Like so many beauty service businesses, Yellow Strawberry closed during the worst of the COVID crisis here in the States. But Founders Jesse Briggs and Flo Briggs saw an opportunity in an otherwise challenging year and set to work creating a retail product that could deliver at least some of the benefits of their salon services for consumers at home.
“FIXIT,” say Jesse Briggs, “is a super hydrating mask conditioner that reduces frizz and nourishes hair, leaving it shiny, smooth, and moisturized.”
Flo Briggs explains the formulation technology a bit further saying, “The ingredients in the formula smooth the hair cuticle and keep the hair from breaking.”
Beauty product development and manufacturing during a pandemic
Hand sanitizer and soap were go-to personal care products at the height of the pandemic and manufacturers helping meet demand were deemed essential and able to keep operating (so long as distancing and other safety precautions were taken).
By this time last year, Cosmetic Solutions had made the shift to produce primarily hand sanitizer and antimicrobial products. “Pivoting to sanitizer sales has also been a key element in the company's ability to keep more than 150 local workers on the job,” stated the private label beauty maker in a press release circulated in May 2020.
Warren Becker, CEO of Cosmetic Solutions knew that, “as a private label manufacturer, [the company is] extremely flexible and capable of adapting to the changing needs of the marketplace.”
And, as Becker remarked at the time of the pivot, “Our goals during this crisis continue to be: How can we offer support to our local community and nation, and how do we use this opportunity to propel our brand to do more good?”
“We have the ability,” he said, “to be nimble and take on a lot of projects that many companies can't or won't. We've also got a strong team of good people. Everyone from production, R&D, sales, customer service and logistics having been working hard with the mind set that we are doing something for the greater good.”
Briggs launch a first consumer product on CaribbeanDreamHairCare.com
Jesse Briggs and Flo Briggs have been in the salon industry for decades and their first DTC product just may be the beginning of a entirely new decades-long hair business venture.
FIXIT, a hair hydrating mask or conditioning treatment, retails on CaribbeanDreamHairCare.com ($29.95). And it was developed in partnership with private label beauty maker Cosmetic Solutions:
“It was a pleasure to work with Jesse and Flo on this product,” Becker tells the press, going on to note that, “they are leaders in the industry, and we are confident that our performance product solutions and high-tech facilities will continue to meet their growth needs in the future.”
