Makeup Is A Beauty Product. Undew Thinks Makeup Stain Removal Is, Too Leave a comment

Getting foundation on a shirt collar is a beauty problem consumers generally solve in the laundry aisle. Undew co-founders and longtime friends Laura York and Steph Brown think it deserves a solution of its own.

Their Toronto-based brand centers on a portable stain remover designed specifically with makeup, sunscreen and deodorant stains in mind. It arrives as the line between beauty and laundry care is blurring, with brands like Mozi Wash, Laundry Sauce, Lemon of the Sun and Tallow + Ash borrowing beauty’s language and translating its skincare, sun protection and fine-fragrance sensibilities to the traditionally utilitarian category.

“We initially just created it for us because I worked in fashion and Laura worked in product innovation,” says Brown, who regularly encounters makeup being transferred to clothing during photo shoots. “We just, in our own lives, saw so many use cases for it.”

Unlike conventional stain removers positioned around laundry, Undew is meant to be used on the spot without requiring the garment to be washed afterward. Priced at about $10 or $13.40 Canadian, its applicator has a fabric tip intended to create enough friction to help work stains out of textiles. While Undew is designed for consumers, fashion retailers dealing with merchandise stained by shoppers trying it on are another target.

“If you ever walk into a Zara, you see that they all have stuff on the rack that’s covered in makeup stains from people trying stuff on,” says Brown. “We hope Undew will be used in clothing stores to save their merchandise.”

Developing a single formula capable of handling the wide variety of substances found in cosmetics was more complicated than Brown and York anticipated, and it took close to two years to bring self-funded Undew to market. Neither co-founder is a chemist. To begin developing Undew, they compiled ingredients used for stain removal across applications, experimented with combinations and eliminated those that didn’t perform as desired. They eventually brought their work to an R&D team at a manufacturer to refine the formulation and make it shelf stable.

“The biggest thing is that there are 1,575,000 different kinds of makeup out there, right?” says York. “Trying to formulate something that’s great for oil-based, great for powder-based, great for pigment, great for all of the above is probably the hardest struggle.”

Fabric added a wrinkle. Silk, cotton and synthetics can react differently to both stains and cleaning agents. York explains, “We can come up with a formula that works on mascara, like, easy-peasy, but then you’re not just going to have seven bottles lined up.”

“Trying to formulate something that’s great for oil-based, great for powder-based, great for pigment, great for all of the above is probably the hardest struggle.”

The lengthy experimentation wasn’t entirely out of character for York. She describes herself as a tinkerer who grew up inventing products and attempting small businesses. One early venture, Sitting Pretty, involved sewing fashionable covers for sofa cushions. “My customer base was my mom,” jokes York. “Very limited sales.”

Undew’s first production run was approximately 3,000 units. The brand subsequently increased production to 8,000 units. Amazon, where Undew began selling in early August, has quickly become its largest channel. The co-founders estimate the brand is selling roughly 200 units a week on the platform.

Undew began selling direct-to-consumer last year, and several independent Toronto stores use the product in their fitting rooms. Now, the brand is looking to expand its retail presence. The co-founders say they’ve had preliminary conversations with retailers, but haven’t yet secured what Brown calls their “dream retailer.” As part of its retail push, Undew will exhibit at Beauty Independent’s BITE on Sept. 24.

At BITE and pop-ups, York and Brown provide different fabrics so attendees can put Undew to the test themselves. “Our product is something brand new to people,” says York. “It’s hard to just buy impulsively without trying it.”

York and Brown believe there’s room for Undew to extend beyond stain removal and have already started prototyping additional products. York characterizes the broader territory as on-the-go problem solving for consumers striving to make it through a long day looking put together.

There are challenges, however, to growing the brand. York and Brown have other jobs, the former in commercial property management and the latter at Monday Hoops Club, a hat brand she started with her brother. Established household product companies sell plenty of portable stain removers, too. The co-founders say they’ve filed a provisional patent, but competitors could still develop products aimed at similar use cases. For now, they’re trying to prove that focusing specifically on beauty-related stains can carve out meaningful space in an enormous existing category.

“We make our own nine-to-five,” says Brown. “We’re both very flexible, but also always working.”