a half years to create the oil with only minimal hiccups. Just wait until I tell you about all the problems we’ve encountered with our new eyebrow gel. I’m on my 34^th sample and I think we’re getting there (for real, for real, but I’m also knocking on wood as I write this haha.)

We don’t often release new products at Sans-Façon, but there’s a very good reason behind this: The process is essential. It’s very important to me. The rigor with which we develop and assess and test each new product to make sure it’s up to our standards of quality is the promise that I made to you, our customers, and to all our future customers too. Over the next few years, the only thing I can see happening is the process becoming even more robust, but never the opposite. No matter how popular our products become, here at SF, we don’t cut corners.

Honestly, my biggest dream is that in ten, fifteen years you will still be buying cosmetics from Sans-Façon without ever questioning the integrity of your products. Quality, vegan products made here in Canada (and what’s more, made by women!) I mean, what more could you ask for?!