Generally speaking, while the entry barrier for skincare products is not very high, one at least needs to understand some basic professional knowledge. If you don't understand it yourself, you must find someone who does to operate it. Otherwise, the product is likely to have no good effect and might even damage your skin.
Of course, even with a relatively good formula,
using substandard ingredients can also lead to skin damage.
However, Ding Yun primarily planned to rely on Mermaid's Tears.
She had no intention of adding other chemical ingredients to her products. Therefore, after only a few days of self-study, she began her journey of formulating skincare products.
There's no need to worry about the risks she took.
Because her so-called skincare formulation actually involved diluting Mermaid's Tears gel with purified water. The difference was merely in the dilution ratios: some were diluted a hundredfold, some a thousandfold, and others were diluted five thousandfold and ten thousandfold by her.
All she needed to do was find the optimal dilution ratio, add some other harmless substances, and then formulate the final product into masks, creams, hydrating lotions, or serums.
Without any preservatives or harmful substances,
how could anything go wrong?
However, after the skincare products were formulated, Ding Yun had already used high-concentration Mermaid's Tears on her entire body, rendering her skin close to perfect. As a result, these skincare products, made with diluted Mermaid's Tears, had no effect on her.
So, after formulating the skincare products,
she had to post another recruitment notice, looking for college students with less-than-ideal skin to participate in trials.
Many college students were quite affordable.
And some were fearless young individuals who had no such concerns. Although Ding Yun could have used a cheaper method by posting a call for free trials on shopping websites, requiring only a small shipping fee to get many people to test these products.
However, with that approach, the trial participants would be scattered across the country, and the specific effects could only be based on their descriptions.
This would not be conducive to her careful selection of formulas.
Therefore, Ding Yun naturally preferred to spend a little more money and directly hire college students from the nearby university town to help conduct trial experiments for the new skincare products.
A daily rate of five hundred yuan was enough to attract people. Not long after the recruitment notice was posted, Ding Yun successfully recruited a hundred individuals, both male and female.
To alleviate their concerns, Ding Yun specifically rented a space of about three hundred square meters in a nearby office building. She also signed trial contracts with them, guaranteeing the products were harmless and promising full compensation in case of any accidents.
After all these arrangements,
Ding Yun divided the eighty-four individuals who signed contracts into four groups, with twenty-one people in each group. She then proceeded to give them a series of treatments, including facial cleansing, toning, mask application, and cream application.
As for the missing sixteen,
they naturally chickened out at the last minute.
After the entire process was completed,
the trial group that used skincare products with Mermaid's Tears gel diluted a hundredfold showed very significant results. The specific effects were mainly evident in a much brighter and more translucent complexion, finer pores, complete disappearance of dark circles, and the vanishing of fine lines, small spots, as well as some acne scars and marks.
Existing acne and pimples also largely subsided, with only a slight redness remaining at most.
It's important to note that this was after only half an hour.
From washing the face to applying the cream,
only half an hour had passed.
Such results were absolutely astonishing.
The trial group that used skincare products with Mermaid's Tears gel diluted a thousandfold, while their overall results were significantly less pronounced, still showed noticeable changes. For instance, acne subsided, acne marks faded, scars lightened, skin condition improved, dark circles diminished, and pores became firmer.
In summary, although all negative skin conditions did not disappear, they were greatly alleviated, visibly and tangibly.
The results for the five-thousandfold dilution group were even less dramatic,
but there were still discernible improvements.
Only the ten-thousandfold dilution group did not show particularly obvious results, with only subtle changes. However, the users themselves felt their skin became much smoother and more supple to the touch, with considerably better results than the skincare products they had used before, and they were eager to buy.
Since the trials were conducted in separate groups,
Ding Yun quickly used the excuse that the products would be launched soon to dismiss the trial participants from the first three groups who were excited after using the products and expressed their willingness to purchase them immediately.
Only the last group, the trial participants using Mermaid's Tears diluted ten thousand times, were kept for continuous trials for a week. It was only after a week, when very noticeable effects appeared, that they were dismissed.
And the final Mermaid's Tears dilution ratio was determined.
She planned to initially launch skincare products diluted ten thousandfold, primarily focusing on a high-quality and affordable market segment. This was also to first establish a market presence. Once a certain level of recognition was achieved, she would gradually introduce skincare products diluted five thousandfold as mid-range luxury, one thousandfold as high-end luxury, and those diluted only a hundredfold as top-tier luxury skincare.
Once the specific ratios were set, Ding Yun quickly contacted contract manufacturers, designed product packaging, and decided on product names, etc. This was undoubtedly another busy period. After half a month of this hustle, Ding Yun had exhausted all the Mermaid Pearls she possessed.
And ultimately harvested forty thousand boxes of masks
and one hundred thousand boxes of face cream.
Considering the cost of Mermaid Pearls converted to transaction currency, plus other expenses, the cost per box of five masks was less than eight yuan, and the cost per box of face cream was less than five yuan. Overall, the costs were not high. They might be higher than masks selling for one or two yuan each, but the effects far surpassed them.
Therefore, these costs were within Ding Yun's acceptable range.
This also gave her the confidence to set the prices slightly lower. Consequently, the final pricing for the masks was forty-nine point nine yuan, and for the face cream, it was thirty-nine point nine yuan per box.
It might seem like a profit margin of several times, but after deducting expenses for promotion, operations, shipping, and taxes,
the actual profit was estimated to be around onefold.
If promotion, advertising, or activities were increased, the profit would likely be even lower.
However, this was just the beginning.
So, Ding Yun did not expect excessively high profits at first.
The initial goal was brand building. Once the brand was established and credibility was gained, it would be time to make money.
With the products in hand, Ding Yun quickly registered shops on several e-commerce platforms. While listing products, she also purchased a considerable amount of promotional resources.
In addition, she contacted several self-media influencers,
sent them products, and asked them to do promotions.
In short, she had done her best, and after all this, her funds were nearly depleted. Whether she would continue to sell jade to make a living or make a breakthrough this time depended on how well the products sold.