Turn your cosmetic product idea into a brief a manufacturer can quote on: six steps, two worked examples and the wording mistakes that cost you weeks.

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How to Write a Manufacturer-Ready Product Brief for Your Cosmetic Product

A vague idea gets vague quotes. What a contract manufacturer needs from your product brief before quoting, and why structure matters more than length.

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Why a Structured Product Brief Gets You Better Quotes from Cosmetic Manufacturers

Goldn has been awarded a USPTO Notice of Allowance for its trademark, GOLDN.

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Trademark awarded to Goldn

Signing up for Goldn only takes a few minutes. Very soon, you’ll be on your way to creating and launching your beauty product. 

To create your Goldn account, go to the sign-up page and enter your email address to get started.


On the next screen, enter your full name and your team’s name. 
Website and phone number are optional information you can provide as well. Accept Goldn’s terms and conditions and click on the continue button.


The first step of account creation is complete. Next, please check your email to complete the account sign-up.

You’ll receive the account verification email. Click on the green button to proceed. Note that you will have to act fast since the verification link expires after 30 minutes. 

Sign Up

Sign in with Magic Link. Enter your email address, and we’ll email you a link for a password-free sign-in.

After requesting your sign in link, check your email inbox. Click the Sign In button to continue to the Goldn Dashboard.

Sign In

The home page is your hub for quick access to: 

1. Products and a shortcut to create new products (+)
2. The first time you log in, you’ll be prompted to invite team members
3. Add a profile photo
4. Find quick access to Goldn blog articles supporting your journey with helpful content 






Product Builder Dashboard

In Goldn, you will have a notification center to receive alerts about important updates related to your team and product activities.

On the bottom left, above your account image, click on the notification’s icon. This will open your notifications panel with a list of all notifications.


Notifications

From the home page, click on the small image icon on the bottom left, select account settings.

#### Account Settings
In Account Settings, you can manage your Personal details and your Team details (if you are the owner/admin of the team account).

*Personal Settings* 

Upload your personal avatar image

Edit general information such as:
- Full name
- Display name
- Job Title



*Team Settings*

Click on Team to switch over to Team Settings

1. Upload your team avatar

2. Add General Information:
- Company Name
- Company Type
- Company Website
- Company Address
- Company Size

*Notifications*

You can manage your email notifications here. You can select from:

1. Important events and & @mentions
2. Only @mentions
3. Or none



Your Account

At the heart of Goldn is collaboration. Team members can come together to bring a product to life collectively. In this section, you will learn how to manage and add team members.

To begin building your Goldn team, click on your user icon on the bottom left of the screen and select “User Directory.”


You’ll land on the User Directory screen and see all active members on the account. When you first create your account, you will be the only active member on the account.

To add team members, click on the green plus sign to the far left of Active Members heading. 

Once clicked, an overlay will appear. Add the email addresses of the users you wish to invite to your Goldn team. 

If you want to add more than three, add the first three members, click confirm, and click on the green plus button again. You will receive an email confirmation for the invites sent, and once invites have been accepted, you will receive an Invite accepted email.

In the User Directory, you can also see inactive and pending team members.

Inactive Members are members that were once part of your team and have been deactivated.

Pending Invites is the list of all the people you have invited to be part of your team. Here you can **Resend Invite** or **Cancel Invite** if your plans have changed.

Your Team

Now that all the account and team settings have been configured, it’s time to create your first product in Goldn. 

Access your Goldn Product Dashboard and click on the golden plus sign to the right of the Products heading. 


#### Create a Product
When you click on the golden plus sign, you will be prompted to create your first product by giving it a product name and clicking Create. If you’re not 100% sure of what to name it, don’t worry. You can always go back and edit the name. 

As soon as you enter the product’s name, you will be redirected to the Create a Product Overview questions. This section collects critical information about the product you wish to create.

The following screens will show you all the questions associated with creating the product brief.

1. Verify product name
2. Confirm if the product is part of an existing Product Line
3. Product category
4. Product type
5. Product form
6. Where the product will be sold
7. Confirm if it is a new launch or re-launch


After answering this first set of questions, you will be prompted to:

1. Continue to Questionnaires. Questionnaires will take you step-by-step to complete the product brief.
2. Skip and Create Product. This option will let you complete the product brief at your own pace.


If you decide to complete the brief at your own pace, here is what to expect.


#### Product Creation Milestones
To move to the next step of completing the product brief, you need to provide the product launch date. You do this by clicking on the “edit” icon on the top right of the Overview box.


Enter the month, day, and year. When the date is entered, click on the green Update button to save. Don’t worry if you’re unsure of the launch date, an estimate is sufficient, and the date can always be edited.

Next, click on the product image box to upload an image for the product.

You’ll be prompted to upload an image. Click inside the grey box to browse your system for the image. When the image has been selected, click Add.

Congratulations! You are now ready to complete the Product Brief! 

The Product Brief is broken down into four sections. 

- General
- Formula
- Packaging
- Testing & Certification


Create Your First Product

Define your overall specifications, such as product, branding, and target market information.

#### Target Markets
Select the countries you wish to sell your product. Entering this information will help us help you identify regulatory requirements based on the geographic location that affect the product’s formulation, packaging, and graphic content.


#### Market Positioning
In this section, select where you see your product being sold. We provide popular options, but you can also add your own.



#### Target Retail Price
Providing the estimated retail price of your product will help you create a budget for product development. 


#### Primary Market Claims
These features will help identify what to consider when creating product messaging and packaging. Some claims may require additional testing to meet regulatory requirements.

The Goldn Brief offers a large variety of market claims to select. Click **Show more suggestions** to see an expanded list.


You have completed the General Brief! Now it is time to move into your Formula Brief.


General Brief

Define your formula and ingredient requirements.

#### Desired Characteristics
This relates to the product form you selected in the Overview. Select characteristics that apply to your product. This is very helpful when creating your product’s consistency.

#### Must-Have Features
In this section, you select optional must-have feature(s) for your product, i.e., organic, vegan, etc. 

#### Formula Volume Size
Entering the volume size is very helpful for your vendors. This will help them provide estimated costs by understanding the scale of your product development. 


You have now completed your Formula Brief! It is time to move into the Packaging Brief.

Formula Brief

Define your cosmetic packaging requirements, such as packaging type, packaging material, and packaging size. This will help your packaging supplier provide packaging options for your product.

#### Primary Packaging Type
Here, you select the packaging type for your product. If it is a lotion, you can select either bottle or tubes, for example. 


#### Primary Packaging Material
In this section, you select the primary material you wish to use for your product. This material is the packaging layer that will be in contact with your product.


#### Packaging Volume Size
Enter the estimated units of packaging for your product.


You have now completed your Packaging Brief! It is time to move into the Testing & Certification Brief.

Packaging Brief

Ensure that your product meets safety requirements for consumers and is ready for sale by organizing the relevant tests and certifications required.

#### Regulatory Specifications
Add available regulatory specifications for your product here. You can also add your own to the list.


#### Certifications
Select the certifications that are relevant to your beauty product, if applicable. 

You have now completed your Testing & Certification Brief! Now it’s time to share it!

Testing & Certification Brief

Once you have completed the required minimum fields for general, formula, packaging, and testing & certification, all of those sections will now show a “view optional fields” button to enhance your product brief even further.

#### Overview Brief Optional Fields
There are additional/optional fields you can complete to achieve the most comprehensive brief. To view these, click on **View optional fields**. 

- Product Description
- Product Line
- Target Age Groups
- Target Gender
- Lifestyle
- Product Personality
- Budget
- Secondary Marketing Claims


#### Formula Brief Optional Fields
There are additional/optional fields you can complete to achieve the most comprehensive brief. To view these, click on **View optional fields **.

- Target Skin Conditions
- Benchmark Formula
- Desired Product Functionalities
- Desired Key Ingredients
- Ingredients to Avoid
- Must-Have Ingredients
- Minimum Shelf Life
- Formula Weight per Product
- Scent and Fragrance Profile
- Texture

#### Packaging Brief Optional Fields
There are additional/optional fields you can complete to achieve the most comprehensive brief. To view these, click on **View optional fields**. 

- Packaging Specifications
- Secondary Packaging Type
- Additional Packaging Type
- Additional Packaging Material
- Primary Packaging Copy
- Secondary Packaging Copy
- Additional Packaging Copy
- Packaging Insert
- Packaging Labels
- Weight per product (with Packaging)
- Packaging Images

#### Testing & Certification Brief Optional Fields
There are additional/optional fields you can complete to achieve the most comprehensive brief. To view these, click on **View optional fields**. 

- Regulatory Testing


Product Brief Optional Fields

Now that you have completed all the different categories of the Product Brief with all the requirements, it is time to share the brief with your vendors. Goldn has made sharing your Product Brief easy and secure! 

#### How to Share a Product Brief
First, click on the green **Share Brief** button.


Next, enter the email address of the supplier(s) you wish to invite to view the Product Brief. You can enter more than one email by using a comma to separate each email address. Click the **Continue** green button when all the email addresses have been added.

The next screen will require you to add more details for each vendor you wish to invite. These fields are optional but help you track your invites with more information. Click on the **Share Brief** green button to continue. Note, your vendors will have 14 days to view the product brief.

#### Vendor Shared Brief Experience
Your Product Brief, when shared, is considered a confidential document. As such, we have taken the necessary precautions with the brief sharing process. 

Your vendor will receive an email to notify them that they have received an invitation to review your Product Brief. 


When they click **View Document**, they are redirected to a Goldn page that requires an access code to unlock the brief. This code is sent in a separate email.

Once the access code is entered, the vendor will view the Product Brief in its entirety. Each time your vendor would like to access the brief, Goldn will provide a new access code.

#### Share Brief Security

Secure Brief Share is enabled by two-factor authentication. When the recipient receives the email and clicks on “view document”, they must return to their email to retrieve the access code. This access code must be used within 30 minutes before the access expires. Each access code email includes a confidential and legally privileged notice:

*This message and any accompanying documents contain information belonging to the sender which may be confidential and legally privileged. This information is only for the use of the individual or entity to which it was intended. If you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure, copying, distribution, or action taken in reliance on the contents of the information contained in this message and any accompanying documents is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please contact the sender immediately and delete the message. Thank you.*
 
Once they access the brief, the complete document is watermarked.


Learn How to Create Simply

Simple guides to get you and your team started on Goldn

Getting Started

Share Brief

Create a Product

Working in Teams

Can’t find what you’re looking for?

We’re here to help.

Learn about Creating Cosmetic Products