Your beauty brand name should capture the essence of what makes your products and mission unique. From natural oils to trendy makeup to luxury perfume, every corner of the market is saturated with quality, creative products. That’s why it’s important to choose a company name that helps carve out your niche and grabs your target at first blush.
Choose the Beauty Brand Personality That Fits Best
You’ve probably heard of the five brand personalities, but when it comes to beauty companies, the range of personalities is a little narrower and more nuanced. Here are some beauty personalities and companies that fall under them:
- Clean/natural
This category of beauty products appeals to the target’s desire for sustainability, health and wellness, or both. These are often literal/descriptive because many of these brands put their mission first and want consumers to identify it right away.
Examples: Osea, True Botanicals, bareMinerals, Cocokind, Love Beauty and Planet
- Sophisticated
Companies that prioritize elegance and sophistication have a little more leeway to choose names that are intriguing and cosmopolitan. Personal names and French-sounding, made-up words have been popular among elegant beauty companies for decades. Some affordable/accessible brands use these types of names to simulate luxury and make the consumer feel pampered without paying the high price tag.
Examples: Glossier, TRESemmé, Charlotte Tilbury, L’Oréal, Armani, Sauvage, Clinique
- Edgy/playful/glamorous
This subset of personalities is where some of the trendiest and most beloved brands find their sweet spot. This type of branding lends itself to pops of bold color and witty naming architecture.
Examples: Urban Decay, Lush, Fenty, Drunk Elephant
- Sensible/accessible
Sensible beauty brands project convenience, affordability, and getting the job done. They make the two-in-one products you can find on your grocery run.
Examples: Essence, E.L.F. (Eyes Lips Face), Equate, Method, Purpose
- Scientific
So much of beauty is about healing and replenishing your skin and hair, and many companies put that at the forefront of their mission and branding. Scientific beauty names bring to mind lab coats and test tubes, which make them come across as both trustworthy and innovative.
Examples: Dermalogica, 3LAB, Proactiv, SkinCeuticals, Physician’s Formula, Dr. Bronner’s
Of course, not every beauty brand fits squarely into one of these brand personalities, and some straddle more than one category. But figuring out where your brand falls can help you understand the types of names that will most effectively convey your value.
Get Thematic
Your name defines your entire branding strategy, which is why having a naming architecture is key. It sets a theme and parameters for naming future products with ease and continuity.
We harp on naming architecture pretty often, and that’s because keeping your company’s growth in mind from the beginning is absolutely essential.
Urban Decay is an example of a beauty company with a naming architecture that is clear and purposeful without being rigid. Their popular “Naked” line of eyeshadow palettes include Naked Wild West, Naked Honey, Naked Heat, Naked Cherry, Naked Ultraviolet, etc. The names are splashy and edgy, consistent with the company’s overall branding.
NEOVA SmartSkincare is an example from the opposite end of the beauty brand spectrum. Instead of playful and splashy, it’s scientific and sophisticated. NameStormers helped ProCyte Corporation come up with this brand name for their new anti-aging skincare line which would include a therapy serum, suntan lotion, and a cleansing bar, with more products to come. The name works because it communicates renewal and youthfulness, a theme that has since been successfully carried through the brand’s many new product creations and launches.
Check for Online Availability
When brainstorming some good names for a beauty company, most people think to perform a simple trademark check on the US Patent and Trademark Office website. But legal availability isn’t the only bar that the name has to clear. Most successful beauty companies have online stores, and you don’t want to limit yourself by choosing a name that doesn’t have a corresponding dotcom or social media handle available. You also don’t want to be in competition with a similarly named company for clicks and customers.
At NameStormers, our process includes preliminary trademark checks and online availability checks so that you can feel confident in the name candidates we create for you.
Naming a Beauty Company? NameStormers Can Help
NameStormers has worked with leading brands in the beauty industry to develop memorable names that reflect their company values and purpose. Whether you’re naming a beauty product or starting a business from scratch, we’re here to do the hard work of brainstorming, screening, fine-tuning, and testing name candidates that will set your beauty company up for success. Contact us today to get started.