Last month, family-owned wellness brand NOW launched the NOW Baby skin care line, a collection of products specifically formulated for the specific needs of sensitive baby skin. As detailed in the company press release, the product line is free from artificial fragrances, parabens, and other potentially harmful ingredients, is certified cruelty-free and vegan, and includes fragrance-free and lavender varieties of baby lotions, shampoos, and oils.
Formulation and development process
When the NOW research and development team set out to create its latest collection, drew from their roots as a family-owned organization. “Our mission has always been to provide value in products that empower people to lead healthier lives, and now we're extending that to babies,” Tina Tews, Personal Care Brand Manager at NOW, told CosmeticsDesign.
The team carefully selected and tested potential ingredients for product formulation to ensure end-products were both safe and non-irritating.
“We wanted our baby line to be gentle, but also effective in keeping babies' skin healthy and moisturized,” said Tews. To ensure this goal was achieved successfully, “our chemists and formulation experts created products that are rich in natural, nourishing ingredients that are known for their ability to soothe and protect delicate skin, while providing long-lasting hydration.”
Regarding product safety, the development team focused on made certain that the collection was truly clean, omitting any “potentially harmful ingredients like artificial fragrances, parabens, phthalates, petrolatum, and sulfates, and instead opted for more natural alternatives,” she said. This includes the selection of the product line’s hero ingredient, calendula.
Hero ingredient
“We carefully selected calendula as a hero ingredient in our baby products because of its many benefits,” shared Tews. As “a powerful herb that has been used for centuries for its healing properties due to its gentle yet effective nature, one of the main benefits of calendula is its ability to soothe and calm irritated skin,” she said.
As “babies are prone to rashes and other skin irritations, which can be uncomfortable and sometimes painful, calendula helps to soothe and protect skin, making it an excellent ingredient for our line,” Tews added.
Other ingredients in the formulation include “natural and organic shea butter, jojoba and coconut oil, which are known for their soothing and nourishing properties,” she shared. These ingredients were carefully selected and chosen for the formulation because “coupled with our dedication to quality and safety, they make our baby product collection a smart and responsible choice for parents who want the best for their little ones.”
Moving forward
Having “conducted quantitative research to find out what was important to parents when purchasing baby care products and gathered additional category insights through a variety of sources to identify the most in-demand products and preferences in the market,” the likelihood of positive consumer reception for the new brand launch is high, shared Tews.
In the coming months, it will be interesting to see if strong consumer demand for the NOW Baby collection spurs the research and development team into further innovation in this space.