Peterson's Lab Launches "Thick-skinned" Lotion

Abstract: Chinese functional skincare brand Peterson’s Lab has launched a new Barner Adaptogen Lotion claiming to add self-developed ingredients PL-PhytoSLC + PL-Ceramide, which has the effect of enhancing the skin's self-repairing ability and accelerating the repair of damaged barriers. The product is priced at $8.8 in its flagship store on the Chinese e-commerce platform Tmall.

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According to the observation from CHAILEEDO, Peterson’s Lab introduced this product from its official account on the Chinese social media platform Weibo as a two-way barrier reinforcement and skin self-repairing effect, which is why the brand called it "Hou Lian Pi" lotion. (Hou Lian Pi is a Chinese colloquialism for someone who is shameless or thick-skinned, and the product is intended to express the thickening of the skin barrier.)

It is understood that Peterson’s Lab was established in 2017. The English name translated meaning is "a life-long institute". Currently, the SKUs of the product has 29 with its main products including eye cream, lip cream, salicylic acid mask, amino acid cleanser, etc. According to the founder, Shi Nuo has introduced that the sales of the flagship store on Tmall have reached about $90 thousand in less than a year (as of April 2018), and are gradually increasing. Moreover, according to MarketIDX, the highest sales in October 2021 in the lip care category on Taobao and Tmall platform was Peterson’s Lab, with monthly sales of $58 thousand. Another product Anti-Wrinkle Lip Cream exceeded $300 thousand in monthly sales.

Unlike other flashy Chinese brands, Peterson’s Lab has also adopted a consistent laboratory style in its product packaging. Its packaging is mostly brown, light-absorbing bottles, imported kraft paper and unified minimalist packaging.

CHAILEEDO noticed that Peterson’s Lab transparently and openly marked the efficacy of the product, the purity and concentration of the active ingredients, and even listed the active ingredients contained in the product and prohibited ingredients directly in the form of a table on the product details page in its official flagship store on Tmall. This allows consumers to understand the product at a glance. They can quickly find the right product to solve their skin problems without the risk of excessive trial and error and without getting conned.

In fact, at present in China, similar to Peterson’s Lab such as the "ingredients-centric" the skincare brand is not uncommon such as Winona, PMPM, etc., but the vast majority of them are not marked with the content of raw ingredients. Even though some products are marked with ingredients, the concentration is relatively low. Shi Nuo said 90% of raw materials of Peterson’s Lab products are imported, respectively, from DSM, Freda, Symrise, Nissin, and other high-quality raw materials manufacturers. In order to ensure safety and skin absorbability, as far as possible the formula uses high concentrations of raw material ingredients. Taking hyaluronic acid skin base original as an example, the main ingredient is hyaluronic acid and the concentration of similar products is 0.1-0.6%, while the product of Peterson’s Lab can reach 2%, which is more than 20 times that of similar products.

The Ordinary is an international brand with a similar style and efficacy. All the products of this brand are simply named after the ingredients and the packaging is marked with the active ingredients and concentration. The brand tends to achieve a low price and high content. In its Tmall flagship store, The Ordinary AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution is the highest selling product priced at $14.8 /30ml with total sales of 700,000+ units. Peterson’s Lab Profix Inflam Fighter Air is priced at $20.8 / 15ml.

According to Frost & Sullivan, the market size of efficacious skin care in China reached $8.5 billion in 2021 and the market size will continue to expand. It is expected that by 2025, the market size of efficacious skin care in China will reach $26.2 billion. For the products launched by Peterson’s Lab, it can be seen that Peterson’s Lab still adheres to the cost-performance style. It seizes the user demand for "affordable and useful" skincare products using the cost as the key point. It is committed to creating products with efficient ingredients.