Private Labelling & White Labelling

This post is a little off topic in a way, but with many new small cosmetic brands popping up and the recent drama on social media over blogging/influencing I thought it would be a good subject to touch on.
So, in the beauty/cosmetic industry, as in many industries, there's a branding option called private labeling or white labeling. These are sometimes confused as the same but they're not, an here's an explanation...

Private Labeling is basically where I, if I were to start my own makeup brand for example, I would approach a company designed for this purpose. This company either imports the product or develops it themselves. I would choose what product I would like to release and, in the most part, I'd be able to choose extra ingredients that I want included. I'd have choices over packaging, labelling, colours etc. depending on the product, the brand and my budget. I can keep in touch with this company while they develop this product from the start until I launch my brand. I would own this brand, its exclusive to me/my company but not the initial product, that belongs to the company. This can also be called 'bespoke branding'.

White Labeling is when I order a bulk of a product from a catalogue or online, fit my brand to it and retail it. There are companies that provide this service but it only deals with branding not product developing. So, I still develop the packaging, labeling and still have my brand I just don't have anything to do with the product development.

So, to try summarise, (if you're still with me fair play!) a private labeled brand is designed exclusively for that particular brand/retailer whereas a white label brand is made in bulk and can be distributed to many different retailers to be branded themselves.

This practice is not limited to the beauty industry and is used by companies in technology, hardware, fashion, accessories and has been done for many years.

My opinion; I don't mind it to be honest. As long as the company/trader stands by the product, good and bad, I don't see the harm in it. It's great to be able to purchase a good quality item or product that doesn't break the bank but I do think it's important for us, as consumers, to be wise to the goings on so we can make the right choices. If I had one complaint it would be that I think maybe companies should declare it but until then we'll just have to keep an ear to the ground. If you want to ask me anything feel free to leave a comment xx